Fuel for the Field

Click here to read REDF’s official press release about the grant.

Learn how Ramses turned his life around after being hired at a REDF-supported social enterprise.

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Today REDF was elated to receive news of a two year $3 million federal Social Innovation Fund grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The support is welcome and needed fuel we will use to expand San Francisco Bay Area social enterprises, and to take our work to other parts of California. We are especially motivated to put all we have into accomplishing our goals as we are the only California-based organization among the eleven groups selected.

As readers of this blog know, we believe, and evidence demonstrates that nonprofit-run social enterprises create the jobs that offer a way into the workforce for young people and adults who would otherwise face almost insurmountable barriers due to histories of homelessness, addiction, mental illness or incarceration.

REDF would not have received this federal support without the enthusiasm and hard work of the portfolio of nonprofits we have had the honor to support over the years, as well as our other partners, and our steadfast Board, Advisors, and donors.

Increasing the prospect of successful implementation, several outstanding organizations committed to partnering with REDF in various ways to implement the SIF program including the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, Bank of America, The California Endowment, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, The Fresno Regional Foundation, The Walter and Elise Haas Fund, NISH Pacific West Regional Office, The California Workforce Association, Association for Corporate Growth – SF Bay Area Chapter, the Center for Employment Opportunities, the SF Workforce Collaborative, and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development. And we hope to have the chance to learn from the other ten grantees as part of an initiative that the CNCS and philanthropy are fostering in partnership with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

Most of all, we are inspired to do even more by the tenacity and spirit of the people who get jobs in social enterprise, and undaunted by all of the barriers at hand, thrive and succeed beyond anyone’s wildest dreams when given half a chance.

One of our first steps will be replication in California of the New York-based Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) social enterprise model that has achieved proven results in reducing crime, and recidivism to jail and prison. The resources are now in place for the first replication — a private-public partnership between REDF, CEO, government, foundations, and local nonprofits.

To carry out the SIF, over the next five years REDF commits to:

• Put thousands more Californians to work by investing in social enterprise growth and job creation in the Bay Area and around the State; and

• Develop a replicable, scalable, sustainable model of social enterprise by:
  • A more rigorous demonstration of its impact on job retention and wages;
  • An assessment of the cost-effectiveness and ‘social return on investment’ of social enterprise as compared to other approaches; and
  • Showing how these enterprises can grow in different geographic regions of California

The path ahead will not be easy, but we are heartened by the enthusiasm, talent, and optimism of the people in nonprofits, business, philanthropy, and other sectors that continue to step up in support of REDF, the nonprofits we assist, and most importantly people who need to, want to work, and thrive when given the chance to do so.