The San Francisco Foundation’s North Star is Equity. What’s Yours?

Facing an affordable housing crisis and growing income inequality, the San Francisco Foundation went directly to the community for answers.

San Francisco’s challenges with inequity — particularly around housing — are often lifted up as examples of what the future holds for cities across the United States. The San Francisco Foundation, keenly aware of the attention the Bay Region gets from policymakers, advocates, and others concerned about equity, decided to investigate how it could advance equity while serving as an example to other community foundations.

That meant turning inward to re-examine the Foundation’s priorities, and looking outward to understand how they align with the needs of the people they serve. Looking outward meant engaging people across five counties in conversations about racial equity and inclusion.

“We spoke with residents, we spoke with community leaders, we spoke with public officials,” said Gail Fuller, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at The Foundation. “What we ultimately heard, helped us make our strategy and agenda about addressing racial equity and economic inclusion.”

On this episode of Achieve Great Things, Gail shares her insights from those conversations—and what the Foundation has learned so far.

You can listen to this episode directly here or through the player below. You can also subscribe to Achieve Great Things on iTunes here.

The San Francisco Foundation also published an interactive report on advancing equity, which you can read here.

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