NGEC—California

NGEC in California

Across California, nonprofits in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are examining ways to create positive change for their communities. The National Gender and Equity Campaign–California is pleased to announce the launch of the Organizational Fellowship Program (OFP).

The Organizational Fellowship Program, a capacity building initiative, aims to strengthen the effectiveness of organizations to engage grassroots constituencies in creating social change. This program will provide multi-year general operating support and tailored capacity building that incorporates a range of organizational and movement building skills. Selected organizational partners will be awarded $75,000 in general operating support annually over three years.

We look to partner with organizations that are connected locally and/or nationally, and share a commitment and readiness to become stronger "anchors" in their own communities—with the goal that organizations will be responsive and accountable to constituencies most impacted and equally committed to broader movement building efforts. This 3-year Organizational Fellowship Program offers a unique opportunity for AAPI led organizations to learn effective strategies for building greater political participation and influence.

Download the California RFP Guidelines and Application Materials [PDF] [Word]

Application Due Date: September 5th, 2008 (5pm PST)

Please note the following change in the submission process:
We will accept completed applications including all required attachments at a new email address or by postal mail only.

Visit our Apply for a Grant page for detailed instructions on how to submit your application.

What is the Organizational Fellowship Program?

Asian American and Pacific Islander voices, ideas, and leadership are needed to build a more inclusive, effective, and lasting social justice movement. The Organizational Fellowship Program supports whole organizations in becoming more responsive to their communities. By participating in the program, organizations will become more intentional in building effective and sustainable infrastructure, programs, and practices that benefit AAPI communities and beyond.

The Organizational Fellowship Program focuses on building the capacity, developing grassroots leadership and constituencies, and strengthening the infrastructure of AAPI community organizations to advance social justice work. All of this work encompasses a process we call organizational political development which entails applying a political framework to all aspects of an organization’s work by:

  • Incorporating a gender and equity framework. Organizations will increase their ability to address the root causes (systemic and cultural barriers) of inequity through a gender and equity framework. This framework will help organizations sharpen their analysis and responses to community issues based on the intersections of class, gender, race, and sexuality.
  • Building collective power and fostering alliances. Organizations will create a mutually beneficial space for peer learning and strategizing. Community organizations know best their needs and possess immeasurable assets including experience, community knowledge, and a long-term commitment to creating change from the ground up.

NGEC will partner with organizations to receive input, guidance, and feedback in informing the program content. Your participation will also help shape the long-term direction of BRIDGE (Building Responsive Infrastructure to Develop Global Equity), a movement building resource.

Why create an Organizational Fellowship Program?

Based on research of California’s AAPI demographics, a mapping of existing AAPI social justice organizations, interviews and focus groups with AAPI leaders across the state, NGEC-CA learned that community organizations wanted help in deepening their capacity to create lasting systemic change—particularly in the areas of grassroots community organizing, leadership development, media/communications, and policy/advocacy. At the same we also learned there was an interest in developing and linking their work to a gender and equity framework to help them become more effective in their social change efforts.

In response, the NGEC–CA established the Organizational Fellowship Program to strengthen the movement building infrastructure of AAPI-led social justice organizations. We strive to partner with organizations that want to share and learn sustainable best practices, measure their impact in communities, and work in partnership with others. We seek partners committed to deepening their organization’s capacity to achieve social change. Finally, we want to work with partners who are in the best position to fully benefit and contribute to the Organizational Fellowship Program.

NGEC-CA Groundwork: Key Findings from the California Scan

In 2006-2007, NGEC conducted interviews and focus groups with 50 individuals representing 37 groups in Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco with the belief that communities are in the best position to understand their needs and how to address them. Our intention was not to conduct an exhaustive and complete analysis of all the AAPI movement organizations in the state, but to "scan" and explore on-the-ground-work happening in AAPI communities throughout the state, and to develop a field analysis for supporting the movement building capacity of AAPI organizations.

