Launchpad Collective Inc.

About the Organization

Organization category

Public Charity

Country / State

United States / California

Mission

LaunchPad builds sustainable, community-rooted developments that connect attainable housing, entrepreneurship, and workforce opportunities so San Bernardino residents can achieve stability, build wealth, and thrive.

Programs or services

Housing, entrepreneurship, workforce, health, education, pathways.

Detailed programs

LaunchPad Collective develops place-based programs that integrate affordable housing, workforce development, entrepreneurship, healthy food access, and community services within mixed-use developments.

Current and planned programs include:

Affordable and Supportive Housing
Development of affordable housing serving youth and young adults, working families, veterans, immigrants, and other households facing barriers to stable housing.

Youth and Young Adult Economic Mobility
Career exposure, workforce preparation, mentorship, internships, and employment pathways for opportunity youth, transition-age youth, and students.

Entrepreneur Resource Center
A community-based entrepreneurship hub providing small-business education, technical assistance, mentorship, access to professional resources, and pathways to capital.

Kitchen Works
A commercial-kitchen-based employment and entrepreneurship program supporting culinary workforce training, food entrepreneurs, small food businesses, and employment social enterprise opportunities.

Healthy Food Access and Urban Agriculture
Development of an indoor controlled-environment farming program designed to improve access to fresh food while providing educational, workforce, and entrepreneurship opportunities.

LaunchPad Moves
An e-bike mobility initiative designed to improve access to jobs, education, services, and transportation for residents and community members.

Workforce Development
Partnership-based training and career pathways connecting residents and young adults to construction, skilled trades, culinary careers, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and other employment opportunities.

Community-Based Education and Services
On-site partnerships with schools, nonprofit organizations, workforce providers, health organizations, and community institutions so residents can access opportunities and supportive resources where they live.

Target Audience

Youth, youth aging out of foster care, McKinney Vento youth, low-income families with children, single mothers with children, veteran women with children, transitional-age youth.

Geographic Focus

United States, California (USA), San Bernardino County (CA), San Bernardino (CA)

Current projects

LaunchPad Collective is advancing LaunchPad Baseline, its first mixed-use demonstration development in San Bernardino, California.

LaunchPad Baseline will combine:

48 affordable homes
Approximately 6,000 square feet of community and commercial space
An Entrepreneur Resource Center
A commercial kitchen and culinary workforce program
Childcare/early childhood space
Healthy food access and indoor farming
Workforce development programming
Small-business and microenterprise opportunities
Community services
E-bike mobility

The development is ministerially entitled under California AB 2011 and is progressing toward construction and targeted 2027 occupancy.

LaunchPad Collective has formalized partnerships with community, workforce, education, health, and youth-serving organizations, and 35 of the development's 48 homes have already been connected to partner-supported master-lease relationships.

LaunchPad is also building a pipeline of additional mixed-use developments in San Bernardino intended to expand the model to other neighborhoods and populations.

Organization goals

LaunchPad Collective's goal is to create a replicable model of community development in which housing is not treated as an isolated intervention, but as the foundation for long-term economic mobility.

The organization seeks to:

Expand access to stable, dignified, affordable housing.
Connect residents to jobs, education, entrepreneurship, healthy food, transportation, and supportive services.
Create stronger pathways to economic mobility for youth, young adults, working families, veterans, immigrants, and other underserved populations.
Support local entrepreneurs and small businesses through affordable space, technical assistance, and access to opportunity.
Build partnerships across housing, education, workforce development, philanthropy, healthcare, and community-based organizations.
Demonstrate a financially and operationally sustainable mixed-use development model that can be replicated across San Bernardino and other underserved communities.
Use real estate as long-term community infrastructure rather than simply as a place to provide individual programs.

LaunchPad's guiding principle is:

Housing is the foundation. Economic mobility is the goal.

Leadership

Robert Carrillo — Founder / Development Sponsor

Robert Carrillo brings more than 27 years of experience across real estate investment, development, finance, property operations, affordable housing, education, and community development.

His professional background includes real estate investment banking, commercial real estate, affordable housing management and development, residential investment, and education. He has worked on real estate transactions totaling billions of dollars and has also served as a special education teacher, giving him experience at the intersection of real estate, education, and community need.

