Hope in Their Hands
January was Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Years ago, Alia Azariah, Social Justice Fellow, was trafficked as a young girl here in Ventura County … a victim, a survivor, her story heartbreaking and unfortunately to this day not uncommon.
But her story has evolved … resilience, healing, justice … hope. Now a powerful change agent, Alia is an unrelenting force and advocate for vulnerable and trafficked children and shares her story nationally and globally.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJFVC), I am pleased to announce two organizational changes. These changes will help us lay a stronger foundation for our Fellowship program to ensure its growth and sustainability.
This is a very busy and exciting time of the year for the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJFVC). We are currently in the process of reviewing and selecting our 2024-2025 Social Justice Fellows! The applicants have proposed solutions to address a wide range of issues, including but not limited to: environmental justice, youth gang intervention, LGBTQ+ rights, food insecurity, and education equity. While there are many more candidates and issues which merit funding that we cannot support, we are constantly reminded of the critical needs the Social Justice Fund is meeting.
The Fillmore Lions Club hosted Marisol and the Fillmore Conservation Corp. and made a generous donation. Congratulations to Marisol for building community support for your organization!
As we near summer and are beginning to enjoy the warmer weather, SJFVC is excited to reflect on all of the incredible work the Fellows have accomplished over the last few seasons. Here are some recent updates on some of our Fellows!
In our most recent cohort of our Fellowship program, the Social Justice Fund was able to fund seven Fellows – the most in the history of the Social Justice Fellowship program! Thanks to your donations, our Fellows have been able to track data on the clean up efforts of Oxnard beaches, create a new youth-led conservation program in Fillmore, and hold community events for disabled individuals in Ventura County. Additionally, thanks to the generosity of donors like you, we have made significant strides toward our fundraising goal of 100k. Your commitment to empowering social justice leaders has played a vital role in our success so far.
Our Fellows are getting deeper into their projects, and some have already held workshops or events.
Let me take you step-by-step through a recent workshop I attended led by one of our Fellows, Diego Magaña!
As we await the formation of our new cohort of Social Justice Fellows, SJFVC has very exciting news to share!
SJFVC has received a grant for $32,500 from the McCune Foundation!
SJFVC is deeply grateful for this grant, as it will help us build our Fellowship Program and better support our Social Justice Fellows!
All of our 2022-2023 Fellows have officially completed their projects!
As we reflect on the past year of our Fellowship program, we celebrate the unwavering dedication and transformative approaches exhibited by our Fellows:
Brenda not only established free Zumba classes for Nyeland Acres, but also managed to establish yoga classes for her community even after her Fellowship ended.
Zuly and Fatima created reproductive justice workshops that reached multiple generations at once, helping to build deep connections between families of different ages and stages of life.
This past Saturday, SJFVC held an event in Nyeland Acres to highlight the work of Fellow Brenda Heredia. In her speech, Brenda noted that Nyeland Acres has been forgotten and neglected, which is why her thoughtful advocacy work has been vital for the Nyeland Acres community.
The Social Justice Fund invites you to join us on May 6th to learn more about the work of one of our Fellows, Brenda Heredia, and the movement for promoting health equity in Nyeland Acres!
Please click here to find more details and RSVP. We look forward to seeing you there!
As our SJFVC Fellows progress through their projects, the SJFVC wants to highlight the thoughtful and compassionate leadership displayed by these wonderful individuals. They demonstrate a form of leadership that prioritizes the voices and needs of the communities they work alongside. Thanks to supporters like you, our Fellows have the ability to address particular forms of inequity and deepen their support of their communities.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came to our Annual Fundraiser in Saticoy on October 16th. We are grateful for our speakers, who all brought an invaluable perspective and offered attendees a thorough look at the challenges and community efforts in Saticoy.
September has been a busy month for the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJFVC). This year we had our largest group of applicants ever and there were many great project ideas as well as inspiring emerging leaders. Sadly, we had to make some very difficult decisions based on our limited available capacity and funds. After many interviews, meetings and presentations the SJFVC has decided to fully fund the projects of 5 fellows and to award a special leadership grant. A brief description of each of these follows.
