Giving circles target change in community ---
Giving circles are a relatively new concept in philanthropy designed to produce greater community impact. In the Bay Area, the Latina Giving Circle is a group that enables individual donors to pool and target their resources to make a bigger impact on charitable causes of shared interest.
"The only way to improve our community is by improving ourselves and by learning from each other," says Tamara Centeno, a member of Latina Giving Circle East Bay. “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,” adds Centeno, who lives in Alameda.
Members of the giving circles come from diverse backgrounds but share a goal to inspire philanthropy by and for Latinos and increase 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.
One of six giving circles in the Bay Area, the East Bay Latina Giving Circle recently made their very first grants to three organizations working to empower Latino families in the East Bay. These recent donor-led investments are directed to education, business development, and LGBTQ outreach.
ECHO (Educational Coalition for Hispanics in Oakland) received $5,500. ECHO's mission is to provide Latino students and their families with the necessary tools to achieve academic success in all areas of their educational careers, teach and inform them about their rights and responsibilities in public education, and help them develop leadership skills to become effective leaders of their communities.
Somos Familia also received $5,500. Somos Familia supports Latino families with children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) and conducts education to create family and community acceptance. Somos Familia provides bilingual education and support services for Latina/o families and service providers such as child care workers, teachers, and staff of community-based organizations.
Prospera received $3,500. Prospera recruits and invests in low-income Latina immigrants with an entrepreneurial mindset and the capacity to become founding members of new cooperative ventures.
“From business idea to launch and growth, we support low income Latinas to build their own cooperative systems,” says Maria Rogers Pasqual, Co-executive director of Prospera.
Prospera provides intensive training, coaching, and technical assistance that guides founding members to launch and ultimately co-op expansion and sustainability. Prospera partners with community-based groups, individuals and private foundations who bring industry specific knowledge, legal and financial education services, financing, and other critical resources.
“We just started the process and our goal is to launch three co-ops this year,” says Pasqual. “Three to five women usually start a venture and the co-ops then hire and grow.”
The Latino Community Foundation (LCF) in San Francisco 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. LCF currently hosts six circles: Latina Giving Circle San Francisco, Latina Giving Circle Pleasanton, Latina Giving Circle Peninsula, Latina Giving Circle East Bay, Latino Giving Circle San Francisco and Latinos in Tech.