Fund is established to uplift and invest in Latino-led organizations in Inland Empire

In commemoration of Latino Heritage Month, the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) recently announced the launch of the Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity, or CIELO Fund, established to uplift and invest in Latino-led and serving organizations and initiatives throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The CIELO Fund is one of IECF’s eight signature funds launched this year in celebration of the foundation’s 80th anniversary and has a goal of raising $80,000 in its inaugural year.

“As the Latino community in the Inland Empire grows, so should investments in the frontline organizations providing critical resources and support to our families daily," said IECF Board Member and Founding CIELO Fund Chair Jesse Melgar. "We launched the CIELO Fund to rewrite the script about Latinos in our region by telling authentic stories about the impact and resilience of our community. We are educators and entrepreneurs, farmworkers and first responders, artists and activists — and so much more. Through this Fund we hope to catalyze a new network of community philanthropists at all levels of giving who are stepping up to invest in the communities we grew up in, live in, and that we will call home for generations to come.”

----- IN RECENT YEARS, the Inland Empire has become predominantly Latino for the first time. In 2010, 47.3 percent of the Inland Empire was Latino, and that number has now shifted to 51.6 percent.

The fund comes at a critical time as Latino-based organizations that are working to improve social and economic conditions in the Latino community lack sufficient philanthropic investment and support.

The CIELO Fund partnered with the UC Riverside Center for Social Innovation to publish “Aquí Estamos: A Data Profile of the Inland Empire’s Latino Community.” Evaluating the latest Census data, the data profile finds that:

• College graduation rates lag: Only 11 percent of Latinos in the region have a bachelor’s degree or higher, well below the state average of 35 percent and the national average of 33 percent.

• Income inequality: While Latino household incomes in the region have grown between 2010 and 2020 by nearly $10,000, the Latino community still lags behind non-Hispanic Whites in the region by nearly $14,000 per year as of 2020.

• Child poverty rates: Poverty rates are also much higher among Latinos in the Inland Empire and these gaps are even more stark when it comes to child poverty. Latino children in the Inland Empire are twice as likely as White children to live in poverty.

• Access to health care: The proportion of Inland Latinos without health insurance in 2020 was 12 percent, which was more than double the share among non-Hispanic White residents in the region — 5 percent. Latino adults in the Inland Empire were also much less likely to have received routine health check-ups.

• Civic participation: Only about 50 percent of eligible Latinos cast ballots in the 2020 November Presidential election, which past research has shown to be the result of insufficient investments in voter engagement and outreach — by parties, campaigns, and nonpartisan efforts alike.

• Representation in elected office: Locally, Latinos have the greatest representation by numbers at the municipal and education or school board level, but overall, hold less than 25 percent of all elected federal, state, and local offices in the region.

• Homeownership: Homeownership is a relatively bright spot for Latinos in the region. In 2020, Latino homeownership was significantly higher in the Inland Empire, 60 percent, than comparable figures for Latinos in Los Angeles County and in California more generally.

----- SEED FUNDING for the CIELO Fund was made possible by generous support from foundations, local businesses, and dozens of individuals who believe that strengthening philanthropic infrastructure for the Latino community is vital for the region’s success.

This includes major support from the Weingart Foundation, as well as support from Inland Empire Health Plan, Amazon, Bank of America, Edison International, Lift to Rise, Wells Fargo, UC Riverside, Alta Loma Enterprises, Riverside Community College District, Riverside County Office of Education, Western Wind Foundation, Verizon, Tzunu Strategies, Best Best and Krieger, College of the Desert, Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, San Bernardino Community College District, UCR School of Public Policy, and the CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation.

The CIELO Fund is also made possible thanks to the generous support from founding donors including Jesse Melgar and Angel Rodriguez, Ofelia Valdez Yeager and Ley Yeager, Ronn Ruiz and Ramon Cordova, Violeta Aguilar, Paulette Brown Hinds, and more than three dozen others.

“Our communities and organizations are too often overlooked when it comes to funding and that limits our ability to provide the crucial services our familias need,” said Luz Gallegos, executive director of the nonprofit TODEC Legal Center. “The CIELO Fund is being led by regional Latino leaders who understand the need first hand and are taking action. I am proud to be part of this important effort.”

Helping guide the CIELO Fund’s work is a group of dedicated regional Latino leaders whose careers have been committed to strengthening the Inland Empire through effective advocacy and agenda setting. The Founding CIELO Fund Leadership and Grantmaking Committee includes:

• Sergio Bohon, Wells Fargo Advisors and IECF Board Member

• Luz Gallegos, executive director of TODEC Legal Services

• Helen Iris Torres, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality CEO

• Jesse Melgar, founder and IECF board member

• Tomás D. Morales, president at Cal State San Bernardino

• Silvia Paz, CEO at Alianza Coachella

• Angel Rodriguez, California Student Aid Commission

• Diana Rodriguez, chancellor at the San Bernardino Community College District

• Elizabeth Romero, assistant vice chancellor, government and community relations at UC Riverside

• Marisa Valdez Yeager, associate vice president, government and community relations at Cal State San Bernardino

(titles used for identification purposes only)

“I want to congratulate the Inland Empire Community Foundation for the launch of the new CIELO Fund,” said Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, who is chair-elect of the California Latino Legislative Caucus. “The Latino community is critical to our region’s success today and will continue to be in the future. We are the backbone of our economy. We are workers, doctors, teachers, and students driving our region forward every day.”