Healthy Nyeland Acres:
Brenda Heredia (she/her)
Brenda’s project is called Healthy Nyeland Acres and it aims to raise health equity for underserved residents in Nyeland Acres by providing them with health education and basic services to promote a healthy way of living. Residents of all ages will have the opportunity to engage in physical activity by participating in a series of fun Zumba classes. Residents will be empowered to take care of their health and to stay physically active. …
We have recently received news that Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo has decided to pursue other endeavors. Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo has served as our executive director for more than 4 years. Martita has been a key contributor to the Fund’s growth. Under her leadership, we rolled out our Social Justice Fellowship program. This program has successfully funded 8 Fellows and helped two emerging social justice organizations incorporate as non-profits.
We hope you all are enjoying the longer days of sunlight! The Social Justice Fellows are hard at work and continue to inspire us. Our Fellows are advancing their projects demonstrating excellent leadership skills, determination and a passion for justice. It is with great pleasure that we have an opportunity to share their updates, with the hope of bringing a little more sunshine into your day. We hope you will enjoy this month’s Social Justice Fund newsletter:
We are currently living in a time that will surely be written about in history books. There continues to be a lot of uncertainty about the future, what it will look like and who will shape it. Nevertheless, we must persist. With your support and donations, we will persist.
To bring some positive and hopeful news to you today, we are sharing the inspiring work of our 2021-2022 Fellows. Your donations have helped to make this work possible. Our Fellows are all demonstrating extraordinary leadership and ingenuity in carrying out their projects. We hope you find inspiration in their work and the impact they are having in the community.
Learn about the food desert in Ventura County and our efforts to address its impact! Join us for our Annual Fundraiser as we learn about the unincorporated community of Saticoy.
Building Food Access in Saticoy
Saticoy is a federally-recognized food desert with inadequate access to fresh and healthy food.
Despite these obstacles, leaders such as Sierra Doehr have stepped up to create a farmers market with the goal of establishing access to economic opportunities and a variety of fresh and healthy food options.
Mark your calendar and join us for our annual fundraiser!Our annual fundraiser this year will focus on the efforts to build access to food in the unincorporated community of Saticoy.
Happy Juneteenth! We hope you are all enjoying getting back together with friends and loved ones. As the COVID restrictions continue to ease and the weather warms up, our social justice work continues.
Here are this month’s highlights from the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJFVC):
While the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County is pleased that the jury found Derek
Chauvin guilty for the murder of George Floyd, we must not veer away from the long
road we still must travel to reach a just and equitable society. Chauvin’s trial has been a
traumatic and painful experience to watch, as we were continuously forced to relive the
gruesome murder George Floyd. Chauvin’s conduct was the byproduct of the historical
injustices inflicted on Black and Brown people in our Country and a legacy of the
unacknowledged racism, which permeates throughout our criminal justice system. This
case was merely a single demonstration of one person being held accountable. We
must not be distracted from our continuous fight for systemic change, true justice, actual
fairness, societal equity and inclusion.
We hope you are healthy and doing well. The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County condemns racism in all forms and the ongoing violent attacks against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. These hateful and violent acts underscore the struggles we face in becoming a truly just and inclusive society. We urge you to click on this link to view our complete statement supporting the AAPI community and actions you can take now.
The Social Justice Fund also expresses our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims in the Boulder, CO mass shooting. We are horrified and saddened by this violence. We believe that a multi-faceted and science-based approach is needed to address the epidemic of gun violence.
The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County promotes fairness, equity, and human rights. We condemn and denounce the ongoing violence against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, which recently resulted in the murder of eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. We stand in solidarity with our Asian-American and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters who are suffering from trauma, as they are the targets of hate, xenophobia, and violence. We acknowledge that language has power and that racist rhetoric fuels the fire of hate and white supremacy.
We want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. We are all hoping for a less tumultuous year and a year that brings healing and justice for all. Here are some of this month’s highlights:
First of all, thanks to all for your generosity in 2020. The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County had its best fundraising year in many years. With this money we are poised to continue our Fellowship Program and support emerging leaders become new voices for social justice in our community. Your contributions are helping our Social Justice Fellows introduce new ideas to bring fairness and justice.
Check out 2 new videos attached below. You will see two clips from a zoom conference we co-sponsored with the Chalice Newbury Park. The first is Rabiah and I introducing the Fund and our Fellows. The second – – which is not be missed – is Kavita Rai from Justice in the Classroom, one of our Fellows, describing her new organization and her personal motivation for change. These videos are the start of a “Get to Know” series we will be releasing of the Social Justice Fellows you have funded to make change. They are very inspirational!
