Story of
Rise Together
Photo Credit: Inspira Photography
Rise Together Santa Cruz County
Video by Inspira Studios
The first Rise Together gathering was held in the summer of 2020 amidst the national uprisings against anti-Black police violence and as gaping systemic health, economic, and social inequities killed tens of thousands of people of color disproportionately from COVID-19.
The Community Foundation brought together 17 Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Leaders to support their work in continuing to advance racial equity locally. Rise Together includes community organizers, social justice and arts leaders, indigenous cultural practitioners, city officials, social workers, healthcare professionals, youth mentors, funders, immigrant advocates, and educators. Some members had deep existing relationships with each other, some were meeting for the first time, and all have worked relentlessly for racial equity.
Together we are building our collective and ongoing story.
Our work is rooted in our relationships. We meet regularly to continuously learn from each other, provide support and energy, and celebrate wins when they happen. Building this trusted and collaborative circle is fundamental in our work.
You can read more about all our members here.
2026 Coalition Update
Since its inception, Rise Together has operated as a living, breathing ecosystem strengthening and supporting BIPOC leaders in Santa Cruz County. In 2026, we endured a fast-changing, volatile political landscape. We remained ready and responsive to support our community through these challenging times. Throughout this year, we have found ourselves in thoughtful reflection and evolution, refining our approach for what the path ahead requires. We leveraged our time together, building stronger collaborations and strengthening our foundation for the critical work ahead to meet this current moment in our history.
Rise has historically welcomed inspirational leaders to new cohorts regularly. This year, we decided to take an intentional approach to deepen and align our collective efforts. Through this process, we proudly reaffirmed our Rise Together Purpose Statement:
Our purpose is to build awareness, trust, and investment in the work led by, for, and in support of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Santa Cruz County. Through our individual and collective stories and efforts, we give voice to our experiences and propel actions and funding that will change existing systems of inequity and build a county where everyone can thrive.
To bring this purpose to life and focus our collective efforts, we are narrowing to these goals in 2026:
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Amplify, value, celebrate, and preserve People of Color’s stories, arts, culture, and community events.
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Deliver essential services, address barriers, and build community capacity to fight racial disparities to improve well-being for People of Color to prosper.
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Continuously give and grow sustained funding for communities of color.
True coalition work requires care, discipline, and evolution. We are so grateful to our community, our partners, and all of you for allowing us to strengthen our foundation during this critical time.
As part of our coalition evolution, we have made the collective decision to temporarily pause bringing on new coalition members. This pause allows us to strengthen our foundation for what lies ahead and ensure alignment around our shared mission, values, and priorities to thoughtfully welcome new members into future cohorts.
We recognize that this collective decision has impacts, and we did not make it lightly. We are deeply committed to this work and believe we need to be responsive to the current landscape, rather than reactive. We look forward to growing coalition membership in the future to create more opportunities and alignment to bring racial equity to our community.