Carrillo leads the development strategy behind LaunchPad Collective and its effort to create mixed-use communities that intentionally connect affordable housing with entrepreneurship, workforce development, education, healthy food access, and economic mobility.

LaunchPad Collective also works through an interdisciplinary development and community partnership network that includes real estate professionals, contractors, architects, educational institutions, workforce organizations, nonprofit service providers, healthcare partners, and youth-serving organizations.

Strategic priorities

LaunchPad Collective's current strategic priorities are focused on moving its first development into operation while building a scalable platform for future growth.

Key priorities include:

Completing the capital stack and construction of LaunchPad Baseline
Preparing for targeted 2027 occupancy
Strengthening resident-serving programs and partner coordination
Expanding workforce development and employment pathways
Launching and operating the Entrepreneur Resource Center
Advancing commercial kitchen and food entrepreneurship programming
Expanding healthy food access and indoor agriculture
Strengthening youth and young adult economic mobility programming
Developing transportation and e-bike mobility solutions
Expanding fundraising and mission-aligned investment relationships
Strengthening organizational staffing, systems, and data capacity
Measuring housing stability, economic mobility, and community impact
Advancing additional LaunchPad developments in San Bernardino

The long-term priority is to demonstrate a replicable community-development model in which housing serves as the foundation for broader economic opportunity.

Organizational capacity

LaunchPad Collective combines nonprofit leadership, real estate development expertise, institutional partnerships, and an experienced external development team.

The organization has demonstrated capacity to acquire and control real estate, advance entitlement and development activities, establish formal community partnerships, structure housing relationships, develop programming, pursue complex financing, and coordinate multidisciplinary project teams.

LaunchPad's capacity is strengthened by partnerships with organizations across education, workforce development, youth services, healthcare, construction, community development, and supportive services.

For real estate development, LaunchPad works with experienced professionals in development management, architecture, engineering, construction, modular housing, property management, finance, and legal compliance.

The organization is simultaneously building its internal operating capacity as its first development moves toward occupancy. Current priorities include strengthening staffing, program administration, fundraising, financial management, data collection, resident engagement, and impact measurement.

LaunchPad's organizational model is intentionally collaborative: the organization provides the real estate platform, coordination, and strategic framework while leveraging specialized partners to deliver high-quality programs and services.

Funding Needs

Grant categories you're seeking

Children, Community and Economic Development, Entrepreneurs and Startups, Financial Assistance, Health and Medical, Homeless, Housing, Nutrition and Food, Students, Youth and At-Risk Youth

Funding needs

LaunchPad Collective seeks philanthropic, public, and mission-aligned funding to support both the development of LaunchPad communities and the programs delivered within them.

Current funding priorities include:

Affordable and supportive housing development
Predevelopment and construction costs
Community facility build-out and equipment
Entrepreneur Resource Center operations and programming
Workforce development and career training
Youth and transition-age youth programming
Commercial kitchen equipment and culinary workforce programming
Healthy food access and controlled-environment agriculture
Childcare and early childhood programming
E-bike mobility and transportation access
Technology, broadband, and digital inclusion
Resident services and community programming
Organizational capacity and staffing
Program evaluation, data collection, and impact measurement
General operating support

LaunchPad is particularly interested in grants, recoverable grants, program-related investments, and other forms of mission-aligned capital that can help bridge traditional real-estate financing with community-serving programs and infrastructure.

Impact & Recognition

Outcomes and impact

LaunchPad Collective measures success across housing stability, economic mobility, community access, and neighborhood investment.

Key intended outcomes include:

- Increased access to stable and affordable housing
- Reduced housing instability among participating youth, families, and other vulnerable populations
- Increased workforce participation and access to living-wage career pathways
- Increased participation in job training, internships, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities
- Increased formation and growth of locally owned small businesses
- Increased access to entrepreneurship training, technical assistance, and capital
- Increased access to healthy food and food-related education
- Improved access to transportation, education, childcare, and supportive services
- Increased collaboration among housing, education, workforce, healthcare, nonprofit, and community institutions
- Increased investment in historically underserved San Bernardino neighborhoods

For LaunchPad Baseline specifically, the organization is advancing 48 affordable homes, approximately 6,000 square feet of community and commercial space, and an integrated network of workforce, entrepreneurship, food-access, childcare, mobility, and community-serving programs.

