Pronounced “see me!” to acknowledge communities’ desire to be seen and considered, the Community Economic Mobilization Initiative (CEMI) partners with a growing list of grantees (funded partners) who aim to put communities first. Managed by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, CEMI is a trailblazing nonprofit capacity-building effort that was developed to strengthen the ability of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-led and serving organizations, especially those rooted in communities that have been excluded or discriminated against in California, to secure and influence the use of public funds for economic and environmental benefit. CEMI is funded by a collaborative of philanthropic partners (funding partners), including Sierra Health Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, The California Endowment, and The California Wellness Foundation.

Informing Change was brought on to serve as CEMI’s partner for a three-year developmental evaluation intended to inform improvements and adaptations to CEMI’s ongoing work. This report offers findings for CEMI’s first year (August 2022 – December 2023). Learning and evaluation activities focused on gathering feedback from funded partners through a survey and focus groups, an analysis of grant data, grant applications, and interviews with CEMI’s participants.

Year 1 progress highlights include:

• Over $14 million was granted through a Pooled Fund administered by The Center and a Donor-Designated Fund, guided by The James Irvine Foundation.
• By early 2024, nearly two-thirds of funded partners were actively pursuing public funding.
• 21 funded partners (47%) reported joining one of nine different California Jobs First Collaboratives.
• Funded partners are active in 42 different California counties. They are working in and on behalf of those California communities that face the greatest economic challenges and bear the heaviest environmental burdens.

The following materials are available to be viewed in English on the CEMI website:

• CEMI Year 1 Evaluation Report
• CEMI Year 1 Evaluation Report Executive Summary
• Letter from The Center CEO Chet P. Hewitt introducing the evaluation

The report and executive summary were prepared by the following Informing Change team members:

• Michael P. Arnold, PhD, MSW, MPH, Partner & Co-Executive Director
• Rebekah Blume, Associate
• Ayenna Cagaanan, Research Assistant
• Caitlin Stanton, Associate Director
• The project team also included Associate Xiong Lee.