In this issue:
Announcements & Deadlines- August 14: California Watershed Protection Fund — LOIs due
- August 14: [New!] Orca Fund — pre-proposals due
- August 15: California Wildlands Grassroots Fund — applications due
- September 1: Columbia River Fund — applications due
- September 18: Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund — applications due
NOTICE: During this public health emergency, the Rose Foundation is continuing with all our normal grant cycles. We understand many grantees are facing delays and interruptions to their workplans, and we want to approve any needed extensions or modifications. The office is closed, but the Rose Foundation is open! Since we are working remotely, the best way to reach us is via email. Please email your program officer with specific questions. If you are not sure who to contact, please email grants@rosefdn.org.
2020 Film Fest: Get Your Tickets Today!Join us at our virtual 2020 Film Fest this September! Get your tickets today! And while supplies last, your ticket will include a super special Film Fest Party Kit with a branded Film Fest cup (so you can be ready for the toast!), movie snacks, and a special message from the Rose Foundation — all you need to celebrate with us at our Live Event!
This year, you can join us from anywhere —
all you need is internet connection and a screen!
Watch our incredible suite of films anytime between:
September 3rd — September 15th
And tune in for our Live Event, including
Rose staff, inspiring featured films, and special guests:
September 12th at 4:00 pm PST
Enjoy this year's Film Fest from the comfort and safety of your home! While we aren't able to gather together in person this year, we can still come together virtually to watch some great films, celebrate the power of grassroots activism and community resilience, and toast to a healthier and more just future! 
Here's a sneak peek at three of the films in our incredible line up. Learn more about these films here, then buy your tickets here!
Interested in sponsoring this special virtual Film Fest?
Sponsorship comes with many benefits and opportunities to connect with the 10,000+ members of the Rose Foundation community. Learn more about becoming a Sponsor: 2020 Sponsorship Opportunities.
Restitution Report Released!In July, we released our Restitutions Report on all our recent grantmaking enabled by environmental and consumer protection mitigation payments and Cypress Funds. In the first half of 2020, the Rose Foundation awarded more than $1.3 million in grants to community-oriented environmental organizations and groups advocating for consumer rights!
Grantee Spotlight:
Facial Recognition,
Privacy, & Racial Justice
Over the last few months, you may have seen facial recognition in the news as cities, states, and tech companies have taken some major steps to address its inherent bias and privacy violations. In June, three major tech companies with facial recognition products (Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft) made commitments to pause contracts with or prohibit the use of their products by law enforcement agencies. Many studies, including by the federal government, prove that while these algorithms are able to correctly identify middle-aged, white men relatively well, their error rates are much higher with women, children, people of color, and specifically Black people. And, even if the biases weren’t written into the actual programming of the technology, they are disproportionately used to target and surveil Black and Brown communities, limiting people’s freedom of speech.  These major wins came after years of organizing and pressure from privacy protection and civil rights enforcement organizations, like our longtime grantees Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). These organizations are working to protect civil liberties and privacy, and correct course before it is too late. Check out EFF’s About Face campaign and EPIC’s international Ban Face Surveillance campaign to learn more about their work.
With our country’s recent attention on the Black Lives Matter movement and systemic racism, companies and governments are recognizing their responsibility for the racism perpetuated by this technology, particularly in the hands of police. As Kade Crockford, Director of the ACLU writes,
“Banning face surveillance won’t stop systemic racism, but it will take one powerful tool away from institutions that are responsible for upholding it.”
Read more about the ways these technologies’ biases perpetuate racism from the ACLU.
We have proudly supported both EFF and EPIC through our Consumer Privacy Rights Fund. Learn more about the Fund on our website.
New Voices:
A Virtual Community Summit
Written by Andrea, 2020 Summer Academy Youth Co-Coordinator
My first year with New Voices was in 2017, back when the office was not even big enough to keep 16 students one foot apart. I think this was one of my favorite things about being in the program – how close everyone gets with each other. It's really satisfying watching everyone grow and learn by your side... literally! Our Community Summit that year was the perfect way to show everyone that we were really working together as youth of color from Oakland to make real change.
This is what I kept in mind throughout this summer, when I took the role of Youth Co-Coordinator. One of the most important things about New Voices is that we are here to build connections and learn together. Even though we couldn't be together physically, we did a good job of being with each other spiritually. Forging friendships over the internet sounds like it would be a hard thing to do. But that's what youth from this generation do all the time, which made things a lot easier for us.