LaunchPad will track both quantitative indicators and longer-term resident outcomes to evaluate whether the model is producing meaningful improvements in housing stability and economic mobility.

Success stories

LaunchPad Collective's strongest early success has been moving LaunchPad Baseline from concept toward implementation.

In a relatively short period, the organization has:

Secured and assembled development sites in San Bernardino
Advanced LaunchPad Baseline through ministerial entitlement under California AB 2011
Formalized partnerships with education, workforce, health, youth-serving, and community organizations
Secured partner-supported housing relationships connected to 35 of the project's 48 homes
Assembled an experienced development team
Created a pipeline for future mixed-use LaunchPad communities
Integrated housing, entrepreneurship, workforce development, childcare, healthy food access, and community services into a single development model

These milestones demonstrate that LaunchPad is not simply proposing a concept. The organization is actively building the partnerships, real estate, financing, and delivery systems necessary to bring the model to life.

Organization achievements

LaunchPad Collective has progressed rapidly from concept to implementation.

Key organizational achievements include:

Acquisition and control of multiple development sites in San Bernardino
Receipt of a major land donation supporting the organization's long-term development pipeline
Advancement of LaunchPad Baseline, a 48-home mixed-use development
Ministerial entitlement of LaunchPad Baseline under California AB 2011
Creation of a pipeline of additional mixed-use housing and community-development opportunities
Formalization of partnerships with educational institutions, workforce organizations, nonprofit service providers, healthcare organizations, youth-serving organizations, and community groups
Execution of multiple memoranda of understanding supporting programming and service delivery
Connection of 35 of LaunchPad Baseline's 48 homes to partner-supported housing relationships
Assembly of an experienced multidisciplinary development team
Development of integrated programs focused on entrepreneurship, workforce development, healthy food access, mobility, childcare, and youth opportunity
Advancement of a blended capital strategy incorporating traditional financing, philanthropy, grants, and mission-aligned investment

These accomplishments demonstrate LaunchPad Collective's ability to move from community vision to tangible real estate development, institutional partnerships, and program implementation.

Major funders

LaunchPad Collective is building a diversified funding strategy that combines philanthropy, mission-aligned investment, public resources, and private capital.

Partnerships & Collaborations

Partnership is a core part of LaunchPad Collective's operating model.

LaunchPad works with organizations across housing, education, workforce development, healthcare, youth services, construction, entrepreneurship, and community development.

Formal and active collaborations include relationships with organizations such as:

San Bernardino Community College District
California University of Science and Medicine
LiUNA
With Open Arms
Restoring Pathways for Youth and Adults
2020 Vision Youth
Stokes Foundation
Center for Community Health San Bernardino
Local educational and workforce institutions
Youth-serving and community-based organizations

These partnerships support housing access, workforce training, education, entrepreneurship, health, mentoring, resident services, and economic mobility.

LaunchPad's approach is intentionally collaborative. Rather than attempting to provide every service directly, LaunchPad creates the physical platform and coordination structure through which experienced community partners can deliver programs and opportunities more effectively.

Sustainability, dissemination & replicability

LaunchPad Collective is designed around a sustainable, place-based model that combines affordable housing with economic opportunity and community-serving infrastructure.

Long-term sustainability is supported by integrating mission-driven programs into mixed-use real estate rather than relying exclusively on short-term program funding. Residential and commercial activity, strategic partnerships, mission-aligned capital, philanthropy, and public resources can collectively support the long-term operation of each LaunchPad community.

The model is intentionally designed to be replicable. Rather than requiring every community to adopt the same programs, LaunchPad provides a development framework that can be adapted to local needs. Core elements may include affordable housing, entrepreneurship, workforce development, food access, education, mobility, childcare, and community services.

