Local partners pose on the stairs at Prevention Institute's Oakland HQ

Investing in an Equitable Future

Supporting advocacy and grassroots power building to catalyze equitable investments in California’s racially diverse and historically disinvested communities

Investing in an Equitable Future is a five-year project that strengthens grassroots momentum to enact, design, and implement equitable public funding programs and infrastructure investments that improve conditions for health, safety, and wellbeing.

Spanning July 2023 through June 2028, the project supports community-based, power-building organizations in three California regions as they advocate for public investments that reflect community priorities and address locally defined needs. This work is part of a broader partnership—supported through The California Endowment’s Social Bond—between Prevention Institute, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, and Fresno Building Healthy Communities to catalyze durable funding streams that advance community-rooted health efforts across the state.

We provide strategic learning opportunities that strengthen the advocacy capacity of local partners and their coalitions. Through this work, partners sharpen their budget and policy advocacy skills, strengthen organizing strategies, and build aligned power to influence how public dollars are distributed. These efforts help “bake” equity into public funding programs at every stage—from design through implementation—so that governmental policies and procedures more fairly distribute resources and improve material conditions in historically marginalized communities. Local partners, representing predominantly immigrant communities in Napa, Orange County, and the Imperial Valley, have identified housing, healthcare reinvestment, land use, and environmental justice as pressing priorities for new community-driven investments.

Primary activities:

Facilitating and delivering trainings on budget advocacy, power-building and organizing tactics, strategic communications for policy change, and approaches to gathering and interpreting data.

Convening cross-site discussions that foster connection, encourage shared learning, and build bridges across local partners’ grassroots efforts.

Supporting community education and mobilization led by local partners as they work with residents and coalition members to advance local funding priorities.