The San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $17.6 million to fifteen nonprofit organizations working to expand opportunities for Californians to participate in a vibrant, successful, and inclusive society.

Through its Arts Innovation Fund, the foundation awarded $1 million over four years to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre to establish the Center for Artistic Innovation and Summer Lab, which will offer artist residencies and facilitate the development of new work; $900,000 over three years to the San Francisco Ballet Association to acquire new tools and expertise in social media; and $850,000 over four years to the Pacific Symphony for aMUSEd, a multiyear initiative to encourage active arts participation in the community. The foundation also awarded $975,000 over three years to the Alliance for California Traditional Arts to support culturally significant folk and traditional arts and $400,000 over three years to Poets & Writers to underwrite literary events and writing workshops.

Through its California Democracy program, the foundation awarded $550,000 over two years to TransForm to engage diverse communities in major land-use decisions; $450,000 over three years to the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice to involve low-income residents of San Bernardino County in collaborative efforts designed to improve environmental health; and $300,000 over two years to Working Partnerships USA to engage various communities in fiscal reform, budgeting, transportation, and land-use planning efforts.

The foundation also awarded $8.85 million over two years to ConnectEd California for continued support of the California Linked Learning District Initiative; $1.2 million over twenty-six months to Stanford University to support the District Leadership Series of the Linked Learning initiative; and, through its Youth program, $500,000 over two years to the Alliance for Excellent Education to use lessons learned from the Linked Learning initiative to inform and enhance federal education policy.

For a complete list of second-quarter grants, visit the James Irvine Foundation Web site.