After leaving the California Governor's office, Melgar founded Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity (CIELO) Fund, which launched this weekend under the Inland Empire Community Foundation.

"The fund will support and invest in Latino-led and Latino-serving organizations," said Melgar.

It begins by offering a demographic snapshot of the Latino or Latine community that now makes up more than half of the region.

In partnership with UC Riverside Center for Social Innovation, the CIELO Fund released a report titled "Aquí Estamos" or "We are Here."

"We wanted to make sure that, coming out of the gate, we knew where Latinos are excelling, but also where there's need that exists," Melgar said.

The report highlights areas of improvement, but remaining disparities including homeownership rates, health insurance coverage, income, and education.

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