$100k Grant Award Supports Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education
Napa Valley, CA (January 28, 2026) – The Napa Valley Grapegrowers (NVG) has received a substantial donation of $100,000 from the Hearst Foundations to support the Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education capital campaign.
By supporting NVG’s efforts in creating a permanent home dedicated to advancing viticultural excellence, strengthening agricultural stewardship, and expanding educational opportunities for Napa Valley farmworkers and growers, this contribution reinforces the Hearst Foundations’ mission to ‘identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and satisfying lives.’
“We are proud to support the Oakville Capital Campaign to build the Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education,” said Hearst Foundations’ Executive Director Paul “Dino” Dinovitz. “The Foundations receive many requests for funding, and our staff is diligent about selecting those visionary projects that can lead to better outcomes and improved quality of life for people today and for generations to come.”
“We are deeply grateful to the Hearst Foundation for this generous grant. Their support is a powerful investment in the future of Napa Valley agriculture and will be critical to bringing the Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education to life,” said Karen Cakebread of ZIATA Wines and President, Napa Valley Grapegrowers. “This center will serve as a lasting resource for grape growers, farmworkers, students, and the broader community for generations to come.”
The Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education will sit on 2.2 acres in Oakville, including nearly one acre of vines, and will become the first permanent home for the organization. It will feature a demonstration vineyard, hands-on training space, classrooms, and community meeting facilities to support NVG’s year-round work in education, industry research, and advocacy. The project will break ground in summer 2026.
“The Hearst Foundation’s extraordinary gift is a meaningful vote of confidence in NVG’s mission,” Cakebread added. “This support brings us one step closer to opening the center, a place dedicated to education, sustainability, and the long-term vitality of Napa Valley’s grape-growing community.”
For more information or to make a gift, please contact Chloe Tyer at ctyer@napagrowers.org or visit centerfornapagrowers.org. Napa Valley Grapegrowers is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
About the Napa Valley Grapegrowers
For 50 years, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, has strengthened Napa Valley’s reputation as one of the world’s premier winegrowing regions. Its mission is to cultivate viticultural excellence and environmental stewardship, representing more than 600 growers and related businesses throughout Napa County. Learn more at napagrowers.org and follow on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Hearst Foundations
The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—culture, education, health and social service—and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.
