By Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO, CA – UC Davis and Yolo County’s Children’s Alliance are among the 11 recipients of a $4 million investment from We Prosper Together, completing a $9 million round of Catalyst Phase funding aimed at advancing economic resilience across California’s Capital Region.
The University of California, Davis, was selected for NextGen BioFab: AI-Powered Training for Tomorrow’s Biotech Innovators, a project that will help lay the groundwork for a thriving local biotechnology workforce. Yolo County Children’s Alliance will lead the Community Health and Working Lands Workforce Pilot, which focuses on improving public health outcomes while building economic opportunity for underserved families.
“As someone who works with disinvested communities, especially mothers with children and caregivers, it was really affirming for me to be in a space where that population was being prioritized,” said Jeneba Lahai, executive director of Yolo County’s Children’s Alliance. “In addition to that, being a part of this project broadened my perspective as to what economic development is, and reaffirmed for me that the work we’re doing at my organization is helping families across our region prosper and thrive.”
The 11 funded initiatives span all eight counties in the Capital Region and address a wide range of local challenges including remote work for full-time caregivers, workforce training for justice-involved individuals, small business advising, and local clean energy infrastructure.
“These community-led projects will help unlock the potential of the Capital Region’s most promising industries, while investing in our workers and economy in the process,” said Evan Schmidt, CEO of Valley Vision. “We’re excited to see how these projects, combined with the ones we selected during our first round of funding, will help residents build a more secure, prosperous, and sustainable future for themselves and their families.”
The investments are part of We Prosper Together’s Catalyst Phase, a strategic component of its broader Regional Plan: Strategies for a Thriving and Inclusive Economy. The Catalyst Phase provides seed funding to position projects for further federal, state, or private investment. In total, 22 projects across the region have received funding under this program.
We Prosper Together represents more than 150 organizations and community leaders across Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties. The collaborative is part of the statewide California Jobs First initiative and builds on the recently released California Jobs First Economic Blueprint.
For a full list of projects and descriptions, visit weprospertogether.org/catalyst-projects.
