When we saw a tweet from The James Irvine Foundation this week that spoke to the importance of all workers in California advancing economically, we were thrilled.
If you didn’t see it, it said:
In the coming year, we will provide at least $186M in grants in pursuit of a #California where all low-income #workers have the power to advance economically — a 45% increase in support over last year. #2022Goals #philanthropy #economy #labor https://t.co/NRiTwUePaN
— Irvine Foundation (@IrvineFdn) January 10, 2022
This is great news and brought to mind a video interview we did on the subject of worker power with Don Howard, the president and CEO of the foundation, during the California Economic Summit late last year in Monterey. The Summit is built upon the principle that regional approaches to economic problem solving are critical to ensuring all Californians, regardless of zip code, have the opportunity to claim their California Dream.
In that interview, Howard emphasized the importance of investing in programs that will help every low-income worker to advance economically:
Howard didn’t pull any punches when he discussed how many Californians have not been able to equitably participate in economic booms. He emphasized that Irvine has worker power on its mind as a necessary and major component of growing regional economies:
For California Forward CEO Micah Weinberg, Howard’s words are welcomed.
“If we are going to truly have an economy that works for all Californians then we must continue to work in the private, public and non-profit sectors to ensure that the California dream can be a reality for all Californians,” he said. “This is a key focus for California Forward through the Community Economic Resilience Fund we’re supporting and as we head into the 2022 California Economic Summit in Bakersfield this coming October.”
Howard also published a blog outlining his thoughts this week on worker empowerment on The James Irvine Foundation website. We encourage you to read it here.
