Inland Empire fund for Latino-led groups tops $5.5 million in four years

A fund built to back Latino-led groups in Southern California's Inland Empire has crossed a big milestone. The CIELO Fund has raised more than $5.5 million in only four years the Inland Empire Community Foundation announced at an Oct. 3 brunch in Riverside.

State money and new partners

Two state senators from the region Sabrina Cervantes and Eloise Gómez Reyes won $1.5 million for the fund in the state budget and took part in a check presentation. Jesse Melgar who founded the fund and chairs the foundation's board said demand for this work keeps growing. He said the extra money will deepen research and grantmaking.

The fund has also teamed up with the digital outlet L.A. TACO on a regional offshoot called I.E. TACO. A three-year partnership with the University of California Riverside School of Public Policy will produce a Latino Pulse Survey of registered voters and an annual report. It also creates a civic policy fellowship that places students with local organizations.

Grants and honors

The fund was started in 2022 to mark the foundation's 80th anniversary and it works through grants and research and scholarships and storytelling. More than 300 foundations and companies and colleges and individuals have backed it. This year it gave over $550,000 to 22 nonprofits across Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Recipients include a small-business collaborative and the Galán Cultural Center.

The brunch also presented awards named for Ofelia Valdez Yeager to people and groups who advance the region's Latino community. She started the Riverside Latino Network and was the first Latina on the Riverside school board. She also helped bring the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture to the city.