Akonadi Foundation is proud to have joined the philanthropic coalition funding an independent implementation study paving the way for a new Alameda County Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, which would create a more coordinated system that ensures our community members can access the services they need. Yesterday, findings from that study were presented to the Alameda County Together For All (ACT) Ad Hoc Committee — a meaningful milestone years in the making.
Alameda County is home to one of California’s most diverse populations: one in three residents was born outside the United States, and more than 120 languages are spoken across the county. Recent federal immigration policy changes have made an already urgent need even more acute. This office represents the structural response these communities need and deserve.
The implementation study, co-authored by Be the Change Consulting and LikeWater Consulting Group, assessed existing countywide services and examined comparable models from across California and other states. As the study’s authors put it: the goal is not to identify what’s wrong, but “to connect what already exists, resource it adequately, and hold it accountable to the communities it serves.”
Akonadi joined the Zellerbach Family Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation and others in raising $185,000 to fund this independent study. For us, this reflects our belief that durable, racially just outcomes require structural change. We believe this is the kind of public infrastructure that sustains communities in the long term, not just in moments of crisis.
The study recommendations are timed to inform the Board of Supervisors’ current budget process. We encourage partners, grantees, and community members to engage their supervisors and make it clear that this office is long overdue.
Learn more about the Alameda County Interim Office for Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.
