Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

pattern of disproportionate transportationinvestment in highway development at the expenseof transit services in low-income communities.Originally made up largely of regionalenvironmental and planning groups, TALC ispartnered with more than 90 organizations,including grassroots community groupsrepresenting the interests of low-incomecommunities of color. At times TALC joins forceswith the SEC through its Transportation JusticeWorking Group to achieve policy wins.Furthermore, the involvement of low-incomegrassroots groups has sharpened TALC’s equityperspective and strengthened its advocacyefforts, according to Stuart Cohen, TALC’sexecutive director.Adding to the advocacy base for regional equity inthe Bay Area, Regional Asthma Management &Prevention (RAMP), a project of the Public HealthInstitute, is focusing on asthma as an equity issuethat is related to broader issues of environmentaljustice, transportation, housing, and education.Asthma, a disease that disproportionately affects lowincomeminority neighborhoods, can be triggered bypoor quality indoor or outdoor air. Air pollutioncaused by factors like car exhaust, diesel fumes,toxins, poor indoor ventilation in crumbling schools,as well as molding and mildew in substandardhomes, is contributing to this growing problem.Created in 1996 to address the growing problem ofasthma, RAMP recognizes that asthma is a multidimensionalissue that requires a multi-facetedapproach. In the search for solutions, RAMP involvesa wide range of groups, such as health care providers,community-based organizations, managed careorganizations, individual county health departments,and environmental health as well as environmentaljustice advocates. A key player in health advocacyand contributing to legislative victories, RAMPcollaborates with other initiatives to campaign forbetter environmental, housing, and school policies.For example, RAMP has collaborated with UrbanHabitat and the SEC, among others, to articulatethematic and strategic connections between asthmaand environmental justice. It has emerged as aregional health intermediary and as a clearinghouseof best practices and innovative ideas. Theorganization facilitates information sharing andprovides technical assistance in areas such ascoalition-building, capacity-building, policy andadvocacy, and strategic planning. Exemplified as areplicable model, RAMP shows how limited localresources can be optimized at the regional level toserve a region’s public health needs.Funder InterestA variety of factors have attracted funders to thesegrantees, but one common theme emerges. Eachfunder acknowledges that they were attracted to theregion and the organizations profiled here becausethe Bay Area is a center of innovative advocacy work.Carl Anthony, acting director of the Community andResource Development Unit at the Ford Foundation,calls the Bay Area “the epicenter of discourse aboutsustainable development and regional equity in thecountry.” He explainsthat the FordFoundation wantedto pursue theopportunity tocontribute to thelocal change effortsthrough the SEC.Additionally, Fordwanted to drawparallels and lessonsThe Bay Area is “theepicenter of discourse aboutsustainable developmentand regional equity in thecountry.”— Carl Anthonylearned between their demonstration projects inRichmond, Calif., and Camden, N.J. On one hand,Richmond faces a host of socioeconomic problemsbut has a strong surrounding economy, whileCamden is similarly plagued with socioeconomicbarriers but is operating in an environment where thesurrounding economy is weak. 26Innovation, the potential to share learning, and theability to replicate the models are the factors behindfunders’ interest in TALC and RAMP, as they arewith SEC. Hooper Brooks, program director forenvironment at the Surdna Foundation, was attractedto TALC because it was doing “some of the best workin the country” on transportation reform. Brooksdescribes the organization as having considerablestrengths due to its ability to build coalitions, involvemultiple parties, and its “skillful understanding ofhow the transportation funding world works.”Furthermore, senior program officer DianneYamashiro-Omi from the Bay Area office of The26A more detailed profile of the Ford Foundation’s regional equitydemonstration projects in Camden, N.J., and Richmond, Calif., beginson page 32.EQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTPart III: Section 1: Promoting Equitable Public Investment 58