The Latino Family Fund de Gilroy (the Fund) was founded in 2006 by ten families seeking to increase Latino philanthropic leadership and volunteerism in Gilroy. The Fund was inspired by research from the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which found that while the Latino community in Silicon Valley was extremely philanthropic, they tended to give directly and were disconnected from the formal philanthropic sector. The Fund was created as a donor-advised fund and endowment for the Latino community of Gilroy, intended to integrate Latinos across all levels of the Gilroy community and to leverage philanthropy to connect the city’s diverse communities.

Since 2006, the Fund has grown our endowment from $10,000 to over $252,000, and from 10 members to more than 100, giving over $97,000 to 43 organizations serving the local Latino community in Gilroy. The Fund has also provided $5,000 in scholarships and awarded $24,150 to community organizations through the Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) program, fostering the leadership and philanthropic engagement of 690 youth.

As we chart the Fund’s path for the next three years, we reaffirm our commitment to social justice for Gilroy’s Latino community. We are embracing a practice of targeted universalism: setting a universal goal of a prosperous South County community in which everyone can create a successful future for themselves while recognizing that historically marginalized and underserved communities, such as Gilroy’s Latino community, need targeted, direct support and investment to reach this goal.