Equity and Social Justice News
To honor the lives taken this past week, we must understand and disrupt structures that make violence like this the norm. We uplift the leadership of API movement groups who have been naming the importance of undoing patriarchy, white supremacy, and carceral systems that make tragedies like these possible.
In philanthropy, how do we steward resources back to the lands and communities that have experienced historical inequities? While it will not undo centuries of harm, it is a first step toward repair. NCG recognizes that we must move beyond optical land acknowledgments into tangible action. What does it mean to move towards right relationships with Indigenous communities? We are figuring it out.
NCG and our Philanthropy California colleagues are delighted to share with you the following report detailing the efforts and impacts of Philanthropy California’s Fair Representation Fund. This pooled fund harnessed $2.5 million in direct philanthropic donations and guided additional resources. Ultimately, these investments helped to ensure that the 2020 state and local redistricting processes would reflect the perspectives of California communities that are too often left out of decision-making.
To build a more inclusive and accessible world, we must commit to understanding their challenges and enacting the changes those most impacted by structural challenges recommend. I know this because my children taught me.
Still, it was worth noting, as the last two years were unlike anything professionally in the 28 years that proceeded it. A global pandemic, climate crises, economic destabilization, and assaults on democratic institutions occurring during a racial reckoning will have that effect. That said, I am more convinced than ever that I have the right job to do. We have the right job to do at NCG.
Here in Northern California, we may believe that we are isolated and immune from this on-going assault on our freedom to vote and our power to elect and hold our leaders accountable. But while the symptoms may be more severe elsewhere, the rise of white supremacy and growing peril of political violence threatens every California resident, whether you live in Palo Alto or Petaluma, Oakland or Orinda.
Listening to and taking the lead from Black women, femmes, girls, and gender-expansive folks is vital to how California fortifies itself as a bastion of reproductive justice organizing. But that trailblazing has not translated into dollars in the field. Even without the material resources, Black women create solutions to better their environment and communities, practice effective leadership, and foster a sense of safety and belonging. While there is more cultural recognition that Black women have always been central to the struggle for freedom and equality, it’s time to turn that recognition into real dollars.
We all have felt the impact of heat waves this summer, but the costs and stakes are different across communities and neighborhoods in California. While temperatures rise in California, so do extreme heat illnesses and heat mortality. Those most impacted are unlikely to live in cooler coastal communities, or have access to air-conditioned homes.
NCG is thrilled to announce that Qurratulain “Q” Sajid (she/they) has joined the team as the Senior Director for Public Affairs. President and CEO Dwayne S. Marsh had a chat with Q about the new role and prioritizing values within our work. Read on to hear Q’s take on philanthropy’s work of today, narrative strategy, trusting our wholeness, and grandmothers’ recipes.
CCJFG is excited to share the second episode of our Funding the Yes podcast on Crimmigration. Funding the Yes asks the question: What does funding the yes look like within intersectional aspects of social and racial justice movements? Through conversations amongst funders and movement partners, we focus on strategies to fund building a more just future for our communities and ending systems of injustice.