Why Be Part of Smart Growth California?
If you want to connect, learn, and take action with other funders to create greater impact together across California, then we invite you to join our network. We invite you to sign up for our newsletter if you’re affiliated with a philanthropic institution supporting grantees in California.
Smart Growth California is where hundreds of funders connect, learn, and take action to create far greater impact across the Golden State.
Listed below are all the foundations that play a leadership role in Smart Growth California through participation in one of our working groups, including our statewide steering committee, San Joaquin Valley Funders’ Collaborative and Los Angeles Funders’ Collaborative.
California Community Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation
Ceres Trust
Enterprise Community Partners
First 5 LA
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Latino Community Foundation
Liberty Hill Foundation
NextGen Policy Center
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
The San Diego Foundation
S. D. Bechtel Jr., Foundation
Sierra Health Foundation
Stanislaus Community Foundation
The 11th Hour Project
The California Endowment
Central Valley Community Foundation
Common Counsel Foundation
First 5 Kern
Garfield Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
LA County Department of Public Health
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation
Resources Legacy Fund
The San Francisco Foundation
The Seed Fund
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Water Foundation
As part of Smart Growth California, you can:
- Network and build relationships with knowledgeable, collegial peers;
- Deepen your knowledge and learn about best-practices through webinars and in-person briefings from statewide and regional leaders;
- Identify and share insights and best practices with colleagues;
- Stay on top of current California and regional issues and policies;
- Leverage the impact of your own giving through collaboration with other funders;
- Identify specific opportunities for funding alignment and action through our working groups.
Additional benefits include:
- Access to all Smart Growth California networking events, webinars and issue briefings;
- Our funder-only email updates and newsletters with the most relevant learning opportunities, news, and resources;
- Access to the Smart Growth California funder resource directory;
- Leadership opportunities through the Statewide Steering Committee, working groups, and our funder summit.
Who is Eligible to Join?
We welcome all funders who are currently supporting efforts to build healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities in California. This includes institutional grantmakers (family foundations; private independent foundations; community and public foundations; corporate foundations) with annual giving exceeding $250,000.
While some of our working groups are invitation-only, others are open to foundations that invest in the issue or region and share common goals, values and strategies. To join a working group, you will first have a call with one of our team members, then be invited to attend a meeting and ultimately be voted in by other members of the working group. If you are interested in an existing working group or in starting a new one, please reach out to Ron Milam at ron@fundersnetwork.org.
How to Join Smart Growth California
There is no membership fee associated with becoming part of Smart Growth California. However, Smart Growth California asks that all active funders in our workgroups to become a member of The Funders Network (TFN), our parent organization. Membership in TFN supports Smart Growth California and offers many additional benefits. Smart Growth California also depends on additional financial support from funding partners in order to implement our strategies and activities throughout California.
Join Our Community Now
Please fill out the form below to join our funder community. Contact Ron Milam, Director of Smart Growth California, with any questions, or learn more about Smart Growth California’s vision and approach.
