2023-2024 Impact Report
Letter from the director
At the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, we are a collaborative of scholars and community leaders committed to addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Our mission is to contribute to a just, inclusive, and sustainable future. We do this by fostering shared learning, meaningful partnerships, engaging with communities, and taking strategic action informed by deep understanding of structural inequalities. That is the work we’re doing together, and I’m proud to reflect on the progress we’ve made.
As the stories and metrics throughout this report demonstrate, the past academic year has been an inspiring year of achievements. Together, we’ve conducted research with tangible benefits for communities near and far. We’ve helped an eager new generation find their own paths as change-makers. And we’ve leveraged our resources and expertise to enhance the public benefit of transformative projects led by our many valued partners. The impacts of this work have reached far beyond our home in the Social Sciences Division at UC Santa Cruz, influencing policy dialogues and empowering movements from local to global levels.
Looking forward, our work feels more urgent than ever. We are setting ambitious goals to expand our programs and deepen our impact through new partnerships and research initiatives. We are keenly focused on leading change around critical issues like climate justice and equitable economic development. Our new associate faculty director, Economics Professor Galina Hale, brings expertise in climate finance and sustainability that will help to advance those goals. She will become our next faculty director in July, ensuring the continued strength of our leadership team when I step down as founding director.
In the years ahead, the momentum we’ve built provides a strong foundation for advancing our shared vision. But we will need your continued support. So thank you for being part of our community of change-makers.
With gratitude,
Chris Benner
Institute for Social Transformation Faculty Director
Funding transformative scholarship
Faculty in the Social Sciences Division at UC Santa Cruz are innovative scholars and researchers who are addressing the biggest, most complex social and environmental challenges of our time. Yet social sciences scholarship remains chronically underfunded worldwide, creating financial barriers to the transformative work our faculty want to pursue. That’s why the Institute for Social Transformation provides grant funding to support our faculty members through key stages of the scholarly process. Since our founding in 2018, our grant programs have distributed $531,000 in internal funding to 76 projects that have leveraged this into $3.6 million in external funding.
Our Catalyze Grants program funds the development and exploration of new ideas and research concepts through interdisciplinary collaboration. The program offers Seed Grants to advance promising research by supporting pilots, Sprout Grants to fund initial data collection for external funding proposals, and Harvest Grants to help share research findings with key decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public. And our Emerging Scholar Support program accelerates manuscript publication and the completion of other significant research outputs for early-career faculty.
By the numbers: outcomes this past academic year
13
faculty members won new funding awards in spring 2024
$84,000
in Catalyze Grant funding awarded
$20,000
in Emerging Scholar Grant funding awarded
14
faculty members implemented projects using funding from 2023 awards
$2.7M+
in external funding proposals submitted resulting from 2023 awards
Impact stories
Helping small businesses thrive in Sub-Saharan Africa
Economics Professor Ajay Shenoy received a 2023 Sprout Grant to help improve outcomes for predominantly woman-owned small retail businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. This past academic year, he piloted an algorithm for a mobile phone app that will pool data from small businesses to better predict product demand, reducing waste and increasing profitability. These improvements could better support the livelihoods of business owners and local economies.The research team’s initial results helped them land more than $128,000 in additional external funding to continue their work.
Promoting win-win solutions for bird conservation in Colombia
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela won a 2023 Seed Grant to study how economic development and biodiversity conservation can co-exist in Colombia. This past academic year, she used her funding to design and conduct initial surveys as part of an effort to quantify the economic benefits of birdwatching. She brought a UCSC undergraduate with her to Colombia to help collect the initial data, which has since informed a keynote talk at the South American BirdFair, a TEDx talk, an NSF proposal, and a draft scientific paper.
Advocating for more responsible renewable energy development
Sociology Professor Hillary Angelo received a 2023 Sprout Grant to support her fieldwork in southern Utah. Angelo is studying local resistance to large-scale solar development on public lands and exploring more socially and environmentally responsible paths to decarbonization. As part of this work, this past academic year, she has contributed to two draft journal articles, prepared a book proposal, and supported advocates in Nevada and Utah by serving on a non-profit board and helping prepare critiques and responses to federal land-use plans.
Empowering student changemakers
Systemic social transformation can happen either slowly or suddenly, but it is often the result of intergenerational efforts to dream up, advocate for, and build a better world. UC Santa Cruz students are our next generation of leaders, and the Institute for Social Transformation supports their exploration of multiple impact pathways for building a more just and sustainable future.
Building Belonging scholarships provide funding for under-represented undergraduate students to participate in high-impact research alongside faculty mentors. Students find belonging within the university and build identities as knowledge-producers and problem-solvers. Transforming Futures scholarships provide funding for first-generation, underrepresented, and low-income students to participate in summer internships that help them to discover their potential as changemakers within nonprofits, businesses, and governmental organizations.