With Chalice of Newbury Park, the Social Justice Fund of Ventura County is sponsoring a Community Forum where 3 of our Social Justice Fellows are speaking. Come and hear about their projects and their passion for social justice and spend a very inspiring evening. The 2020 Social Justice Fellows will talk about their projects followed by an interactive Q & A.
I hope you are all well. In this month’s update, I want to focus on news from our first fellow and the process of finding and selecting a fellow. As this is a first year for our Social Justice Fellowships we are taking pains to reach out to many organizations and interviewed quite a few promising candidates. Here is my update:
Our fellow, Maria Rodriguez, has begun interviews and gave a presentation on her project at CLU.
We continue to hear from many potential fellows. This month we have 3 new Letters of Interest we are considering and several other candidates we are coaching. Letters of Interests are applications for fellowship.
We have had a busy month! Here are some highlights:
Go to our updated website and you can read all the latest about our very first Social Justice Fund Fellow, Maria Rodriquez and her project, Why Do Immigrants Get Shortchanged?: The Case for Increased Legal Services in Migrant Communities in Ventura County.
The past few weeks have brought news of a student-led rally for Black Lives Matter in Simi Valley plus two significant Supreme Court rulings, all of which promote equity and justice. At the Social Justice Fund, we celebrate these moments as a reminder that progress toward justice is possible and requires our participation.
Click here for more information We are writing to provide you with an update on our Implicit Bias grantees and their accomplishments. The Social Justice Fund made grants last year totaling $25,000 for projects dealing with Implicit Bias in Education.…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Creating Change, Not Charity Thank you to everyone who attended Immigration: Challenges and Strategies in Ventura County and making the day a success! The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County was delighted to see nearly 140…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter In 2017 we embarked on a new challenge to combat implicit bias in Ventura County’s classrooms. If our partners had a project to stop our students from being undermined, and elevate their learning and…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Creating Change, Not Charity Almost a year ago we invited Ventura County to unite and learn about the harmful effects of implicit bias in our community’s schools. We brought together community activists, nonprofit leaders,…
Click here to view the entire e-newsletter Creating Change, Not Charity Dear Friends, We are on our way to another year of grant making! The Social Justice Fund’s Board members are meeting with neighborhood activists, nonprofit leaders and elected…
A Celebration of Justice Breaking Down Barriers to Success in Education Wednesday, June 28 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Four Friends Gallery 1414 Thousand Oaks Blvd Suite 111 Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 RSVP Today Next week the Social Justice Fund for…
CAMARILLO — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County will present the free workshop — “Hidden Prejudice: Barriers to Success in Education” from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Ventura County Community Foundation, 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd., Camarillo.…
CAMARILLO — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County will present the interact workshop “Education and the American Dream” from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Ventura County Community Foundation, 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd., Camarillo. Education is…
THOUSAND OAKS — Roman Pinal, an activist with the United Farm Workers of America, and actor, director and activist Daniel Stern will speak at the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County’s Currents of Change fundraiser from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday,…
THOUSAND OAKS — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County to will present its 8th annual “Currents of Change — On the Wing for Justice” fundraiser from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 12 at Los Robles Greens Golf Course, 299…
CAMARILLO — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJF) has awarded almost $30,000 to five local organizations that inspire and educate young leaders who work to improve fairness and justice in their communities, the organization reported in a media release.…
CAMARILLO — Sergio Arau, film director of “A Day Without a Mexican,” will be the keynote speaker at Social Justice Fund for Ventura County’s 6th annual Currents of Change fundraiser on from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 31 at Camarillo…
CAMARILLO — Angeles Small has been named executive director of the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, the organization reported in a media release. Small has more than 15 years of experience in the management and development of organizations in United…
VENTURA COUNTY — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County will present its 5th Annual “On the Road to Change Bus Tour — Immigration at a Crossroads” from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 20 departing from the Ventura County…
VENTURA COUNTY — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County will present its 5th Annual “On the Road to Change Bus Tour — Immigration at a Crossroads” from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 22 departing from the Ventura…
CAMARILLO — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, CSU Channel Islands, California Lutheran University, U.C. Santa Barbara and the Center for Nonprofit Leadership will present “Social Justice in Practice: Putting It All Together” convening and Workshop from 9 a.m. to…
VENTURA — The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County will present ‘Interpreting for Social Justice’ March 15-17 in Ventura. The program will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 15; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March…