LaunchPad plans to document implementation practices, partnership structures, financing approaches, program outcomes, and lessons learned from its initial San Bernardino developments. These findings can inform future LaunchPad sites and may also be shared with community organizations, municipalities, funders, developers, and other institutions interested in integrated community-development strategies.

The ultimate objective is not simply to replicate a building, but to replicate a model in which real estate becomes long-term infrastructure for opportunity.

Internal checks & balances to prevent fraud

LaunchPad Collective maintains financial and operational controls designed to promote transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of charitable funds.

Key controls include:

- Board oversight of organizational finances, major contracts, and significant financial commitments
- Required documentation and approval for expenditures
- Regular financial reporting and reconciliation of accounts
- Maintenance of supporting documentation for grant expenditures, contracts, invoices, and reimbursements
- Conflict-of-interest policies and disclosure requirements for board members and organizational leadership
- Annual tax and regulatory filings prepared with professional support
- Periodic review of financial policies and internal controls as the organization grows

LaunchPad Collective is committed to maintaining systems that protect organizational assets, reduce opportunities for misuse, and provide funders with clear documentation regarding the use and impact of their investment.

Get Involved

How can volunteers get involved?

LaunchPad Collective welcomes volunteers whose skills and experience can strengthen opportunities for residents, youth, entrepreneurs, and the broader San Bernardino community.

Volunteer opportunities may include:

Mentoring youth and young adults
Providing career coaching and professional development
Supporting entrepreneurship and small-business education
Offering technical assistance in areas such as accounting, marketing, legal services, technology, and business planning
Participating in financial-literacy workshops
Supporting food, culinary, and nutrition programming
Assisting with community events and resident engagement
Providing educational workshops or tutoring
Supporting workforce-readiness activities
Participating in advisory committees and special projects

LaunchPad is particularly interested in professionals, businesses, educators, entrepreneurs, and community members who can contribute expertise, mentorship, relationships, and practical opportunities to residents and program participants.

How can donors support your mission?

Donors can support LaunchPad Collective by investing in both the physical infrastructure and the programs that create long-term economic opportunity.

Philanthropic support can help fund:

Affordable housing and community-development activities
Youth and young adult programming
Workforce development and career pathways
Entrepreneurship and small-business support
Commercial kitchen and culinary programming
Healthy food access and urban agriculture
Childcare and early childhood programming
Technology and digital inclusion
E-bike mobility and transportation access
Community spaces and equipment
Resident services
Organizational capacity
General operating support

LaunchPad also welcomes larger philanthropic partnerships, donor-advised fund investments, recoverable grants, program-related investments, and other forms of mission-aligned capital.

Donors can support an individual program, help equip a community space, sponsor resident opportunities, or make flexible investments that strengthen LaunchPad's overall capacity to build and replicate its model.

Do you accept partnerships?

Yes.

Partnership is central to LaunchPad Collective's model.

LaunchPad actively seeks partnerships with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, workforce-development providers, employers, healthcare organizations, foundations, financial institutions, government agencies, community groups, and mission-aligned businesses.

Potential partnership areas include:

Housing and resident services
Youth and young adult programming
Workforce training and employment
Apprenticeships and career pathways
Entrepreneurship and small-business development
Education and mentoring
Childcare and early childhood development
Health and wellness
Healthy food access
Transportation and mobility
Technology and digital inclusion
Financial literacy and asset building
Research and program evaluation
Capital and philanthropic investment

LaunchPad's goal is not to duplicate services that strong community organizations already provide. Instead, the organization seeks to create physical and operational infrastructure that allows partners to reach residents more effectively and work together in a coordinated environment.

Are you seeking board members?

LaunchPad Collective is open to adding mission-aligned board and advisory leadership as the organization grows.

The organization is particularly interested in individuals who can contribute expertise, governance experience, strategic relationships, or resources in areas such as:

Affordable housing and real estate development
Finance and impact investing
Philanthropy and fundraising
Workforce development
Education
Youth development
Entrepreneurship and small business
Healthcare and community health
Legal and regulatory matters
Accounting and nonprofit finance
Public policy
Community development

Prospective board members should share LaunchPad's commitment to expanding economic mobility and building stronger communities through integrated, place-based development.

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