Mission:
To expand opportunities for residents of California to participate in a vibrant, successful, and inclusive society.

Background:
After witnessing the unrest caused by the Great Depression in California, agricultural pioneer James Irvine formed the Irvine Foundation in 1937 to promote the general well-being of citizens and residents of the state. Trusting the value of land, Irvine made his foundation the primary stockholder of the Irvine Company, which owned about 110,000 acres of prime ranch land. In the late 1970s, when the foundation was forced to sell its share in the company to comply with new federal legislation, the foundation's assets had grown to $184 million. At the end of 2008, those assets had grown to more than $1.4 billion.

Today, the foundation is focused on advancing the educational and economic prospects of low-income Californians; engaging citizens in the civic and cultural lives of their communities and the state; fostering understanding among diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups; and enriching the state's intellectual and creative environment.

Outstanding Web Features:
The Irvine Foundation Web site includes evaluation tools and resources; an archive of foundation publications, including the online Irvine Quarterly; and resources for grantseekers and grantees that can be downloaded or shared on social networking sites. The site also includes a grants database that is searchable by keyword, program, year, region, and grant amount as well as an interactive map that shares information about the foundation's grants by region.