The Fair Representation Fund
Established in 2019, the Fair Representation Fund, “The Fund,” was the first pooled fund sponsored by Philanthropy California, which advanced new opportunities for underrepresented communities and engaged thousands of Californians in meaningful civic engagement through numerous changes to legislative district lines. Through contributions from foundations and other funders amounting to $2.5 million, the Fair Representation Fund provided grants to statewide and regional nonprofits to engage Californians from historically underrepresented communities in redistricting. Grants covered public outreach and education, materials development and training, map-drawing workshops, and other activities, supporting 14 statewide and regional nonprofits in their engagement efforts. An analysis of Philanthropy California’s Fair Representation Fund, Funding Redistricting in California, documented the origins, purpose, grant recipients, timeline, impact, and other logistics of the Fund – identifying learnings from participating funders, granteers, and partners. While the primary goals of the Fund relate to informing redistricting processes and deliberations of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) , grantees observed many additional benefits to their work including engaging new community leaders, strengthening coalitions, and retention in Black political power at the state level despite changing demographics. While there was less satisfaction at the local level stemming from processes that were less transparent and driven by self-interest, various Fund grantees still made progress in these arenas.
Why It Matters
The census comes around every ten years, but ensuring that communities are represented equitably happens every day in between. Lifting the voices of underrepresented communities, bringing together diverse groups, building capacity, and amplifying coalitions through the work of nonprofit organizations are essential to the ongoing process of fair representation for all Californians. The 2020 census counted 331,449,281 Americans, a 7.4 percent increase from the 2010 census and led to a loss of a congressional seat in California and New York, despite the significant increase of 766,000 people in the Latino population since 2010. While California heavily invested in its outreach efforts, most of the labor fell onto community organizations facing long-standing problems.
Redistricting is the process by which legislative district boundaries are redrawn to reflect population changes. Occurring every ten years after the census, it presents an opportunity to increase community voice in government and participation in the electoral process. SCG believes that a healthy democracy is one where all people have the opportunity to actively participate in the decision-making process. This system must include, at a minimum, a fair and complete census, a redistricting process that reflects the communities represented, and robust voting rights protections, especially for those who have been historically excluded. Through non-partisan and cross-sector efforts, we can work to ensure all voices are heard and that barriers to participation are eliminated. Investing in redistricting provides funders with a strategic, efficient, and meaningful pathway to build power in underresourced communities and strengthen our democracy, ultimately advancing our mission for racial equity.
Call To Action
Preparing for the next redistricting cycle will commence sooner than we think. Recommendations from the Fair Representation Fund impact report suggest planning as early as 2026 and to link future redistricting efforts with Census planning – a priority that SCG and Philanthropy California is eager to explore.