East Contra Costa STRONG Collaborative Fund

A Collaborative Pooled Fund

The East Contra Costa STRONG Collaborative Fund (STRONG) aims to increase racial equity and economic justice in East Contra Costa County by strengthening the capacity of nonprofits, supporting leadership development, and building community voice and power.

Since its launch in 2015, the Fund has supported capacity building for nonprofit leaders and leadership development for leaders of color; the establishment a nonprofit network; advocacy for a strengthened service delivery ecosystem; funded and shared important research and information to catalyze action; and supported community engagement and cross-sector collaboration to ensure the region has a voice at countywide tables.

The Fund’s priorities are informed by listening to and learning from community partners, centering Black, indigenous and people of color voices, leveraging relationships with community leaders and decision makers, seeking out unmet opportunities ripe for investment, staying flexible to meet emergent opportunities, and committing to long-term work in East Contra Costa County.

Goals:

1. Invest in leadership and capacity towards racially equitable changes in policies and institutions, especially around issues most important to BIPOC communities.  
2. Support community-led narrative change efforts
3. Increase philanthropic and private investment in ECCC

Strategies:

1. Expand and deepen the leadership capacity of BIPOC leaders to build collective power by strengthening resident leadership, community organizing, and the connective tissue between coalitions and organizations
2. Enhance the infrastructure of grassroots organizations and nonprofits to build and sustain equitable and thriving communities through effective service, advocacy, and access to public and philanthropic grants
3. Support community and ethnic media expansion to inform, engage and amplify the voices of BIPoC communities, reshape racist narratives and increase transparency and accountability for justice 
4. Educate and engage philanthropy and the public sector to increase investments in East Contra Costa County

STRONG is an invitation-only fund.  As the pooled fund expands, we intend to examine that practice and offer opportunities for organizations to introduce their work without creating burdensome structures and unrealistic expectations. The East Contra Costa STRONG Collaborative Fund members include East Bay Community Foundation, Justice Justice Fund, Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, Magic Cabinet, San Francisco Foundation, The California Endowment, Y & H Soda Fund and Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Resources

Findings from the Field Learning Brief

Funder Directory

Data, Narrative, Action to Support Racial Equity in East Contra Costa County – UC Riverside Center for Social Innovation

Understanding Poverty and Philanthropic Giving Disparities in the Bay Area (2018-2020) – United Way Bay Area

According to a recent United Way Bay Area study, Contra Costa County received just 3% of the funding in the region, yet accounts for 15% of the share of Bay Area households earning less than the Real Cost Measure (estimated cost of living for a family of four). 

Related Staff

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Autumn McDonald

(she/her)

Vice President of Community Investments & Partnerships

amcdonald@eastbaycf.org

Autumn McDonald is the Vice President of Community Investments & Partnerships, leading EBCF’s strategic grantmaking, regional collaborations, and team of program officers to deliver on our mission across the East Bay. 

Autumn has more than two decades of experience working with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies at the intersection of strategy, advocacy, civic innovation, and social impact. Through her work with FSG, a social impact consulting firm, Autumn built expertise in providing strategic guidance to large, small, community, and family foundations. Autumn also served the late San Francisco Mayor, Ed Lee, shaping policies and public-private initiatives to improve economic opportunity for Bay Area families. Before joining EBCF, she was a member of the leadership team at New America where she served as a senior fellow and head of New America CA. 

At New America, Autumn’s work focused on issues of economic equity, community engagement, resident voice, policy influence, and narrative change. Her writing has been published by numerous media outlets, including Slate, The Washington Post, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Project Syndicate, Pacific Standard, CalMatters, and Britannica Parents. She also serves on the board of KQED, Women’s Foundation of California, and as Chair of the board for Lincoln Families.  

Autumn has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s from the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. She, her husband, and their three children live in Oakland. Her parents moved to Oakland from the east coast right before the pandemic, happily making her East Bay kin now intergenerational!   

Contact Autumn McDonald

See Bio