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Abstract or Project Description

Abstract or Project Description

The Rest and Care Award is a one-time, invite-only program for current and past Education and Arts nonprofit grantees, offering six-week sabbaticals with pro-rated salary, benefits, leave expenses and organizational support, recognizing the dedication and resilience of leaders in our grantee community. Lenora Lee Dance creates and presents large-scale multimedia and immersive performance works integrating dance, original music, video projection and text. Founder and Artistic Director Lenora Lee has led the organization for 16 years.

Abstract or Project Description

Provides TK-2 literacy coaching and training for educators in Lighthouse Community Schools.

Abstract or Project Description

Lincoln Families delivers trauma-informed mental health services to improve outcomes for children and families. The grant supports two years of Trauma-Informed Literacy Playgroups at the Mandela Family Resource Center in West Oakland.

Abstract or Project Description

To support Local Commons which provides Model A and C fiscal sponsorship and services to a diverse group of San Jose and South Bay creatives.

Abstract or Project Description

Provides early language and literacy development for children 0-5 and expands families’ capacity to support development.

Abstract or Project Description

The Rest and Care Award is a one-time, invite-only program for current and past Education and Arts nonprofit grantees, offering six-week sabbaticals with pro-rated salary, benefits, leave expenses and organizational support, recognizing the dedication and resilience of leaders in our grantee community. Lotus Bloom is a network of family resource centers that provides safe, welcoming and inclusive community spaces to traditionally underserved children in Oakland’s flatlands. Their founder and executive director for 15 years is Angela Louie Howard.

Abstract or Project Description

Mabuhay Health Center (MHC) is a volunteer-run organization in San Francisco’s SoMa district, focusing on providing culturally sensitive healthcare to the elderly Filipino population, with services including a free community health clinic at the Bayanihan Community Center and tailored health education workshops for youth.

Abstract or Project Description

The Rest and Care Award is a one-time, invite-only program for current and past Education and Arts nonprofit grantees, offering six-week sabbaticals with pro-rated salary, benefits, leave expenses and organizational support, recognizing the dedication and resilience of leaders in our grantee community. Magic Theatre is a center for creating and performing new American plays dedicated to supporting and centering BIPOC artists and the community. Managing Director Kevin Nelson has led the organization for five years.

Abstract or Project Description

Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) have dysfunctions in gut motility, the movement of muscles in the gastrointestinal tract. Currently, most available therapeutics developed to directly target the gut fail to stabilize symptoms, suggesting that dysfunctions in gut motility could arise from pathological changes occurring outside the gut. Intriguingly, gut motility problems also occur at high frequencies in patients with neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases, associated with dysregulated neural activity in a specific region of the brain, the cerebral cortex. We propose that dysregulated neural activity in the cortex contributes to the emergence of gut dysfunction. We will test this hypothesis by first identifying specific regions in the cortex that are anatomically connected to the gut and then determining if modulating neural activity within these regions alters gut function. Additionally, we will use established mouse models of various neurological disorders and IBD to ask whether restoring homeostatic levels of neural activity to the cortex improves gut phenotypes. Our study will provide anatomical and functional evidence to support the concept that cortical modulations regulate gut motility. Furthermore, the insight gained from the study can lead to novel therapeutics for ameliorating gut motility symptoms in IBD patients.

Abstract or Project Description

Despite medical advances, a significant proportion of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients are resistant to therapies, with CD4 T cells being consistently activated. Analysis of inflamed tissues from a cohort of refractory IBD patients reveals an enrichment of metabolism gene transcripts in CD4 T cells. Exploring the mechanisms, our preliminary data demonstrate that several proinflammatory cytokines can independently trigger metabolic phenotypes which we believe reinvigorates the pathogenic function of CD4 T cells. This led us to formulate the hypothesis that IBD CD4 T cells, governed by metabolic cues, utilize common intracellular metabolites to drive inflammatory response that results in disease pathogenesis. Thus, our research goal is to identify the metabolic vulnerabilities of IBD CD4 T cells, which will consequently guide strategies for developing efficacious therapies.

Abstract or Project Description

A site-specific outdoor dance project by Megan Lowe Dances connecting San Francisco’s Chinatown and Oakland’s Chinatown. Funds from a development support grant will go toward investigating shared and divergent cultural practices between the two neighborhoods, as well as free outdoor workshops and community conversations with Asain American and Pacific Islander residents.

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Direct aid for Gaza, Palestine.

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Expands access to research for diverse audiences through investigative journalism.

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Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs) are typified by bouts of inflammation-induced epithelial damage and repair. By take cues from their microenvironment or “niche”, intestinal stem cells (ISCs) direct these fluctuating pathological and reparative states in IBD. Yet, we do not understand which cells comprise the inflamed ISC niche and how they switch on programs of repair. To track evolving ISC niches, we are proposing the development of a new cutting-edge Niche-labeling system. Our ultimate goal is to understand how ISC niches change over the course of disease and leverage this information to reprogram an “inflammatory ISC niche” into a “regenerative ISC niche” and achieve lasting remission in IBD.

Abstract or Project Description

Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) empowers Latina and Indigenous immigrant women through personal transformation and civic engagement to achieve social and economic justice. The grant supports two years of training for mothers and informal caregivers in early literacy and child development to prepare children of Spanish and Mam-speaking immigrants for school readiness.

Abstract or Project Description

Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) fosters self-expression, culture and community-building through the arts, centering youth voices. The grant supports a weekly program combining artmaking and storytelling to develop language skills for children ages zero to five and their caregivers in Oakland’s Mam community.

Abstract or Project Description

A provocative burlesque-style program that pushes against expectations of what hula should be. Inspired by the musical “Cabaret” but with hula and without the Nazis, this will be an adult-themed show that cheekily reflects the impacts and realities of our ever-evolving multicultural world.

Abstract or Project Description

To support quick turnaround loans to arts organizations.

Abstract or Project Description

Convenes literacy nonprofits and educators, as well as provides literacy advocacy and data-sharing.