Sen. Ted W. Lieu-supported study on how much foundations give to minority groups to be released publicly
Progress report by Greenlining Institute to be released Friday in L.A.
LOS ANGELES – In response to groundwork laid with help from Ted W. Lieu, a progress report and 28-page study by the Greenlining Institute on the level of foundation support to ethnic groups is scheduled for release Friday in Los Angeles.
Sponsored by the three-branch minority caucus of the Legislature known as the Tri Caucus, the event is centered around the Institute’s review on strengthening donations to minority-led community groups.
Lieu, a state Democratic Senator representing Torrance, helped prompt the study to seek greater transparency among private and community-based foundations when he chaired the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus in 2008 while a member of the Assembly.
As a result, a group of foundations known as the Foundation Coalition found common interest in working together to help California’s non-profit community broaden and deepen the impact of charitable giving.
That action followed the Institute’s 2006 Investing in a diverse democracy: Foundation Giving to Minority-Led Nonprofits, which showed that investment in minority led non-profits was “startlingly” low. Lieu and others sought to have foundations valued at or above $250 million and headquartered in California disclose gender, racial and ethnic diversity data on an annual basis.
Initially, the foundations opposed this legislation but eventually an agreement was reached between the authors, the leaders of the ethnic caucuses and a coalition of 10 of the major California foundations. The legislation was dropped when the foundations pledged to increase grant support and other resources to minority and other local groups.
• WHO: Members of the Asian Pacific Islander, Black and Latino legislative caucuses, known as the Tri-Caucus and convened by Sen. Curren Price, including Sen. Ted W. Lieu; and presenters Orson Aguilar of the Greenlining Institute; Fred Ali, Weingart Foundation; Beatriz Solis, California Endowment; Antonia Hernandez, California Community Foundation; Kafi Blumenfield, Liberty Hill Foundation; and Virgil Roberts, Bobbit & Roberts.
• WHAT: Release of a 28-page Greenlining Institute report on foundation giving to minority-led organizations and grassroots community groups.
• WHEN: 10 a.m. – noon Friday, July 13, 2012.
• WHERE: University of Southern California, Galen Center – Founders Room, 3400 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 90007.
• WHY: To create greater awareness of the progress on charitable giving by foundations.
For more, including links to the agenda and a flier on the event, visit Lieu’s Web site at the address below.
Ted W. Lieu represents nearly 1 million residents of Senate District 28, which includes the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance, as well as portions of Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Pedro. For more, visit www.senate.ca.gov/lieu
