A LEGACY OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

The Castellano Family Foundation (CFF) closed its operations on June 30, 2023

The Context

Corporations and foundations are giving at high rates, and influential entrepreneurs are directing their financial assets to efforts designed to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.

And yet, Latinx communities, institutions, and leaders across our region continue to experience significant relative hardships in areas ranging from education and employment to health and housing.

The Challenge

Under-resourcing and under-representation in Silicon Valley philanthropy and commerce amplifies lingering problems and inequities across our region’s social and economic landscape.

Latinx nonprofits in particular report feeling under-valued by philanthropy, over-taxed by the demand for their services to communities in need, and largely invisible and irrelevant when it comes to new wealth donors.

Decolonizing Wealth in Silicon Valley: A Conversation with Edgar Villanueva

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Amplifying the Message

LatinXCEL FUND NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

The LatinXCEL Fund promotes equity and inclusion by investing in the leadership development and capacity-building needs of a wide range of Latinx community-based organizations in the region. The first round of grants will be distributed in summer 2021. For details on how to apply, view the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s guide and instructional video.

In Silicon Valley, Donors Are Neglecting Latinx Nonprofits. A New Fund Aims to Close the Gap

More than a year into the pandemic, it’s clear that marginalized communities, particularly low income and communities of color, have been most affected by COVID-19, both in terms of the virus itself and the economic fallout that’s come with the pandemic. In California, those most impacted have been Latinx, a group that comprises 39% of California’s population but constitutes 48.5% of all COVID-related deaths in the state.

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INTERVIEW WITH CARMELA CASTELLANO-GARCIA

Hear how the Castellano Family Foundation’s Blueprint for Change led to the creation of the LatinXCEL Fund, a 3-year, $10M initiative. This unique philanthropic partnership will support leadership development and capacity building for local Latinx-led, Latinx-serving nonprofits. To learn more about the Fund, visit: siliconvalleycf.org/latinxcel-fund.

INTERVIEW WITH ANGIE BRIONES

Hear how the Blueprint’s call to action for philanthropy to lead efforts on making targeted, long-term investments in Latinx nonprofits led to a new fund designed for that purpose: the LatinXCEL Fund.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Latinx and other nonprofit leaders of color continue to be underrepresented, under-resourced, and undervalued in organized philanthropy’s work. More and more funders and nonprofit leaders recognize the problem, yet change is not happening at a rate or scope sufficient to make a meaningful difference.

What will it take for nonprofit leaders to be successful in leveraging greater social investment responsiveness to our communities’ changing demography and needs? What is getting in the way of real change in forging true partnerships with philanthropic institutions and donors and why has it taken so long?

The Castellano Family Foundation welcomed leaders of Latinx and other BIPOC-led nonprofit organizations for an honest conversation on the issues with Seattle-based social investment activist and thinker Vu Le.

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, and social critic. He is the former executive director of RVC, a Seattle nonprofit that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities.

Angie Briones is the Director of Grantmaking & Strategic Initiatives at the Castellano Family Foundation.

Supporting Latinx Organizations in Silicon Valley

Watch our virtual conversation exploring the vital and creative work of Latino-led organizations in Silicon Valley, and what it takes to build a movement of committed philanthropists.

Armando Castellano, Trustee of the Castellano Family Foundation and Magnify Community Pledger, and Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation, discuss opportunities to support Latino-led nonprofits in Silicon Valley, and the imperative to invest in Latino leadership in this moment.

INTERVIEW WITH ARMANDO CASTELLANO

Armando Castellano talks honestly about his parents legacy, his power as a philanthropist, and how he’s using that power to advocate for equitable practices and increased funding for Latinx-led, community-based nonprofits.

Covid revealed Silicon Valley’s need for a different way forward

If you care about advancing meaningful social investment and community change in Silicon Valley, we invite you to read Carmela Castellano-Garcia’s recent op-ed in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The piece highlights the need for urgency, cross-sector collaboration, and shared prosperity if we are going to “build back better” on a path to equity after emerging from the current pandemic.

READ OP-ED

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Between 2008 and 2013, total Silicon Valley-based individual giving rose from $1.9 billion to $4.8 billion—a 150 percent increase.

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Community-based organizations make up 84 percent of the region’s nonprofits, but report only 26 percent of its total revenues.

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77 percent of local nonprofits report revenues under $1 million, and many are financially unstable.

Solutions

Blueprint for Change: A Call to Action for Silicon Valley Philanthropy to Engage and Support Latinx Organizations, Communities and Leaders for the Common Good presents findings and recommendations rooted in two years of extensive research, community outreach, and executive consultations with many of our region’s leading civic and social investment principals

More than 65 Latinx-led, Latinx-focused grantee organizations participated in one-on-one listening sessions and convenings, contributing their unique perspectives, lived experience, and expertise to inform this report.

Download the Blueprint

LATINX NOW COMPRISE ONE-QUARTER OF THE REGION’S POPULATION AND ARE PROJECTED TO TOTAL MORE THAN 1 MILLION INDIVIDUALS BY 2050. 25% 25%
LATINX GROUPS RECEIVE ONLY ABOUT 1 PERCENT OF ALL PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENT. 1% 1%
ONLY 2 PERCENT OF PRIVATE FOUNDATION CEOS ARE OF LATINX HERITAGE. 2% 2%

Time to Step Up

ENGAGE WITH LATINX COMMUNITIES ON THEIR TERMS

A bold vision of change starts with philanthropy pledging more aggressively to invest in and significantly support local Latinx nonprofits whose work is key to overcoming long-standing social inequities in the Valley and beyond.

Download the Blueprint

$50M over 5 Years

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General Operating Support

CFF has designated over $1 million in general operating support to Latinx organizations in Santa Clara County through 2025 as part of our $6.5 million total investment in the Latinx nonprofit sector. We pledge to help leverage additional general support for Latinx nonprofits by connecting them with all sectors of the philanthropic community that align with their interests.

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Capacity Building

CFF will partner with Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) and David and Lucile Packard Foundation to launch a Latinx leadership pipeline program to develop the next generation of Silicon Valley leaders. We are also collaborating with SVCF and other foundations to pilot a new staff wellness grant program to support self-care, wellness, work/life balance, and other staff retention strategies for Latinx community-based nonprofits.

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Funder Collaborative

CFF will establish a Silicon Valley funder collaborative with a governance structure that includes representatives of the Castellano Family Foundation and the Latinx community. We are initiating the planning and development phase of this collaborative in partnership with SVCF, who will hold the funds contributed by foundations and donors on our behalf.

Publications and Resources

The current issues surrounding equity and social justice are not new but are finally getting the attention they deserve. After more than 18 years of advocacy on these issues within the philanthropic sector, the Castellano Family Foundation in partnership with Silicon Valley Community Foundation recently released a 2020 report available to download here highlighting many of these issues which have been amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. While the report focuses on our region of Northern California, the findings are consistent with other research and applicable to Latinx and other communities of color throughout the U.S. We hope you’ll find the report and these related resources useful in advocating for much needed change in our sector.