-
California announced the nation’s first state-funded guaranteed income pilot program earlier this year
-
1,975 Californians will receive between $600 and $1,200 per month for 12 to 18 months
SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of the Guaranteed Income Pooled Fund, a philanthropic endeavor to help organizations fund their Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs by helping pilot projects unlock more than $25 million in grants from the state.
“As people across the country struggle with global inflation, this guaranteed income pilot program provides some much needed support and breathing room for the most vulnerable Californians,” said Governor Newsom. “This public-private partnership will accelerate our ability to get money to these individuals and families, showcasing Californians coming together to support one another.”
How it Works:
The Pooled Fund will support select state-funded guaranteed income pilot projects in need of additional resources to launch, sustain, or enhance their pilot. The pilot projects will collectively provide more than 1,975 Californians – primarily former foster youth and pregnant people – with $600 to $1,200 per month, for 12 to 18 months.
-
Contributing toward required matched funding: To receive funding from the State, pilot project awardees are required to match 50% or more of the State’s award. The Pooled Fund announced today will assist the pilot projects with this requirement.
-
Promoting geographic equity: Awardees come from across the state, including rural and tribal communities that are under-resourced. The Pooled Fund will distribute grants to awardees from these areas to ensure distributed access to additional resources.
-
Enabling further pilot learnings: Awardees have the opportunity for both formal and informal learning through implementation of these pilots. The Pooled Fund will seek to strengthen these opportunities, potentially through direct evaluation support, increasing pilot scale, or funding for deeper integration of community expertise.
Philanthropic investments are key to the success of the guaranteed income pilots, ensuring that recipients do not risk losing family-sustaining public benefits.
Pooled Fund contributors include: Sierra Health Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, California Wellness Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust, and the Weingart Foundation, with further contributions expected.
What They Are Saying:
“Income security is essential to health and wellbeing. We are proud to participate in the Guaranteed Income Pooled Fund, as it leverages the state’s historic investment for exploring how unconditional, unrestricted cash can improve the lives and trajectories of Californians most in need,” said California Wellness Foundation Vice President of Programs Lori Cox. “And we look forward to selected pilots contributing robustly to the public policy discussion.”
“Investing in the Pooled Fund aligns naturally with our work to advocate for equitable policy and sustainable income strategies for low-income communities of color,” said Manuel Santamaria, Vice President of Community Action at Silicon Valley Community Foundation. “We are proud to join our foundation peers to invest in this opportunity and to amplify the collective impact of philanthropic resources on these critical pilot programs.”
Asma Day, Program Manager of Economic Security and Mobility at the Blue Shield of California Foundation added, “When families have the resources they need to meet their basic needs and to achieve the dreams and goals they have for their future, they can live a healthy, dignified life. The Guaranteed Income Pooled Fund provides us with the opportunity to invest in a first-of-its-kind statewide initiative that creates a path to economic security, and one that ultimately leads to greater health equity and well-being in communities where it is needed most.”
“We’re proud to support the state’s Guaranteed Income Pooled Fund Pilot and to further invest in innovative and transformative programs that can change lives. With equity at the center of the GI Pilot’s design, we’re looking forward to deepening our understanding and learning about guaranteed income initiatives, and to contribute to California’s history of leading the way on public policy,” said Miguel A. Santana, President and CEO of the Weingart Foundation.
More information about the Pooled Fund:
An advisory council with members from the Asset Funders Network, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, the Economic Security Project, and Social Finance will review all applications for funding from interested State-funded Guaranteed Income Pilot awardees, select recipients, and make grants. Social Finance, a national impact finance and advisory nonprofit, will manage the fund operations.
Pooled Fund partners expect to host an upcoming funder briefing to provide the philanthropic community with more information regarding this and other opportunities to support guaranteed income initiatives in the state.
###