Through this scan, we learned that California has regional "micro-ecologies"—distinct regions shaped by its own particular histories, catalyzing events, and community relationships with each other.

Feedback from AAPI leaders in California identified several universal themes:

  1. Communities are at varying levels of competency utilizing a social justice perspective that includes race, class, gender, and sexuality analysis in their political framework. Organizations across the board are eager to incorporate an approach that addresses community problems at their root;
  2. Building the capacity of the AAPI social justice movement requires a number of ingredients, including: strong organizations, peer-to-peer learning, and a sustained space for cross-sector, issue and community dialogue—all needing financial support but more importantly leadership;
  3. Throughout California, AAPI organizations are having an impact in their local communities; however the sharing of best practices, tools, and experiences is limited because of the geographical separation.

From these key findings, NGEC-CA is focusing on how to support social justice organizations to be more effective and sustained over the long term through our Organizational Fellowship Program.

Key lessons from the California Scan:

  • Participants affirmed the importance of and need for efforts that focus on building up the capacity of organizations, increase resources for organizing, address the challenges of movement-building, and help strengthen the social justice movement. AAPI communities face many complex and pressing issues, and have historically been under-resourced to solve these problems themselves.
  • In particular, there was excitement around NGEC because it is a model that engages community. We heard numerous stories of the pitfalls of funder-driven projects that lack on-the-ground expertise. Participants also communicated a clear expectation of NGEC to be transparent to community organizations about intent and processes.
  • Frameworks: Groups are at varying levels of understanding and use of a race, class and particularly gender approach. However, across the board, organizations were eager to move to an approach that addresses the root causes of community problems. While some organizations employed an explicit analysis of the intersections of systemic problems affecting their clients and constituents, others were just beginning to carve out space to do this. This wide range of diversity of thought and practice regarding a gender and equity framework seems reflective of AAPI communities as a whole and may stem from the particular challenges in confronting complex gender issues within the community.
  • Strategies: Though under-resourced, groups have an acute understanding of their particular niches and use high levels of community knowledge and cultural competence to design their strategic approaches. Cultural competence and community wisdom plays a major factor in organizations when shaping their strategies, and is the key to creating effective approaches to the work. Groups employed a wide range of creative strategies in multiple areas from direct services to impact litigation to long term grassroots leadership development and creative expression.
  • Capacity Building: Groups said that building capacity in AAPI social justice movement work requires strong organizations, peer-to-peer learning, and a sustained space for dialogue—all needing sustained financial support. AAPI organizations talked about building capacity in two areas: (1) creating stronger organizations and (2) building a stronger AAPI movement.
  • Regional Themes:
    • The Central Valley (Fresno) is home to an increasing number of AAPI organizations that work with partners from multiple sectors including business and politics. There is also growing diversity in the AAPI population (particularly in the Southeast Asian and South Asian populations). Groups here identified the need for more opportunities for women to come together, particularly given some of the age and gender hierarchies within communities. Other needs include: ways of addressing the intergenerational challenges; ways to bridge geographic dispersion across Central Valley; and space for AAPI groups to come together under an AAPI framework and discuss common issues and long term change.
    • Los Angeles/Southern California has a long and often unrecognized history of organizing and many active pan-Asian and multi-racial coalitions. Some of the key needs identified by groups in this region include: training indigenous leaders and staff in the technical skills (vs. just having outside "experts" do the work); regional social justice intermediaries; ways to share knowledge, to document and distribute "case studies" in a meaningful way.
    • The San Francisco Bay Area has a strong Civil Rights history, a progressive climate, and AAPI movement leaders of many generations. There are many well-established as well as fledgling AAPI-led organizations working on diverse issues and asking broad, strategic movement building questions. The Bay Area groups identified needs such as: more proactive and long-term alliances; spaces for groups to gather and dialogue about a shared vision; investment in leadership development; and support for Asian Americans in being leaders within the broader social justice movement.