The San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation has announced twenty-six grants totaling $11.5 million to support and expand opportunities for the people of California.

Grants awarded through the foundation's California Democracy program included $600,000 over three years to Common Cause to help expand voter participation in elections, public participation in redistricting, and public education; $625,000 over three years to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center to help foster the involvement of low-income residents in public decision making; and $200,000 over one year to the Center for Government Studies.

Through its Linked Learning initiative, the foundation awarded $1 million to the Institute for Evidence-Based Change for the Strategic Linking of Academic and Technical Education (SLATE) initiative, which will work to align and integrate high school, community college, and university curricula with career and technical education coursework; and $400,000 over twenty-two months to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors for the development of a citizen's commission to create specific and targeted postsecondary attainment goals for the state.

The foundation also awarded $2 million over one year to the Nonprofit Finance Fund as part of a special initiative to support California-based projects of ArtPlace, a public-private partnership designed to promote the role of arts and culture in building livable communities; $500,000 over three years to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association to provide underserved Los Angeles neighborhoods with high-quality music and music-making opportunities; and $600,000 over forty-one months to EmcArts to provide capacity-building support for the Arts Innovation Fund grantees.

For a complete list of fourth-quarter grants announced by the foundation, visit the Irvine Foundation Web site.