The Latino Community Foundation has announced $150,000 in grants to local nonprofits as well as a $1 million commitment for 2019.

The following organizations are sharing the $150,000 in grants:

– Arte Américas
– Centro La Familia Advocacy Services
– Community Center for the Arts and Technology
– Education and Leadership Foundation (ELF)
– Every Neighborhood Partnership

The San Francisco-based Latino Community Foundation has the largest network of Latino philanthropists in the country. It established the 65-member Central Valley Latino Giving Circle in 2016 along with a group of local leaders with an emphasis on local philanthropy.

“In cities like Fresno, Latinos make up more than 48% of the population–they are the backbone of the economy and a big part of the democracy of the region,” stated Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation. “These investments are critical to the organizations working to create opportunities for these families to prosper and thrive.”

The $1 million commitment was made in partnership with the James Irvine Foundation to support civic engagement efforts and Latino leadership development, according to a news release.

“There is a severe underinvestment in Latino nonprofits in the communities where the hard-fought battles for social and systemic change are being waged,” said Tim Rios, co-founder of the Central Valley Giving Circle. “The beauty of LCF’s Latino Giving Circle Network® is that it enables everyday working people to become philanthropists and collectively invest their own money in local Latino nonprofits.”

In the Fresno area, the LCF Latino Giving Circle comprises local professionals from different walks of life and includes people in finance, musicians, lawyers, teachers, academics and others making up a true cross section of the community. The Giving Circle is also intergenerational, the youngest members are in their early 20s and the eldest in their late 60s.