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When I started at Hirsch Philanthropy Partners, I had a few impressions. First, I was sensing a desire for big change in Bay Area philanthropy that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was engaging in conversations about race, power and decision making, which were the kinds of conversations I was having previously in the nonprofit space. I also discovered that several Bay Area grantmakers were already doing grantmaking differently, bringing diverse communities closer to the center of their work and challenging power dynamics. It felt like a ripe time for change.

NCG is pleased to welcome a new member to its growing team! Semiyah Constantino (she/her) joins as the Digital Engagement Associate to help with all aspects of communications. Semiyah has experience leading publishing and design, rebranding, and most recently was a Digital Marketing Apprentice at COOP Careers advancing her digital skills. 

Philanthropy California, Environmental Grantmakers Association, and Smart Growth California organized the Grounded Action: Grassroots Movements and Climate Justice dialogue series in partnership with the CLIMA Fund in April 2021. This two-part series aimed to unpack different forms of grassroots climate action and hear from funders and movement leaders on how to support climate movements. The authors had the opportunity to share their experiences in the second dialogue of the series and get into the nitty-gritty of funding grassroots movements.

My partner and I recently engaged in the annual ritual that is paying U.S. income tax. Gather your documents, fill in the forms, look for deductions that never seem to be there, watch what you really make become clear…as we approached the finish line, I wondered – how can I reframe the act of paying taxes?  Then I harkened to a recent moment where paying a tax had a completely different feel, one that not only felt necessary but made a small yet substantive step toward advancing racial equity. I refer of course to NCG’s participation in paying our region’s Indigenous land and honor taxes. We began that commitment as an organization in 2022 and trust me, it’s been both vital and fulfilling. 

As the concepts of power sharing and trust-based philanthropy were gaining traction across philanthropy, co-creation was new for us – exciting, innovative, and full of potential. Over the next decade, we began to learn what it truly means to share power. Ultimately, the impact these three communities achieved across ten years is remarkable.

There are few communities that haven’t been impacted by homelessness, and while jurisdictions grapple with possible resolutions, we know that criminalizing unhoused people is not the solution to this growing problem. The real solution lies in addressing the root causes of poverty and homelessness, implementing a strategy to increase the production and preservation of affordable housing units, including extremely low income and no income housing, and protecting tenants so that they can maintain stable housing and keep from slipping into homelessness. 

First, let’s get honest about the historical context we are operating in. Philanthropy exists as a result of capitalism and was formed through centuries of slavery, colonization, and displacement. The systems are designed to extract resources, privatize wealth, and centralize power and control of said resources. The systems are successfully doing exactly what they have been designed to do.