By Greg Archer | Contributing Columnist
New grants from Inland Empire Community Foundation totaling $944,418 will support 12 organizations dedicated to advancing education opportunities.
Considered a strategic project that will build a significant interconnected network of under-resourced groups, Michelle Decker, IECF president and CEO, says the grants will help “affirm the power of our region’s youth and communities to lead with vision and courage.
“What we’re building together is an education system that ensures every young person has a pathway to thrive and that their voices are heard and shape the future,” she said.
The endeavor, the first of its kind for the foundation in terms of how it targets education grants, is designed to amplify youth voices — from school boards and community platforms to faith spaces and policy forums.
The hope is to ensure young people are not just beneficiaries but architects of change.
IECF’s Education core priorities capture a key mission: to advance opportunity by supporting school-community partnerships, youth voice and leadership, mental health and identity-affirming education, rapid response to emerging needs, and community power-building through civic engagement, leadership development, and coalition building.
“Every dollar represents a freedom dream being resourced,” said Dr. Torie Weiston-Serdan, IECF’s Education Equity program officer. “Every grant is a young person’s vision being validated. And we’re just getting started.”
The 2025 Education Equity grant recipients and their projects feature a broad mix.
Resources for BLU Educational Foundation, for instance, are designated to advance educational opportunities in the Inland Empire through coalition building, policy advocacy, and programs addressing systemic barriers. Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement is expected to engage faith communities in expanding educational opportunities through advocacy, youth leadership, and parent involvement.
Elsewhere, TruEvolution is set to support LGBTQ+ youth, policies, and leadership. The Inland Empire Youth Immigrant Collective will work to support immigrant students through access, advocacy, and family organizing.
Others include: Millionaire Mind Kids (elevating youth and family voices in under-resourced schools); IE Prism (providing trans and non-binary youth advocacy and representation in education equity); and Codex Creation Committee (Mobius) (organizing an annual education conference, youth programs, community outreach, and building grassroots education support).
Look for grant recipient Sigma Beta Xi Youth and Family Services to pinpoint youth and family perspectives within under-resourced schools.
Others include: Alianza, IE United, Motivation Action Leadership Opportunity (MALO), and Game Changers.
“I just want folks to see the importance of education,” said Weiston-Serdan of the new grants. “It holds so much importance and weight.”
Students will experience the benefits.
“What always strikes me about young people in this region is their brilliance; how smart and astute they are,” Weiston-Serdan said. “They move and really understand in ways that I think so many of us as adults have missed. What’s unfortunate, though, is resources in terms of what they get in comparison to urban city centers. That’s upsetting.”
Looking ahead, she expressed hope and excitement about the grants.
“Particularly about the diversity of voices because of this grant,” she said. “We’ve got to serve these diverse groups together. This is an opportunity for us to respond to education in tangential ways. I think for us to have a very dedicated space and a fund for education can be a possibility model for other funders who might be wondering what education funding can look like.”
The Gates Foundation provides support to make these education opportunities possible.
For more information on IECF’s Education Equity Program, visit iegives.org/funds/education- equity/
The Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. Visit iegives.org.
