$128 Million: How Southern California Community Colleges are Using Mackenzie Scott’s 2021 Gift
By Rene Madrigal, Daniel Graham, Jamila Roxas, & Andre Manzo
MacKenzie Scott’s Gift
On June 15 2021, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $2.7 Billion to over 286 underrepresented organizations and communities. How have Chaffey and other Southern California community colleges used the funds?
Chaffey College was among the chosen institutions, receiving $25 million.
As of the Fall 2025 semester, the money has not been spent. With only a preliminary plan as to how the money will be distributed, the plan is set to be approved in the spring of 2026.
This article will survey the six Southern California community colleges to uncover how they subsequently spent or invested the funds, compiling the findings into a broad overview of recipient Southern California community colleges.
Seeding by Ceding
In her essay “Seeding by Ceding” Scott points to a troubling trend in the reporting of these philanthropic donations. “Putting large donors at the center of stories on social progress is a distortion of their role.” argues Scott.
“People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating.” writes Scott.
“Because community-centered service is such a powerful catalyst and multiplier, we spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented non-profit teams working in areas that have been neglected.” explains Scott. Of the 286 organizations, six of them were Southern California Community Colleges, with a total of $128 million being gifted to them in total.
Along with Chaffey College, the following Southern California Community Colleges were selected: Pasadena City College, Santa Barbara City College, College of the Desert, Long Beach City College and West Hills College of Lemoore.
Chaffey College has stalled on utilizing these funds, only beginning the process towards allocation in the spring of 2025.
English Professor Neil Watkins in particular has been outspoken regarding his dissatisfaction with the lack of planning surrounding the gift, stating: “Faculty are frustrated we can’t spend 25 million in five years. We don’t even have a plan.”
To provide a broader context on the situation, information has been gathered from the aforementioned colleges to discover where Chaffey falls amongst its peers.
Three of the surveyed colleges have yet to create a funding plan. The remaining colleges have already implemented smaller scale programs to enable students, which in particular assist students from vulnerable communities.
By surveying these schools, Chaffey College’s delay on the allocation of Scott’s gift can be put in a broader context. This insight may now reveal whether the situation is abnormal or reflects a broader trend in Southern California community college’s abilities in allocating large gifts.
Chaffey College - $25 Million
With campuses in Fontana, Chino and their main campus in Rancho Cucamonga, Chaffey serves a large portion of the Inland Empire.
At the time of the gift, Chaffey College’s governing board was in process of spending $55 million of HEERF (Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds) grant money.
These funds were tied up with certain restrictions such as a limited window of time to spend the funds and clauses specifying what the funds could be spent on, as opposed to Scott’s gift which has little to no restrictions or caveats on spending.
A Chaffey executive cites these HEERF grants as the primary reason behind the delay in forming the MacKenzie Scott Gift Advisory Group (MSGAG) as the college dealt with divvying out the HEERF funds.
The MSGAG came into being during the spring 2025 semester and met monthly to envision future uses for the gift.
The Governing Board decided $20 million of the funds would be stored in an account to accrue interest as to finance future projects, leaving the MSGAG with $5.5 million to discuss uses for. This has come with criticism from the staff, with Neil Watkins noting that “the money was given to the school not the executive team.”
As of May 2025, the MSGAG and Chaffey’s Executive and Governing Boards have laid out the following proposals:
$20 Million to the Chaffey College Endowment Fund (Will fund MSGAG proposals with accrued yearly interest). Note that this decision was made without input from the MSGAG
$1 Million to UndocuSuccess Program (provides fellowships, a stipend and career opportunities to undocumented students)
$5.5 Million to the Student Support Fund (The portion of the money that the MSGAG will propose potential uses for)
Staff and community input will be received in the form of MacKenzie Scott Funding Applications. The application window will open on August 18th 2025 and close on October 31st 2025.
The MSGAG will make funding recommendations to the Governing Board in November 2025 and funding decisions will be made and announced in early 2026.
Once the board takes final votes and approves MSGAG proposals, it will have taken Chaffey College a total of four and a half years to implement a sizable portion of the MacKenzie Scott gift into tangible output.
Santa Barbara City College - $20 Million
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), which received $20 million, has also has yet to allocate any funds.
When reached for comment, CEO of the SBCC Foundation Bobbi Abram cited changes in leadership as the main culprit of the delay. Abram specifically mentioned the changes in SBCC’s college superintendent-president, CEO of the SBCC foundation and SBCC’s board of trustees.
“The SBCC Foundation has not made a public announcement about the use of the MacKenzie Scott gift.” responded Abram to a request on the status of the gift.
“[W]e will be working together on a final plan.” affirms Abram.
No timeline towards this “final plan” is available, leaving the date for the allocation of the funds in the dark.
