Redwood City – San Mateo County supervisors today accepted a $490,000 grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to support work that will help bring an equity lens into the allocation of resources in the County.

The grant will support the Office of Racial and Social Justice in implementing a framework that supports community- and data-driven decision making that addresses inequity.

“A big thank you to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for giving us a very generous grant. Obviously it was very competitive,” said Board President Warren Slocum.

Shireen Malekafzali, the County’s chief equity officer, said, “The Office of Racial and Social Justice is still new, and building a new function in local government without state or federal funding is a challenge. The support from local philanthropy enables the County to deepen and expand capacity to build the structures needed to affirmatively further equity in government.

“We deeply appreciate the support and partnership with SVCF and other philanthropic partners to create more equitable outcomes for all our communities,” Malekafzali said.