This year was our very first virtual Community Summit; we gathered on a Zoom call, where students gave group presentations on different topics they had researched related to our curriculum. And we presented them with their certificates, graduating them from the program and celebrating their incredible achievements throughout the summer. We received an overwhelming amount of praise from both the students and our guests! Our event showcased how much our students did, in fact, learn and grow together throughout our virtual summer. We really tried to make sure that everyone was engaged, and I think we succeeded! Virtual or not, New Voices always finds a way to make summer fun!
Meet the Rose Community:
Jeremy Allen, 2020 Film Fest
A/V & Tech Support
Each month, we feature a member of the Rose Foundation community. We hope that through these interviews, you get to know a little more about the dynamic people who make the Rose Foundation's work possible. You are a part of the Rose Foundation community, and we want to tell your story too! If you want to be featured in an upcoming newsletter, let us know by replying to this email.
This month, we're featuring Jeremy Allen, our A/V & Tech Support for our upcoming virtual 2020 Film Fest! Jeremy has been working with the Rose Foundation to put on our Film Fests since 2018. We are so happy to have him on the team, especially thi year as he sets us up for a successful and entirely virtual Film Fest! Continue reading to get to know Jeremy: 1. What brought you to the Rose Foundation?
My connection to the Rose Foundation came through Development and Communications Director, Sheela Shankar. Prior to her arrival at the Rose Foundation, she and I met working together on a variety of video production projects around education, social justice, and environmental activism. We just kept crossing paths and soon became close friends. I'm proud to be involved with any organization in Sheela's orbit.
2. What inspires you about the Rose Foundation?
I grew up in Northern California during the time of Redwood Summer, Earth First! and the Timber Wars. This personal connection draws me to the mission of the Rose Foundation, and I find it inspiring to see what can come from this type of grassroots community organizing. Their 25+ year legacy supporting good work in other communities similar to mine is definitely an inspiration.
3. What are you up to when you’re not at the Rose Foundation?
In addition to my videography and event production work with the Rose Foundation through my company Musiquito Media, I also work as a professional musician performing Latin-American music, nationally and internationally, and have for the last 20 years. I love the outdoors, love to cook and to travel as much as possible. 4. What is your favorite part of the Rose Foundation's annual Film Fest?
Storytelling connects us to understanding and empathy. The films selected and featured by the Rose Foundation bring attention to critical stories to help spread awareness about the many issues and situations that we might not learn of otherwise. I like being able to help transmit this storytelling in a way that moves people into action.
5. What is your favorite animal? Why?
Tough one, because I don't think I've been asked this since I was like seven or eigh! At that time, it was the Peregrine Falcon – an awesome raptor, because of its speed and dive technique. And I remember really liking the color pattern of their feathers. But I love dogs, too! Join Jeremy and the Rose Foundation to celebrate the power of grassroots activism and community resilience at our 2020 Film Fest this September: get your tickets today!
Where in the World is Frankie?Our office mascot, Frankie the Fox, is an endangered Sierra Nevada red fox and a passionate advocate for the rights of nature. He goes everywhere with us, including vacations and site visits. Learn more about Sierra Nevada red foxes from former grantee Alpine Watershed Group.
If you think you know where Frankie is this month, send us an e-mail with your guess. We will mail a FREE Rose Foundation stainless steel pint cup to the first person to contact us with the correct answer. Next month, Frankie will tell us where he traveled and share a fun environmental fact about the area he visited. So, where in the world is Frankie this month? (Hint: There is a fault line that runs parallel to this human-made lake, which is named after two brothers who previously owned the land where it sits.) 
Last month, Frankie shared photos from when he and several Rose Foundation staff members attended the local Juneteenth rally and car caravan at the Port of Oakland with #BlackLivesMatter.
June 19th, or Juneteenth, is an important day of celebration, as it marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers reached Texas and brought news of the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves. This date reminds us, as Americans, of the promise of freedom, liberty, and human rights we are still striving to achieve for all in this country.
At the Rose Foundation, we know that justice matters, community matters, and Black lives matter! Our work to grow the grassroots movement for communities and the environment and connect the dots between racial justice, economic justice, and environmental justice continues. So thank you, Frankie, for sharing your photos and living our Rose Foundation values!
Community News & Virtual EventsHave news or events to share with the Rose Community? Send us information about your news and events to be featured in next month's newsletter!
Forward this message to a friend |
Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment