Better Giving with Bilen
One of my core beliefs is that the cure for scarcity is generosity, not abundance. Giving to others is heart work, and in this season, our giving can make a real difference to protect the nonprofit organizations that are doing so much good in our neighborhoods, cities, and states - all while facing headwinds and real challenges.
Giving is most powerful when it’s intentional, relational, and rooted in community. That’s why, this giving season, I am launching a giving guide to highlight organizations doing transformative work for racial, economic, and social justice, some of whom we’ve had the honor of partnering with through my agency Change Consulting.
These organizations are building power, and supporting communities often closest to the challenges and the solutions. I invite you to learn more about them and give with purpose.
In community,
Bilen
Bay Area Organizations
40x40 Council
A collaborative of trusted community organizations advancing an integrated, place‑based approach to transformation in Deep East Oakland.
Website: https://www.40x40oakland.org/
Asian Health Services
A community health center providing culturally and linguistically competent medical, dental, mental health, and social services to underserved families, especially immigrants and refugees, focusing on "whole patient health.”
Website: https://asianhealthservices.org
Bay Resistance
A grassroots network mobilizing Bay Area residents to defend democracy and protect vulnerable communities.
Website: https://www.bayresistance.org
Bay Rising
A growing alliance of community-led organizations across the Bay Area that knows we have the power to become co-creators of our future alongside our elected officials.
Website: https://bayrising.org
Baywell Health
Enhancing the health and dignity of the Bay Area’s Black community.
Website: https://baywellhealth.org
Black Cultural Zone
A community-led effort driving a vibrant renaissance in legacy Black communities by unapologetically centering Black arts, culture, and economics.
Website: https://www.blackculturalzone.org
Black Organizing Project (BOP)
A grassroots organization building Black political power through local organizing and civic engagement.
Website: https://blackorganizingproject.org
Brotherhood of Elders Network
An intergenerational network uplifting Black men and elders through mentorship, healing, and leadership.
Website: https://brotherhoodofelders.net
Cypress Mandela Training Center
A community based organization dedicated to improving the lives of the people it serves by providing pre-apprentice construction and life skills training along with employment assistance.
Website: https://www.cypressmandela.org
East Bay Community Foundation
A community foundation that partners with donors, community organizations, foundations, government, and corporations to eliminate barriers, advance equity, and transform our community for all who call the East Bay home.
Website: https://www.ebcf.org
East Oakland Collective
A community‑led collective strengthening housing stability, economic opportunity, and cultural power in East Oakland.
Website: https://www.eastoaklandcollective.com
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Following in the footsteps of Ella Baker, a brilliant, black hero of the civil rights movement, organizing with Black, Brown, and low-income people to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.
Website: https://ellabakercenter.org
East Oakland Youth Development Center
A youth-centered organization with a mission to nurture the holistic development of youth from kindergarten into adulthood so they can live a life of prosperity, integrity and purpose.
Website: https://eoydc.org
Gameheads Oakland
A tech and gaming education program preparing youth of color for careers in the digital economy.
Website: https://gameheads.org
Lotus Bloom
A network of family resource centers rooted in Oakland, providing safe spaces, playgroups, and connections that support caregivers and ensure young children have a strong start in life.
Website: https://www.lotusbloomfamily.org/
MISSSEY
An organization co-creating a world wheregirls and gender-expansive youth aresafe from sexual exploitation and knowtheir power.
Website: https://www.misssey.org
Roots Community Health
A community health organization working to uplift those impacted by systemic inequities and poverty through medical and behavioral health care, health navigation, workforce enterprises, housing, outreach, and advocacy.
Website: https://www.rootsclinic.org
Urban Peace Movement
A grassroots organization advancing community-led solutions to violence and mass incarceration.
Website: https://urbanpeacemovement.org
California Organizations
Black Californians United for Early Care & Education
Advancing equity, leadership, and healing for Black early childhood educators.
Website: https://www.blackece.org
Black Freedom Fund
A statewide fund resourcing Black-led organizations building power and systemic change.
Website: https://fundblackfreedom.org
Bringing Up California
A coalition advocating for policies that transform California into the best place to raise, have and be a child.
Website: https://bringingupcalifornia.org
California Donor Table
A donor collaborative funding progressive candidates and movements across the state.
Website: https://californiadonortable.org
Californians for Safety and Justice
An organization working to replace prison and justice system waste with common sense solutions that create safe neighborhoods.
Website: https://www.safeandjust.org
California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice
A network building youth power and advancing systems change through grassroots organizing.
Website: https://www.transformjusticeca.org
Essie Justice Group
A healing‑centered organization building the leadership and political power of women with incarcerated loved ones.
Website: https://essiejusticegroup.org
Indigenous Justice
Building a powerful movement of system-involved Native peoples inside and outside institutions working to end the centuries-long imprisonment of our people, ancestors, relatives, and land.
Website: https://indigenousjustice.org
Million Voters Project
A collaboration of 9 statewide community-based networks expanding California’s electorate to make structural change inevitable.
Website: https://millionvotersproject.org
PANA
Advocating for the full economic, social, and civic inclusion of refugees and displaced populations in the San Diego region, throughout California, and across the country.
Website: https://www.panasd.org/
Power California
A multiracial, statewide organization harnessing the energy of young voters of color and their families to create a state that is equitable, inclusive and just for everyone who calls California home.
Website: https://powercalifornia.org
Reimagine Freedom
ReImagine Freedom incubates and nurtures ideas, people, and initiatives to increase the economic power and freedom of women and gender-expansive people, our families, and communities.
Website: https://reimaginefreedom.org
UnCommon Law
Supporting people navigating California's discretionary parole process through trauma-informed legal representation, mental health counseling, legislative and policy advocacy, and in-prison programming led by those who have been through the process themselves.
Website: https://www.uncommonlaw.org
We Are California
A multigenerational movement mobilizing Californians to advance the common dream of a good life, quality education, safety for our families and a place to call home.
Website: https://wearecalifornia.org
Youth Organize California (Yo! Cali)
Seeds, nurtures, and weaves together young people, organizers, and organizations in a powerful and irresistible youth organizing movement.
Website: https://yocalifornia.org
National Organizations
African Communities Together
A national organization i of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, advance economically, and engage civically, and connects African immigrants to critical services.
Website: https://africans.us
Black Futures Lab
Works with Black people to transform communities, building Black political power and changing the way that power operates—locally, statewide, and nationally.
Website: https://blackfutureslab.org
Black to the Future Action Fund
A political home that works to transform Black communities into constituencies that build Black political power in cities and states.
Website: https://blacktothefuture.org
Cities United
A national organization that takes a holistic public health approach to reducing gun violence and creating better lives for young Black men and boys, their families, and their communities.
Website: https://citiesunited.org
Cool Girls
Cool Girls is dedicated to the self-empowerment of girls living in Atlanta’s most vulnerable communities.
Website: https://thecoolgirls.org
For the People
Partners with key stakeholders to identify people in prison who can be safely released, reuniting families and strengthening communities for generations to come.
Website: https://www.fortheppl.org
G4GC: Investing in Ecosystems that Support Our Youth
A leading national philanthropic intermediary abundantly investing in the leadership, wellbeing, and organizing of girls and gender‑expansive youth of color across the U.S. and U.S. territories.
Website: https://g4gc.org
Groundswell Fund
A national fund that directs resources to movements building bodily autonomy, civic power, and lasting capacity.
Website: https://groundswellfund.org
National Black Workers Center
A national network uniting Black workers around the country to mobilize and provide the resources needed to take on systems of oppression and exploitative policies.
Website: https://nationalblackworkercenters.org
Additional Organizations
Asian American Women’s Political Initiative
The only national-level political leadership organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women.
Website: https://aawpi.org
Boston Women’s Fund
Boston Women's Fund uplifts, advocates for, and invests in women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who are leading grassroots organizations and systems’ change.
Website: https://www.bostonwomensfund.org
Black Collective Foundation of Minnesota
As Minnesota’s first Black community foundation and a pioneer of culturally specific philanthropy nationwide, The Collective partners with individuals and institutions to boldly invest in organizations, leaders, systems, and ideas.
Website: https://www.minnesotablackcollectivefoundation.org
Gamechangers Leadership Institute
Nurturing the next generation of youth organizers to build power and create change through storytelling, and grassroots and digital organizing.
Website: https://gcyouthlead.org
Ile Kimoyo
A multicultural, cross-sector collaborative committed to healing and the restoration of resources in systematically excluded communities.
Website: https://ilekimoyo.org/
Trust Respect Access
A coalition advancing reproductive justice and access to abortion care.
Website: https://www.trustrespectaccess.com