To: Board of Supervisors
From: Monica Nino, County Administrator
Report Title: INNOVATION FUND GRANT RECOMMENDATIONS
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. RECOGNIZE and ACKNOWLEDGE all of the Phase 1 and 2 Innovation Fund applicants for their participation in this grant opportunity.
2. AWARD Measure X Phase 2 Innovation Fund awards totaling $1,962,455 to seven Phase 2 applicants indicated on Attachment 1 and AUTHORIZE and DIRECT the County Administrator to negotiate and execute grant contracts with each grantee organization.
3. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator to apply $12,455 from the unallocated Round 1 Innovation Fund balance to satisfy the Round 2 grant awards, and DIRECT that the resulting unallocated balance of $166,808 be maintained for project contingencies or future grant supplementation.
4. RECOGNIZE the time, expertise, and effort of the seven Innovation Fund panelists who volunteered their personal time and attention to this endeavor.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The $2,000,000 Innovation Fund derives from a second Board allocation of Measure X sales tax revenue. Ten Phase 1 planning grants of $5,000 each were awarded in December 2024, leaving a fund balance of $1,950,000. Note that there remains an unallocated balance from Round 1 of $179,263 which, if added by the Board to the Round 2 remaining allocation, leaves potentially $2,129,263 to be allocated in Round 2, Phase 2.
Recommended Phase 2 grants, if approved, will reduce the fund by $1,962,455, leaving an unallocated balance of $166,808.
BACKGROUND:
On November 16, 2021, the Measure X Community Advisory Board presented a report and funding recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for Measure X revenue. Among the many recommendations approved by the Board of Supervisors was a one-time allocation of $2 million to establish an Innovation Fund to seed pilot programs and innovative projects. The County Administrator was charged with administration of the fund and grant process, with guidance from the Board of Supervisors and its Finance Committee.
Ultimately, the Board of Supervisors allocated two rounds of Innovation Funds, each in the amount of $2M. The first round was allocated in October 2023 and three of the five awarded projects have been completed, with the remaining two projects expected to wrap up by the end of this fiscal year or sooner. The first round left an unallocated balance of $179,263, which is available to add to the second, current round or redirect to other County needs.
The second-round grant eligibility, principles, priorities, and project categories were substantially the same as in the first round, except that a requirement to be a registered California organization was removed:
Guiding Principles:
• The first question is not ‘Is this going to work?’ but rather, ‘If it works, would it matter?’
• Unlike traditional grantmaking, intentionally seek to trade off probability of success in return for greater potential impact.
• Invest in approaches that may have a higher risk of failure, but the potential to be lasting and truly game changing if they succeed.
• Seek out ideas with transformative potential, take risks on less proven approaches, and recognize that innovation requires flexibility, iteration and, yes, even failure.
• Strive to balance rigorous analysis with intuition about a project’s potential for transformative change.
• The impact from one or two big, transformational successes in a portfolio can justify the opportunity cost of many failures. Recognize that money given away for social purposes is effectively gone, regardless of outcomes.
Ineligible Projects:
• Are not new or innovative to Contra Costa County
• Are designed to only supplement operations or revenue lost
• Do not align with Contra Costa County’s Innovation Fund priorities (see below)
• Will not be executed in 2025-26
• Are not consistent with the approved Phase 1 Concept
Innovation Fund Priorities
• Projects that respond to local service needs.
• Projects that improve equitable access to public services
• Projects that remove structural barriers that cause inequities and poverty
• Projects that have the potential to have the greatest impact for every dollar spent
• Projects that have potential for transformative change rather than simply replicate safe, established programs
Innovation Fund Categories
• Safe & Engaged Communities - Improving health, wellness, and public safety outcomes through community outreach/awareness, education, and engagement.
• Agriculture and Food Systems - Improving environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity.
• Economic Vitality - Providing education, job training, decent jobs, and viable businesses to reduce the number of people at a poverty level.
• Clean & Sustainable (Clean and Green) Environment - Safe food and water, proper waste disposal, clean air, pest control; preventing waste.
