Common Counsel Foundation

Programs: Strategic grantmaking-during 2016, common counsel foundation (ccf) disbursed over $1. 8 million in direct grants to charitable organizations. Moreover, ccf advised an additional $2. 3 million granted by independent foundations (see philanthropic services section regarding these advised grants). In total, therefore, ccf has disbursed and advised over $4. 1 million in grants to charitable organizations that are advancing effective solutions to longstanding social and environmental inequities. Ccf supports organizations that work to develop community leadership, to advance systemic solutions defined by community members themselves, and to ensure health and equity for everyone. In order to aggregate the power and develop the scale required to implement change at local, regional, state, and federal levels, ccf invests in the collaborative endeavors of organizations who share values and have a common vision of solutions. Ccf looks for groups promoting innovative, community-led solutions to the most intractable social and ecological issues. Through its different funds, ccf is able to support mature and sophisticated organizations, which tend to have greater capacity, as well as newly emerging organizations with pioneering ideas. Ccf is often one of the first to invest in innovative ideas and new organizations. Below are a few examples of ccf grant recipients, which demonstrate the range of organizations and issues that we support. Systemic criminal justice reform:all of us or none, a project of legal services for prisoners with children | san francisco, californiaall of us or none (aouon) is a project of legal services for prisoners with children. The project works to organize and build leadership among formerly incarcerated people who in turn work to advance criminal-justice reform and to win full restoration of civil rights for people with incarceration or convictions in their past. The organization is working to eliminate the many forms of discrimination that exclude people with prior convictions from eligibility for employment, education, housing, voting, or public benefits. Aouon also advocates for alternatives to prisons and policing. The organizations efforts are headquartered in the bay area and include six other chapters in california and two outside the state in texas and oklahoma. Aouon, alongside its coalition partners in the justice reinvestment coalition, recently won a major victory in alameda county, california where almost one in four residents have a criminal record. Through its on-the-ground organizing work, aouon was able to convince the alameda county board of supervisors to vote unanimously (5-0) in favor of a new re-entry hiring program, to provide 1,400 county jobs for people impacted by the criminal justice system and youth in the school-to-prison pipeline in alameda county. The re-entry hiring program includes job coaching and mentorship, court advocacy to assist program participants in reducing their probation terms, and training for county managers who will supervise participants in the program. Native rights & climate or environmental justice:owe aku bring back the way | manderson, sdowe aku works to bring back the lakota peoples way of life which includes a recognition of humanitys role in nature: "we are a part of it, not outside of it, not having dominion over it". To achieve this, owe aku works to stop mining that contaminates water and land. Owe aku works with tribal youth and adults to utilize the wisdom of lakota ancestors in combatting the effects of inter-generational trauma caused by colonization and cultural domination, and offering alternatives, based on traditional knowledge, that respect the changing environmental conditions of mother earth. Owe akus work is centered on the pine ridge indian reservation in present-day south dakota, the home of the oglala lakota people. In 2016, owe aku, alongside many other ccf grant partners such as native youth leadership alliance and the indigenous peoples power project, converged in south dakota when called by the standing rock sioux tribe (another ccf grantee) to opposed the construction of the dakota access pipeline. These groups convened around the linked issues of land rights, water protection, native sovereignty, environmental protection, and climate & energy policy. The efforts at standing rock contributed significantly to a decision by the obama administration to halt construction of the pipeline, and raised the profile of native and environmental justice issues before the mainstream public. In 2017, owe aku, native people and their allies continue to resist the development of the dakota access pipeline (dapl) and other fossil fuel extraction projects. Immigrant rights, economic justice & public safety:housing justice & tenants rights: causa justa :: just cause | san francisco, californiacausa justa :: just cause (cjjc) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization building community leadership to achieve justice for low-income bay area residents, with a focus on housing rights and access to affordable housing. Despite the bay areas reputation as one of the most progressive places in the nation, persistent racial and economic inequality, in combination with the out-of-control housing market, is leading to the rapid displacement of working families. Elected officials throughout the region have acknowledged that the accelerating displacement of low-income black and latino communities and lack of access to quality affordable housing constitutes a real housing crisis. However, there has been a distinct void in government leadership for the kind of bold and comprehensive solutions that are required to effectively address this crisis. That said, in 2016, cjjc helped win comprehensive tenant protection legislation in oakland, by leveraging its experience and knowledge in offering tenant rights education and assistance to over 1,000 families. In november 2016, cjjc led the charge with other community organizations (including several ccf grant partners) to successfully pass measure jj in oakland. Despite being significantly outspent by the legislations opponents, measure jj passed with 75 percent of the vote, and expands the rights of 15,000 oakland renters. This legislation protects oakland renters from illegal rent increases and unjustified evictions in the hopes of stemming the gentrification crisis in the bay area.

fiscal sponsorshipcommon counsel foundations fiscal-sponsorship program ensures the health and vitality of the sponsored community-led organizations and their leaders and promotes coordination and learning in the philanthropic sector. In 2016, ccf acted as fiscal sponsor for the kindle project, the windcall institute, roadmap and the bay area justice funders network. The kindle project seeks to foster creative ideas to inspire and support possibilities for transformational change. The windcall institute supports the development and sustainability of leaders, which is a key to ensuring strong, healthy visionary organizations. Roadmap is a national network of organizational-development consultants dedicated to serving social-justice organizations. Roadmap serves as a forum for peer exchange and innovation among organizational-development consultants. The bay area justice funders network promotes learning and coordination among donors to strengthen grantmaking for social justice.

philanthropic services common counsel foundation provides strategic philanthropic advice, grants management and administration and accounting support to independent foundations that share a commitment to equity and environmental health. Ccf assists its clients in streamlining their grantmaking processes and deepening their impact. In addition to the services already noted, ccf helps clients refine their grantmaking strategy and provides research, due diligence, grant recommendations, trustee support, and legal compliance. Ccf taps community advisors, each of whom has deep connections to community-led organizations and whose knowledge and expertise adds to the knowledge and expertise of common counsels staff. Ccfs community advisors and staff ensure that the organization is aware of the latest innovations emerging from local communities and of pioneering solutions developed by local leaders. Ccfs staff and advisors are able to identify community leaders who have exciting vision and organizations with promising new models and approaches