The James Irvine Foundation

For Lucas Zucker, the “bread and butter” of Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)’s nonpartisan civic engagement work is canvassing and phone banking aimed at eligible voters within farmworker families in the Central Coast, while also enhancing the community’s collective understanding of issues impacting undocumented workers. In this blog post, Lucas shares more about how CAUSE fosters civic engagement and why long-term, flexible funding from #philanthropy is important: https://irvine.ly/4dExTAC

Who makes up #California’s low-wage workforce? UC Berkeley Labor Center’s updated data explorer provides comprehensive information on our state’s low-wage workers, including demographics, job characteristics, industries, occupations, income, economic security, and geography. The tool now also includes disaggregated data on Asian American, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaskan Native workers. Check out key findings at: https://irvine.ly/465bnNT

“An inclusive and sustainable economy is one where everybody has the opportunity to build the kind of life that they want for themselves, and that they have the opportunity to plant the seeds so that their children can do that too.” – Heather Brown, Central Valley Community Foundation    From providing leadership development opportunities and researching labor issues, to supporting small businesses and centering community engagement, our grantee-partners in #Fresno are ensuring all residents can have family-sustaining opportunities and build the lives they aspire.    Learn more from Heather Brown, Artie Padilla, and Ashley Swearengin of Central Valley Community Foundation; Keith Ford of Central Valley Industrial Areas Sponsoring Committee; Dr. Cassandra Little PhD, MSW of Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce; Ana Padilla of University of California, Merced Community and Labor Center; and Susan Xiong of A Hopeful Encounter, Inc..    #PriorityCommunities #InclusiveEconomy  

New technology, declining immigration, and policies raising the minimum wage and requiring overtime pay have significantly transformed agricultural work in our state. But the work remains difficult, dangerous, and hard on the health of workers—primarily immigrants—who toil in hotter weather than they did in the past, and who lack equitable healthcare and retirement benefits.     What changes do we need in policies, enforcement, community, and our health and economic systems to make agriculture jobs better? Join us on August 5 in #Salinas or online to learn about what it would take to make life in #California sustainable for the workers whose work helps sustain us all: https://irvine.ly/3xLoXsU    Introductory comments will be made by our CEO, Don Howard.     #GoodJobs #Agriculture #Farmworkers

Irvine grantee-partners Black Equity Collective and Nonprofit Finance Fund are now surveying #California Black-led and Black-empowering organizations! Their goal: capture an expansive view of the wealth and well-being that Black-led and -empowering organizations deliver to our state. Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/eiepBZfr

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that companies that keep their labor costs low to bolster their bottom line see greater gains for shareholders. However, RAND’s first-of-its-kind study shows that companies investing in efforts to attract, develop, and retain frontline workers—and disclosing these efforts—see their stock prices rise over time.    This demonstrates that investing in frontline workers and being transparent about it can be a win-win situation: workers gain for economic advancement, while companies see an increase in their stock values.    In a new piece for World Economic Forum, our CEO, Don Howard, and RAND Associate Economist George Zuo highlight the benefits of sharing worker-forward investments: https://irvine.ly/45XBHt0    #BetterCareers  

“An inclusive economy, I think means, once again, that my skin color does not determine my outcome...It means that I have or my children have an equal right or an equal opportunity at the same table as anyone else.” – Rev. Artis Smith, Pastor, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church Our grantee-partners in #Salinas share this vision and are committed to creating an economy that works for all. How are they building an inclusive economy? Watch the video below for snapshots of the work some of our partners are leading in Salinas.     Hear from Ventures’ Maria Cadenas, MBA, Hartnell College’s Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. (c), Monterey County Black Caucus and Building Healthy Communities’ Rosalyn Green, El Pájaro Community Development Corporation’s Carmen Herrera-Mansir, Action Council of Monterey County and Building Healthy Communities’ Andrea Manzo, and New Hope Missionary Baptist Church’s Rev. Artis Smith.     #PriorityCommunities #InclusiveEconomy  

How does entrepreneurship contribute to the prosperity of the Black community? For Dr. Cassandra Little PhD, MSW and the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, #entrepreneurship is not just a path to individual success; it’s also a means to uplift others in the community.     Read more about how the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce supports #entrepreneurs and what #Juneteenth means for Dr. Little at: https://irvine.ly/3xxp2Af    #Fresno

Where are the best jobs in California’s agricultural sector? What changes are needed—in policy, enforcement, community, and in our health and economic systems—to improve current farm jobs, and the future prospects of those who work them? Join José Anzaldo, James Nakahara, Mily Trevino-Sauceda, Juan Uranga, and Rebecca Plevin on August 5 in Salinas or online as they discuss what it would take to make life in #California sustainable for the people whose work helps sustain us all. Register now: https://irvine.ly/3xLoXsU “What Is a Good Job Now?” is an event and essay series focusing on workers in the low-wage sectors of California’s economy. Public programs and essays, grounded in workers’ experiences and realities, will explore how to make the hardest jobs more rewarding, and make life better for those who do them. #GoodJobs #Agriculture #Farmworkers #Salinas

“Joining the group made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who saw the injustice in our treatment. We also educate new drivers about the struggles we’ve endured, how conditions used to be better, and why we shouldn’t put up with this treatment. Now I encourage other workers to organize.” – Osiel Torres, rideshare driver     Osiel Torres is one of the 3,000 Bay Area rideshare drivers who face unjust working conditions, including receiving only 40% of what the rider pays while the apps take the rest. Osiel is now organizing for rideshare drivers’ rights and protections with the support of Gig Workers Rising, which is part of Working Partnerships USA, an Irvine #FairWork grantee. Learn more in Nonprofit Quarterly: https://irvine.ly/4csayRp