Inland Empire Black Equity Fund

The IE Black Equity Fund at IECF was created in 2020 with the mission and goal of advancing racial equity and supporting long-term investments in Black-led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. One of the first of its kind, the Fund set a goal to raise $5 million for Black-led organizations in the Inland Empire, and in three years, has exceeded its goal. Leading the effort is the Black Equity Initiative of the Inland Empire (BEI-IE), which, along with the BEI-IE Advisory Committee, has raised more than $6 million to sustain this effort over the past three years. Several foundations, companies, universities, organizations, and individuals have supported the IE Black Equity Fund directly. View photos from the Fund’s third-anniversary event in November 2023 here.

With unprecedented response, a collaborative of local stakeholders – statewide, regional and local funders as well as private donors and corporate philanthropy — are working in partnership with leaders of the Black Equity Initiative to advance their priority issues.

Funds will be used to advance the mission of Black-led and empowering organizations in the Inland Empire through core support, program and project support, and capacity building, all driven by the leadership and voice of the members of the Black Equity Initiative.

Research

To better understand the issues affecting the Inland Empire’s Black community which comprises 7.3% of the region’s population, and identify where funding might carry the most impact, the IE Black Equity Fund partnered with Mapping Black California to publish the “Black Equity Fund Report.”

Why Support the IE Black Equity Fund?

• Support Black-led and serving nonprofit organizations doing impactful work throughout the Inland Empire
• Learn and support a better understanding of the issues impacting the Black community in the region through original research
• Combine your gift with others to enhance impact
• Network with other Blacks who are philanthropically-minded and living their passion

Grantmaking

At its core, the IE Black Equity Fund was launched to invest in Black-led and Black serving organizations and strengthen Black nonprofit infrastructure in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. To advance this goal, the Fund made two rounds of grant awards to 71 Black-led and serving organizations throughout the region totaling $1.767 million in funding.

The funding gave organizations, whether at the beginning of this work or scaling up existing equity programs, the opportunity to grow their capacity to advance racial equity in the Inland region. Technical assistance grants were also given to organizations seeking support with grant writing.