Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

EQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTI. J. FUSING ISSUES, MAKINGCHANGE: REGIONALADVOCACY IN THE SANFRANCISCO BAY AREAFunders Highlighted:The California EndowmentFord FoundationThe San Francisco FoundationSurdna Foundation“It isn’t hopeless. Funders can make a difference.”— Hooper Brooks, Surdna FoundationThe San Francisco Bay Area is an important nationalfocus point in the quest for more equitable regionaldevelopment. As highlighted in this profile,community, statewide, and national funders havebecome involved in supporting advocacy effortsaimed at making the region more equitable andlivable for all residents. This profile highlights that asa result of the collective efforts, the circle of supportfor achieving equity has broadened and a crosssectionof sectors, organizations, and communitymembers are involved in the regional decisionmakingprocess and the search for solutions.Project ProfilesThe Bay Area Social Equity Caucus (SEC) emergedin 1997 out of the Bay Area Alliance for SustainableCommunities, a group convened by the Bay AreaCouncil, the Association of Bay Area Governments,the Sierra Club, and Urban Habitat. 25 Concernedabout a historical pattern of exclusion, the SEC seeksto create access and opportunities for low-incomeminority communities and to ensure their voices areheard in shaping the regional equity agenda. TheSEC works to build strategic partnerships byconnecting member organizations’ local issues andpriorities to a broader regional equity agenda.Directed by Urban Habitat, SEC has taken the leadin shaping innovative strategies in the Bay Area, suchas a Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area, whichoutlines the principles for sustainable localdevelopment that was endorsed by many of theregion’s jurisdictions, and the Community CapitalInvestment Initiative, which promotes the concept ofdouble bottom line investments that provideeconomic returns to investors as well as social andeconomic benefits to communities. The SEC, anadvocate for equitable development, workscollaboratively with its member organizations andother Bay Area groups to create policy changes inareas such as housing, transportation, andenvironmental justice.The Transportation and Land Use Coalition(TALC) emerged around the same time as theSocial Equity Caucus. The Coalition was catalyzedby a 1997 grant from the William and FloraHewlett Foundation to the Surface TransportationPolicy Project (STPP) that was designed to fostercollaboration in select metropolitan areas. Access totransportation is central to connecting low-incomecommunities toregionalopportunities andresources in the BayArea, including jobs,schools, and healthcare facilities. TheBay Area ischallenged, however,by a history ofunder-fundingtransit investment inlow-incomecommunities. Everspreadingsprawlingdevelopment has leftinfrastructureplanners scramblingto keep up withtransportation needs,while the complexThe Bay Area is challengedby a history of underfundingtransit investmentin low-income communities.Ever-spreading sprawlingdevelopment has leftinfrastructure plannersscrambling to keep upwith transportation needs,while the complex decisionmakingprocesses and longplanning horizons havetypically deterred communityparticipation in decisionmakingprocesses.decisionmaking processes and long planninghorizons have typically deterred communityparticipation in decisionmaking processes. Thefocus of TALC is on creating a more sustainable andsocially just Bay Area by ensuring thatcommunities, particularly low-incomecommunities, have access to needed transportationservices. The Coalition’s work seeks to reverse a25The Bay Area Council represents 200 of the largest businesses in theregion (www.bayareacouncil.org). Urban Habitat is one of the oldestenvironmental justice organizations in the nation(www.urbanhabitat.org).57Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities