The James Irvine Foundation

The second in our content series for Labor Day is Aquilina Soriano Versoza, Executive Director of Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California (PWC), a grantee partner of Irvine’s #FairWork initiative! PWC builds the collective power of low-wage and immigrant Filipino communities to advance better living and working conditions. This includes supporting workers experiencing #WageTheft. In this video, Aquilina talks more about what’s needed to combat wage theft: https://lnkd.in/gqh-DUKp Want to learn about PWC’s work? Visit: https://irvine.ly/46K762O

To celebrate Labor Day, we are highlighting some of the leaders and organizations Irvine is privileged to support. Starting us off is Angelica Salas, Executive Director of CHIRLA, a grantee partner of Irvine’s #JustProsperity initiative! CHILRA organizes #immigrants and their families to advance policies that promote freedom of movement, full human rights, and civic action that strengthens democracy. In this video, Angélica talks more about CHIRLA’s work and the importance of #organizing: https://lnkd.in/gZd8i559. To learn more about CHIRLA, visit their website at: https://irvine.ly/4fBYjDY #JustProsperity #LaborDay

Through our #PriorityCommunities initiative, we have the privilege of partnering with inspiring organizations and leaders in Fresno, Salinas, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Stockton. The initiative aims to create and protect more good jobs that offer family-sustaining wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities for workers in low-wage jobs — and support communities as they create economies that work for all residents. Want to learn about some of our partners and their efforts to build inclusive economies in their communities? Check out this playlist: https://lnkd.in/gepUCSkY #InclusiveEconomy

California Coalition for Worker Power (CCWP), a grantee partner of Irvine’s #FairWork initiative, is taking collaboration to the next level to tackle wage theft; employer surveillance and retaliation against workers for exercising their basic rights; and, hazardous working conditions, from warehouses to farms to restaurants and beyond, that result in high rates of illness and injuries on the job. Alexandra Suh, CCWP co-president and executive director of Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), noted that the coalition is strengthening relationships and building more solidarity among workers and their allies in California. Learn more about CCWP’s efforts: https://irvine.ly/4dfrk70

Despite the vital services care workers provide to millions of Americans, home care workers often toil under difficult conditions with low wages and unpredictable schedules. In 2023, the BLS reported that median pay for home health and personal care aides was about $16 an hour, or the equivalent of less than $34,000 in annual income. Advocacy organizations like National Domestic Workers Alliance, a grantee partner of Irvine’s #FairWork initiative, have long sought to shed light on the precarity of home care jobs and the lack of protections for people who work in private homes – majority of whom are women, and about two-thirds are people of color. In this Fast Company piece, home care workers share the challenges they face on the job, why they remain passionate about their work, and their efforts to improve the industry: https://lnkd.in/gY6DvAsh

Undocumented immigrants are critically important to our economy. They contribute more than $151 billion to California’s economy, accounting for 4.9% of the state’s GDP, according to the Center for Economics of Social Issues at California Lutheran University. They also make up of almost half of California’s agricultural workforce, putting their health on the line to help put food on our tables. Despite their contributions, undocumented immigrants continue to earn low wages. Research from University of Southern California’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration showed that the median wage for an undocumented work was $13 per hour – half the rate for other workers in the state. They also pay taxes, generating more than $77 billion in tax revenue in 2019, meaning they pay for public benefits that they are not allowed to use. At Irvine, our goal is to create a California where all low-income workers have the power to advance economically. Achieving this goal is not possible without recognizing that the contributions of undocumented immigrants are continually undervalued and that they have unique needs that must be addressed. More about undocumented immigrants’ contributions to our economy in Capital & Main: https://lnkd.in/gkMYBZ4B

The second in our blog series about Irvine’s work to advance racial equity in our grantmaking and how we operate highlights how we’re putting equity more at the center of our talent systems. Irvine's Director of Talent, Larry Vales highlights how we implemented pay equity and our living-wage program, require racial equity learning as part of development, and address equity in our policies. Larry also shares a living-wage toolkit to help others join the living-wage movement, as well as Irvine’s equity competency self-assessment tool in hopes that it will help anyone looking to implement an equity competency development goal. Read on: https://irvine.ly/46peRLn #RacialEquity #Equity #Philanthropy

California Coalition for Worker Power’s (CCWP) focus on organizing reflects a recognition that long-term structural change cannot be achieved without a powerful worker movement to empower workers. Elly Matsumura, CCWP co-founder and PowerSwitch Action California Director, shared that the coalition’s vision is to become a powerful force for supporting unions, worker centers, and other partners across California to adopt and experiment with innovative organizing methods and tactics. Learn more about how CCWP is strengthening worker organizing across industries and regions beyond policy at: https://irvine.ly/4dfrk70

Interested in hearing from funders across the country who are advancing community leadership and supporting the capacity of entire ecosystems to create change? Register now to join FSG and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO)’s “Embracing an Ecosystem Approach for Philanthropy” webinar next week: https://lnkd.in/eKGA945p Speakers include: - Jessica Kaczmarek, Initiative Director of Irvine’s Priority Communities initiative - John Harper, CEO of FSG - Joshua Hearne, Program Director and Senior Program Officer of Danville Regional Foundation - Marcus Walton, President & CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO)

A recent report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office shows that a bottom-tier home in California — one that falls within the 5th to 35th percentile of home values in the state — costs 33% more than a mid-tier home in the rest of the country. This means one would need to earn $140,000 a year to qualify for the mortgage, demonstrating that owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult for California workers, especially workers of colors with low wages. In this piece, Capital & Main’s Mark Kreidler highlights the need for public and private partnerships to address California’s worsening housing crisis, as well as existing efforts aiming to do so: https://lnkd.in/gnHDw-Jz