The Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity (CIELO) Fund at the Inland Empire Community Foundation recently announced $450,000 in its 2025 round of grant awards. Grantees comprised 40 organizations that serve the region.
Since its launch in 2022, the CIELO Fund’s total investment through research, grantmaking, narrative change initiatives and scholarship programs sits at $1.4 million. That accounts for nearly 100 grant awards to organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
“As families across Riverside and San Bernardino continue to face rising costs for essentials like housing, food, childcare, eldercare and education, the CIELO Fund’s grantmaking this year is intentionally focused on supporting organizations that are directly addressing these pressing community needs,” said Jesse Melgar, founder and chair of the CIELO Fund and board chair of IECF.
“Our commitment remains unchanged,” he said. “It’s to build a future where equity and opportunity are not the exception, but the expectation for everyone who calls our region home.”
In an effort to better understand the challenges facing the region, including its Latino residents, the CIELO Fund has commissioned several reports from leading California universities. Last year, the fund partnered with the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab and Institute of Governmental Studies to run a poll on the community’s ability to access essentials.
The results were illuminating, showing that nearly 80% of Latino voters report difficulty finding affordable housing, while some 70% expressed difficulty finding healthy, affordable food. Meanwhile, 65% and 63% reported difficulty finding affordable eldercare and child care, respectively.
Finding good jobs figured prominently, coming in at 61%.
Overall, the findings guided the Leadership and Grantmaking Committees grant decisions this year.
Michelle Decker, IECF president and CEO, said the organization is incredibly proud of the impact the CIELO Fund has achieved in such a short time.
“Through thoughtful grantmaking and deep partnerships, the fund is helping to uplift and empower Latino-led and Latino-serving organizations across our region,” she said. “We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to support our communities that need us most.”
The 2025 grantmaking included unique media partnerships to elevate positive regional narratives through original and effective programming, including continued support to KVCR’s IE Latino Voices segment, which it helped co-design and launch in 2023. It also supports an innovative partnership with the Los Angeles Times’ Latino vertical, DeLos, to support special coverage of the Inland Empire.
Additionally, this year, the CIELO Fund is partnering with the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute to commission a data profile on the Latino community’s experiences with vital conditions, which will be released later during Latino Heritage Month.
About Families Inc., The Garcia Center for the Arts, Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, My Baby My Way Foundation, San Bernardino Community Service Inc., TODEC Legal Center, Undocumented Student Services Center, CSUSB, Veterans Success Center and We Are One United were among the 40 grantees awarded.
Also noteworthy: For the first time ever, the committee will support two organizations in neighboring Imperial County as part of a rapid response fund to organizations doing frontline work.
After launching in 2022 as a Signature Fund celebrating the IECF’s 80th anniversary, the CIELO Fund has remained steadfast in its mission is to “uplift and invest in organizations, initiatives and ideas that are led by — and serve — Latinos in the Inland Empire.”
The CIELO Fund Leadership and Grantmaking Committee comprises a dedicated group of community leaders from the Inland Empire, including Liliana Andriani, Angel Jewelers; Tomás D. Morales, CSU San Bernardino; Diana Z. Rodriguez, San Bernardino Community College District; Sergio Bohon, Wells Fargo Advisors; Silvia Paz, Alianza Coachella Valley; Elizabeth Romero, UC Riverside; Neftali Galarza, Office of the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools; Marco Robles, Latino Leader; Helen Iris Torres, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality; Luz Gallegos, TODEC Legal Center; Angel Rodriguez, San Bernardino Community College District; and Marisa Valdez Yeager, CSU San Bernardino.
Learn more about the CIELO Fund at iegives.org/funds/cielofund.
