Tamara Centeno is on a mission of the heart. “I joined the Latina Giving Circle because 100 percent of my donation will improve my own Latino community”, says Centeno, who lives in Alameda. “The Latina Giving Circle gives me the opportunity not only to be involved but also to be actively engaged in causes that are close to my heart”.

Based in the East Bay, the Latina Giving Circle is a group that enables individual donors to pool their resources to make a bigger impact on charitable causes of shared interest.

The Latina Giving Circle is one of seven Latino Giving Circles in the Bay Area. The initiative started in 2012 with a Latino Circle of thirteen members. In 2014, the Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco created more circles and now the entire network of circles has 125 members who have donated more than $100,000 to local Latino community organizations and programs.

Members of the giving circles come from diverse backgrounds but share a goal to inspire philanthropy by and for Latinos by increasing the philanthropic dollars awarded to Latino-based organizations. The idea is to promote Latino civic engagement, facilitate leadership development and contribute more financial and human capital than they could alone.

There's been a long-held belief that the average Latino household doesn't give to charities, yet according to a study by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Latinos are philanthropists — and have always been. Their methods are just different from the traditional way of giving. While sixty-three percent of Latino households now make charitable donations, identity-based philanthropy reflects a much broader spectrum of giving than just money. Identity-based philanthropy can also mean donating time and services — everything that helps build up the community and its people.

“The participation of the women in the Latina Giving Circles is beyond the money they give,” says Sara Velten, Vice President of Philanthropy for the Latino Community Foundation. “They really get involved with the organizations that they support - many times they become volunteers in those organizations,” adds Velten.

The Latino Community Foundation (LCF) is the engine behind the Latino Giving Circles in the Bay Area. LCF offers Giving Circle members all the resources of the foundation at no cost, which allows every dollar a Giving Circle donor contributes to go directly to the community.

As the Latino population grows, so does their ability and desire to contribute money and time to community organizations. Magdy Hurtado represents this growing desire to contribute. She is co-Chair of Somos Familia, a non-profit group in Oakland that creates support and acceptance for Latina (o) lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth and their families in the Bay Area. In 2014, Somos Familia was awarded a grant for $5,000 from the Latino Giving Circles and Hurtado is now a member of the Latina Giving Circle in the East Bay.

“Anybody can be a philanthropist,” Hurtado says. “It is about people in the community getting together to make a change and I want to be part of that. I do not want to wait for anybody to make a change; I am going to do it.”

“Dynamic and inspiring, the Latina Giving Circle is a group of visionary social changers committed to enhancing quality of life for Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area,” says Mara Perez, Ph.D. “I am thrilled to have become a member of this circle and look forward to working with everyone to make grants that lead to positive change in our community.”

“Our support for Latinos must start in our own communities,” Centeno adds. “This is the best way to do it.”

To learn more about the Latina Giving Circle, you can attend an upcoming meeting or visit http://www.latinocf.org/giving-circles.html