California

The San Diego (SDF) and Dr. Seuss foundations have announced grants totaling $1.15 million in support of 23 local nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing affordable, quality early childhood education and care for families with children under the age of 6. The funding includes $650,000 from SDF and $500,000 from the Dr. Seuss Foundation, which joined SDF’s Early Childhood Initiative in 2022, adding a funding emphasis on early literacy. Grant recipients include the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, Father Joe’s Villages, Home Start, and Reading Legacies.

The San Francisco Foundation has announced that Jes Montesinos has been hired as the full-time senior director of the Place Pathway. Montesinos previously served as interim senior director of the program and has served nonprofits and foundations for more than two decades.

Connecticut

The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut in New London has awarded grants from its Fund for Racial Justice, which is now endowed with an additional $350,000 raised from donors over the past year, The Day reports. The latest recipients of grants from the fund include Castle Church, the NAACP Robertsine Duncan Youth Council, Artreach, and CLiCK ̶Commercially Licensed Co-operative Kitchen.

Florida

The Central Florida Foundation in Orlando has announced the election of two officers and four new members to its board. Waymon Armstrong of Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) and John Martinez of J.P. Morgan Private Bank will serve as board chair and vice chair, respectively. In addition, Eddie Fernandez of Fernandez Legal, Peter Hilera of the Withum accounting firm, Karla Muniz of InHealth MD Alliance, and Stefanie Steele of Walt Disney World Resort have joined the board.

Hawai‘i

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), which receives support from the Oak Foundation for its Marine 30x30 Pooled Fund, is providing support to Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea to manage and protect the reef and shoreline at Mū‘olea Point, along Maui’s eastern shore. Nā Mamo was established in 2004 when area residents had the opportunity to purchase nearly 70 acres of coastal land around Mū‘olea from a former ranching company. The HCF’s pooled fund invests in communities across Hawai‘i, primarily through nonprofit organizations such as Nā Mamo. As part of its commitment, the cohort will also receive technical assistance and capacity building support on a range of priority issues identified by the cohort members.

Louisiana

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has announced the launch of the Giving Store, a tool designed to connect civic-minded people with nonprofits and causes they care about. Donors can browse a list of active fundraising campaigns submitted by nonprofits to ensure that they are supporting specific, real-time needs and make donations through the platform.

Massachusetts

The Boston Foundation has announced that its Equality Fund has awarded grants totaling $336,000 to 36 LGBTQ+-led and -serving organizations in the region. The grants, made as the fund kicked off its celebration of Pride 2023, boost the fund’s total grantmaking since 2012 to more than $1.8 million. The most recent recipients include the Bisexual Resource Center, Boston Pride for the People, Coro Allegro, and FLAG (Friends, Lesbians, and Gays) Flag Football.

Ohio

The Columbus Foundation has announced grants totaling $1.2 million in support of 74 central Ohio arts and culture organizations. Recipients include Actors Theatre of Columbus, Chamber Music Columbus, Glass Axis, and MadLab.

The Dayton Foundation has announced grants totaling $199,494 to 18 charitable organizations in the region as part of its Basic Human Needs Grants process. Recipients include Closet TRANSformation, Expressions of Life, Learn to Earn Dayton, and Xenia Area Fish Food Pantry.