Pasadena City College- $30 Million
Pasadena City College (PCC), a recipient of $30 million, has since initiated their “Community Excellence Grant” aimed at helping “elevate exceptional ideas that advance PCC’s mission, vision, and values.”
At the time the gift was received, Dr. Erika Endrijonas, former superintendent and president of PCC, stated that she wanted to “make sure this transformational opportunity reaches as many of [their] students as [they] can manage.”
PCC led the state in transfers to the University of California and California State Universities which led to national recognition for their focus on equity and pathways to economic mobility.
When questioned regarding allocation of funds, PCC’s public information office refused to offer comment.
West Hills College of Lemoore - $5 Million
West Hills College of Lemoore received $5M from Mackenzie Scott and utilized the funds to start “The H.O.P.E. Initiative.” The H.O.P.E. (Having Opportunity and Purpose through Education) Initiative aims to “[promote] diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness” and conduct outreach within the community to aid more students with pursuing higher education.
Alex Perez, the Director of the West Hills College Foundation says that the gift was an opportunity to let their “imagination run wild” as their institution had never received a large donation such as the Mackenzie Scott Gift.
Due to the size of the gift, the foundation set the funds into a savings account that will fund the H.O.P.E. initiative in perpetuity.
Perez credits former chancellor Dr. Kristen Clark, stating they were a “driving force” behind the foundation’s ability to quickly form an oversight committee and “get to work servicing the community.” Dr. Kristen Clark, who retired in July of 2024, concluded her tenure with achievements surrounding the expansion of “educational programs, increased enrollment, and enhanced community partnerships.”
College of the Desert - $18 Million
College of the Desert (CoD) received $18 million from MacKenzie Scott in 2021. The College of the Desert Foundation allocated all the funds to a board-designated quasi-endowment (a type of endowment that allows money from the principal endowment to be spent) that same year.
Catherine Abbot, executive director of the foundation, says the endowment prioritizes that all students can have access to higher education among their five campuses. The endowment funds student services and plEDGE (Engage, Develop, Grow, Empower), a program that offers free tuition and fees to recent high school graduates in the Coachella Valley.
In its first year, the endowment funded over $300,000 in student services. The total amount of the endowment now is undisclosed but it has accrued since its inception.
A board designated quasi-endowment allows for the foundation to designate the funds as they see fit. There are no donor-imposed restrictions, reflective of Scott’s purpose when she made her donation.
Abbot notes that the endowment can be dissolved for priority needs. However, she adds that there is no worry about its dissolution for the foreseeable future, noting that the college is thriving.
Long Beach City College - $30 Million
Long Beach City College (LBCC) received a $30 million gift from MacKenzie Scott in support of the college’s work with equity and social justice.
Although Long Beach city received $30 million, the board of trustees put $5 million aside for the LBCC foundation to help build up an endowment for the most vulnerable students of the community, and another $5 million to fund grants and to assist with any other needs of the college.
The remaining $20 million remains in a savings account accruing interest.
Burn, Become Heat, Melt
The prevailing attitude among Chaffey’s staff reflects broad dissatisfaction with the efficiency of allocation, but analysis of other selected Southern California community colleges reveals that a delay of this degree is not uncommon.
Whether Chaffey’s particular situation warrants this 5 year gap between receiving and allocating the funds will be further elaborated upon in future articles as The Breeze’s partnership with the Chronicle of Philanthropy continues.
In light of the discovery of three Southern California community colleges also having not yet spent or approved a plan to spend the gift, it is worth noting the context in which the gifts were awarded.
The institutions that received the 2021 Mackenzie Scott gift were selected because of their commitment to serving their community.
Specifically Scott mentions “equity-oriented non-profit teams working in areas that have been neglected.”
These rather large gifts were given with no strings attached, Yield Giving and Scott rationalize this “as a signal of trust and encouragement”.
“Because we believe that teams with experience on the front lines of challenges will know best how to put the money to good use, we encouraged them to spend it however they choose” writes Scott. In most cases money is given discretionarily, (such as the aforementioned HEERF funds).
Was there a particular use in mind for the gift? “Buy needed supplies. Find new creative ways to help. Hire a few extra team members they know they can pay for the next five years. Buy chairs for them. Stop having to work every weekend. Get some sleep.” suggests Scott.
Many of the surveyed community colleges have been able to deliver on these suggestions, others still have the money floating in limbo, tied up in leadership changes and bureaucracy.
Scott’s essay ends with a quote by 13th Century Muslim poet Rumi.
“A candle as it diminishes explains,
Gathering more and more is not the way.
Burn, become light and heat and help. Melt.”
Clearly the quote is targeted at those in a similar position to Scott, billionaires who hold unfathomable levels of wealth and power, not at community colleges who have yet to spend a 4-year-old gift.
Despite this the question remains, when will the candle be lit and allowed to melt?