A Note from East Bay Community Foundation’s President & CEO, Brandi Howard
In 2028, EBCF will turn 100. That’s one hundred years of impact, collaboration, and deep connections to the communities that make the East Bay such a special place. As we approach this milestone, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to get clear about the world we want to build over the next hundred years.
That’s why EBCF is launching an Impact Planning process to ensure that our next chapter is shaped by the people we serve. We need your voice to get there.
When I joined EBCF in 2022, I arrived with a vision of economic freedom for the East Bay. Over the past few years, I’ve learned that this requires showing up on three levels at once: meeting urgent needs today, building power for tomorrow, and creating the conditions for structural change over the long term.
At EBCF, we know that none of us are safe when any of us are under attack. So, we’ve stretched to respond to the challenges of this moment. In the past year, we’ve come together to feed children, supported immigrant neighbors, invested in the well-being of movement leaders, and funded the artists who bring our communities’ realities, hopes, and dreams to life.
But playing defense is not enough. Our community partners are simultaneously absorbing the blows of this moment and holding a vision of a just future. It is our job to move with them through urgency and toward the horizon.
For us, that horizon is the vision of an East Bay where everyone is free to dream, heal, and belong — where the communities that have shaped this place for generations have the economic power to remain, to thrive, and to own their piece of the future.
Achieving this vision is impossible without a strong organization behind it. Over the past three years, EBCF has worked to strengthen our foundation: recruiting a new leadership team, investing in technology that frees our people to focus on relationships, and renewing our building in downtown Oakland as a genuine gathering place for community.
I always say that EBCF enters the work at the level of the people. This summer, we will conduct listening sessions with nonprofit partners, interviews with donors and public sector leaders, and conversations with residents across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. We also welcome your feedback in the form we’ve created below.
We want your honest assessment of what’s working, what’s missing, and where we need to go deeper.
Nearly 100 years of history has taught us that the most important voices in this process are the ones closest to the community. So, consider this your invitation. Tell us what you need and what EBCF can do to stand strong alongside you. The next chapter is ours to write together.