By the numbers: outcomes this past academic year
$166,500
in Building Belonging funding disbursed to support student research and mentorship experiences
66
students received Building Belonging scholarships for one or more quarters
39
faculty research projects supported by Building Belonging students
$133,500
in scholarships awarded for Transforming Futures internship experiences
20
Transforming Futures students interned with organizations around the world
Impact stories
Discovering a passion for health research
Through the Building Belonging program, global and community health major Evelin Vazquez worked with faculty mentor Audrie Lin to study the impacts of a gut inflammation disorder that often affects children in low-income countries. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure our work reaches a relevant audience and helps improve child health outcomes,” Vazquez said. “The Building Belonging Program has inspired my passion for research that directly benefits underrepresented communities and solidified my path toward making a positive impact in our world.”
Learning what it takes to restore ecosystems
Megan Deevy, an environmental studies major with a concentration in conservation science and policy, interned with Reef Renewal a coral reef restoration nonprofit in Curaçao, through the Transforming Futures program. “Being able to physically add to the growth of the reef made a significant impact, and I could see how the work we were doing to restore corals was actually working,” she said. “But the most important thing I learned through this internship was actually the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes daily to keep a nonprofit working, like grant writing, fundraising, outreach, receipt tracking, and partnerships.”
Protecting immigrant communities
Through the Transforming Futures program, Maria Larenas Coronel interned with East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, a nonprofit providing legal aid and social services for immigrants fleeing violence and persecution. Larenas Coronel, a politics major minoring in legal studies, said the internship affirmed her desire to become an immigration lawyer. “I made our clients feel safe sharing their personal stories about immigrating to the United States, and I helped process 20+ work permits, which allowed them to start working and file taxes,” she said. “The most enjoyable part was being able to give back and help out my community.”
Bolstering impact capacity and public benefit
At the Institute for Social Transformation, one of our greatest strengths is our knowledgeable and experienced staff. With expertise ranging from grant management to community engagement, our staff apply their skills in partnership with mission-aligned projects across campus to advance their transformative potential. We support research centers, large scale or interdisciplinary research projects, program-building efforts, and public events, all with the goal of increasing public benefit.
This year we welcomed a new managing director, Ned LeBlond, to help lead the institute. We hired two new Administrative Research Coordinators, Jessica De La Cruz and Vicente Vega, to support various faculty research projects. We also welcomed Associate Director, Galina Hale, who will be taking over as Faculty Director in July 2025.
By the numbers: outcomes this past academic year
7
grant-funded institute staff supporting projects with transformative potential
17+
campus research centers, program building efforts, and community-engaged research initiatives supported
39
online resources created for the community, including videos, podcasts, publications, and practical guides
80
events hosted/sponsored
1,921+
event attendees
Impact stories
Gathering international social change leaders
This past spring, The Institute for Social Transformation supported our affiliates at the Right Livelihood Center in hosting a multi-day international conference that brought together renowned social change leaders and student activists from around the globe. The conference was designed to spark collaboration on education and research and build a new international student network. Public events at UC Santa Cruz and in Silicon Valley also shared lessons from leading organizers who have successfully fought against extractive industries that had harmed people and the environment in their communities.
Organizing for inclusive economic development
As part of the state-wide Community Economic Mobilization Initiative (CEMI), the institute’s staff have led technical assistance, training, and capacity-building this past year for nonprofits from underserved communities that are leading inclusive economic development efforts. Our team conducted needs assessments of 50+ nonprofits, developed online resources, and hosted workshops, a conference, and five cohort-based learning tracks, which gave nonprofit leaders an 8-month deep dive on topics like data, funding, organizing and movement building, policy, and power mapping.
Photo credit: Comite Civico del Valle
Supporting innovate climate change research
This past year, the institute has been supporting five major research projects across campus that received a combined $9.5 million in California Climate Action Grants funding. The projects cover topics like farmworker health and safety, composting, connections between the housing crisis and climate impacts, the new Pajaro River levee system, and the use of art for science engagement. Institute staff have coordinated planning meetings, public events, data collection opportunities, and training efforts, with a special emphasis on facilitating engagement from community-based organizations.
Funding and partnerships
Social transformation only happens through deep collaboration. We thank our valued community partners, research collaborators, and funders for their collective support, which makes our work possible and ensures public benefit.
By the numbers: outcomes this past academic year
104
community and agency partners engaged by core programs and faculty supported initiatives
16
major donors and funders
$348,644
in funding procured for institute programs that stimulate research and equitable student opportunities
$6.4M
in overall funding for projects led or supported by the institute
Community Partnerships & Research Collaborators
Our Funders
Individual donors
We would like to send a special thanks to our anonymous donors, who have invested so much time and effort to help us develop transformational programming. Your support has removed financial barriers to help UC Santa Cruz students blossom into our next generation of leaders and allowed us to pursue crucial engagement opportunities with communities throughout the region.
Foundations & Private Donors
Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Sierra Health Foundation, WT Grant Foundation.
Government Funders
CA Air Resource Board (CARB), National Science Foundation, UC Office of the President Climate Action Initiative, UC Research Initiatives Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives, University of California Worker Rights Policy Initiative (WRPI)
Join our community
We invite you to join our network of scholars and organizers to make a difference with your community. Stay connected through our newsletter, engage with us at our events, donate to our programs, and collaborate with us to shape the future of research and scholarship.