• Reliable & Accessible Infrastructure - Modernization, technology, or equity in digital access, cybersecurity, and resilience.
The County Administrator's Office issued a request for concepts on September 13, 2024 with a submission deadline of October 7, 2024 (3½ weeks). Thirty-six qualifying applications were received.
The County Administrator convened a diverse 7-member review panel comprising highly qualified representatives from the Contra Costa County Funders' Forum, the Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation, the County Health Services Department, the County's Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board, the Community Corrections Partnership Community Advisory Board, the Council on Homelessness, and the Measure X Community Advisory Board. The County Administrator is deeply appreciative of the services volunteered by the Panelists, who dedicated significant time and effort to evaluate the information gathered from bid proposals and presentations. Many hours of study, thought, and discussion were required to develop the Phase 1 recommendations presented to the Board in December 2024 and the Phase 2 recommendations presented today.
Phase 1 Summary. As compared to the first round in 2023 in which 14 Phase 1 applications were received, 36 qualifying applications were received in Phase 1 of the second round. The Review Panel met on October 21st, November 7th, November 21st to evaluate, rate, and rank proposals in accordance with the guiding principles and priorities adopted by the Board. As a result of its deliberations, the Review Panel recommended, and the Board of Supervisors approved on December 3, 2024, that 10 of the 36 applicants be awarded $5,000 each and invited to submit full proposals during Phase 2 of the grant process.
Phase 2 Summary. Phase 2 was initiated on December 12, 2024 following a mandatory bidders’ conference. All ten of the Phase 1 grantees attended the bidders’ conference and submitted Phase 2 proposals by the January 27, 2025 deadline (see Attachment 3 - Request for Proposals). The total amount requested by the ten applicants is $3,431,053, which exceeds the current Round 2 balance in the Innovation Fund by $1,481,053.
The Review Panel convened 12 times in February and March to interview the ten applicants; review, rate, and rank proposals in accordance with the guiding principles and priorities adopted by the Board; and determine funding recommendations. The rating rubric, which was communicated at the December bidders’ conference, can be found in Attachment 2. Oral presentations and interviews were conducted by the Panel during the week of February 10-15 and all Phase 2 applicants participated. The Panel recommendations were forwarded to the County Administrator with six affirmative votes and one abstention by Panelist Liou.
The County Administrator appreciates the Panel’s careful consideration of each proposal and proffers the Panel's recommendations for seven Phase 2 awards today totaling $1,962,455. Because the total recommended award exceeds the round 2 amount available, the County Administrator recommends that the Board authorize that $12,455 of the round 1 unallocated balance be used to supplement the round 2 funding. The recommendations showing the proposal rankings, program summaries, and amounts requested and recommended are shown in Attachment 1. The Panel recommends that the proposed unallocated balance of $166,808 be maintained in the Innovation Fund for possible future supplementation of the recommended projects as needed and upon approval by the Board.
The Review Panel wishes to emphasize that a recommendation of “no grant award” does not in any way signify a lack of worthiness of a proposal in terms of a valid need for services or proposer qualifications but rather reflects the fundamental criteria for this funding designation that awards be made to innovative projects and those programs that demonstrate the strongest consistency with defined Innovation Fund guidelines, priorities, and eligibility criteria.
The County Administrator today seeks Board direction on the Phase 2 grant awards. Upon direction by the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator will negotiate and execute grant contracts in the amounts approved and authorized by the Board today.
The County Administrator also wishes to recognize the excellent support of Buyer II Dally Aleman, who administered the online bidding process for both $2M rounds of the Innovation Fund.
Next Steps. The precise schedule for the remaining steps will depend somewhat on the cooperation and availability of the grantees. However, the Board can be assured that the County Administrator's Office is working as efficiently as possible to complete the entire process in an expeditious manner. Following are the remaining steps:
• CAO negotiates service plans and payment provisions with each grantee;
• Contracts are drafted, reviewed by legal counsel as to form, and executed;
• Target for contract effective dates is May 1, 2025;
• Quarterly monitoring and report by CAO;
• Annual evaluation and final report to BOS (target September 2026).
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
None.