When we think of the civil rights movement, we often picture locations like Selma, Alabama, the agricultural towns of Central California, or the streets of major cities such as New York or Washington, D.C. However, it is important to recognize that the Inland Empire has a rich and complex civil rights movement that continues to grow and thrive today.

The local nonprofit, Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California (CRIISC), is dedicated to preserving the region’s civil rights history while inspiring the next generation of social justice leaders.

CRIISC, located in downtown Riverside, opened in 2022. However, the idea was decades in the making. As explained by CRIISC Executive Director Sabrina Gonzalez, cofounders Rose Mayes and Lalit Acharya first thought of the vision in 2006 and developed it as a nonprofit in 2013. Ever since then, much work has been done to bring the cofounders’ vision to fruition.

The capital campaign began in 2017, and construction of what is known as Mission Heritage Plaza where CRIISC is the centerpiece broke ground in 2020. The organization hired its first executive director, Gonzalez,  in 2022 and had their grand opening in October of 2022. At the outset, establishing programs and launching the initial exhibitions was the top priority. This focus left minimal room for the organization to develop and focus on sustaining the necessary infrastructure and systems. They literally hit the ground running. 

That is why when IEHP Foundation’s Collaborative Capacity Building Grant opened, Gonzalez and her team jumped on the opportunity. 

Through the 10-course business operations training, Gonzalez and 29 other nonprofit leaders across Riverside County gained essential skills in financial literacy, management and succession planning. 

The program provided space and time for the CRIISC leadership team to think strategically about their infrastructure, evaluate their processes and systems and work towards being a more efficient organization. 

“Through this program, we have been further thinking about our infrastructure, sustainability, and ultimately about our legacy,” said Gonzalez.

However, the most meaningful connection was the interaction with the other leaders.

 “While I knew a few in the cohort, it’s been great meeting so many other leaders from different organizations, said Gonzalez. “We are finding how to keep supporting and building space for each other.”

Finding community and connecting with others is at the heart of CRIISC. The institute is a multi-use space with exhibition, media and diversity centers – each serving a crucial role for the community. 

Gonzalez shares that CRIISC is pivotal in advancing health equity in the region by highlighting the stories of marginalized communities that health disparities have most often impacted. While also providing a space for people to come together to have non-disparaging conversations, learn from each other, and find community-driven solutions to improve the region’s well-being.

“We intentionally designed the space to be a place to have difficult conversations,” shared Gonzalez. “These conversations are worth having, and we trust that we can have these conversations in a way that allows us to build and grow and be accountable for the region’s past, present and future.”

The vision of connecting people from all walks of life through stories is evident through the exhibitions launched this year. Images of the Farmworker Community of the Coachella Valley —a dual-venue exhibition in the cities of Riverside and Coachella and Homegrown Heroes, bring the community together to understand and highlight some of the impactful stories of the Latine community in our region.

As a new organization, Gonzalez and her team continue to think about growth for the institute, how to scale programming and fundamentally about the organization’s legacy.

“Our goal is always to stay community-focused and inspire people of all ages by lifting up our region’s historic and ongoing civil rights stories, fostering advocacy and building champions of tomorrow.”

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The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California is one of IEHP Foundation’s Champions for Vibrant Health, dedicated to advancing health equity across the Inland Empire. The institute’s public hours are Wednesdays through Fridays, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm, at 3933 Mission Inn Avenue, Suite 103, Riverside, CA 92501. If you are interested in a group tour, please email info@inlandcivlrights.org for more details. For more information, please visit: https://www.inlandcivilrights.org/