“This is a huge gift at a timely moment that will help accelerate our progress and keep the momentum growing,” Ramla Sahid, Founder and Executive Director of Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), said in the San Diego Business Journal . PANA received a $1 million grant from the San Diego Foundation and SANDAG to support a $155 million project in City Heights to build the Global Village, a six-story campus that will provide affordable housing and vital services for refugees. It will include 150 apartments, a 15,000-square-foot marketplace for immigrant-owned businesses, and office space for nonprofits serving refugee communities. The project aims to foster community ownership and celebrate cultural diversity by offering large units designed for multigenerational families. “We are on an ambitious timeline. We want to definitely turn dirt and have shovels in the ground before the next two years. ” Check out the full story here.
In July, Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, a measure that critics say favors the wealthy at the expense of low-income and Black communities. While the bill claims to offer middle-class relief, experts warn that most benefits – such as deductions for overtime, tips, and senior expenses – are temporary, while permanent tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich. “It’s quite manipulative that Republicans are trying to move this narrative that they’re here for middle-class Americans when really they’re taking out all of us,” Alexsis Rodgers, Political Director of the Black to the Future Action Fund, told Essence. Simultaneously, the law slashes key programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and clean energy credits, disproportionately hurting Black households already facing rising unemployment and limited access to healthcare and education. In response, advocacy groups like the Black Futures Lab and Black to the Future Action Fund are organizing around a Black Economic Agenda, urging local action and community-building as tools for resistance. “Regardless of what Republicans and Trump are saying, our communities all stand to suffer with these kinds of cuts…” Read the full story here.
The Zellerbach Family Foundation has awarded its fourth round of Together in Community (TiC) grants to support events that foster belonging, connection, cultural celebration and more inclusive communities in the Bay Area. Congratulations to our former client Urban Peace Movement for being selected as a grantee for “That’s Oakland Baby.” The event seeks to build community, facilitate collective healing, and uplift the unique culture and diversity of West Oakland’s Hoover Foster neighborhood through a healing and wellness zone, a live performance stage featuring local Oakland hip-hop artists, a kid zone, free food, and other community building and healing activities. The next grant application deadline is October 6, 2025. Visit the TiC website to find out more about eligibility, guidelines, and application questions.
Registration is now live! Join our partners, The Black Collective Foundation MN, for the first-ever The Collective Sum November 18–20, 2025 in Minneapolis! This premier gathering will bring together leaders, visionaries, organizations, and businesses committed to building community, making tangible impact, and shaping effective strategies for the times we are in. Change Consulting had the honor of supporting this first-of-its-kind gathering through messaging development, communications strategy, social and email content, providing web support, and media relations support. To register or for more details, click here.
ICYMI: A report from Essie Justice Group, The Hidden Heart of Reentry, shares lessons from its years of work bailing Black women out of jail in California as part of the Black Mama’s Bail Out Campaign. Essie, an Oakland-based nonprofit supporting women with incarcerated loved ones, highlights the disproportionate harm pretrial detention causes to Black women, especially mothers, in a system where high bail amounts often exceed their annual income. Since 2017, Essie has bailed out 17 women and evolved its approach to include needs assessments, court support, and reentry services like housing, counseling, and stipends. Since its inaugural year, Change Consulting has provided Essie with strategic communications support to lift up Black Mama’s Bail Out Day and Essie’s leadership. Read the full report here to learn how bailouts alone won’t dismantle mass incarceration but serve as a critical tool to spotlight systemic injustice and provide immediate relief, dignity, and care for impacted women.
Big news from our Change Consulting team – our very own Kiah Albritton, Sr. Communications Manager – Digital Strategist, has been named a RISING STAR HONOREE in Ragan’s inaugural Communications Week Zenith Awards!
This incredible honor celebrates emerging leaders who are shaping the future of communications and we couldn’t be more proud. We’re so grateful for Kiah’s wisdom, wittiness, and unwavering commitment to impactful storytelling.