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I’ll be honest: I’ve been putting off answering your question “How do foundation leaders stay clear-eyed in this moment?” As I sit to write, our Northern California skies are hazy with wildfire smoke. It strikes me as a metaphor for this moment, 19 months into COVID, when our visions of a post-pandemic future are shifting yet again. I definitely don’t feel clear-eyed.
Many voices in philanthropy are speaking up, some for the first time, about the protests, the killings, and the structural racism behind them. We welcome all-comers and stand in our belief in Black, Indigenous, and communities of color as defenders of democratic ideals. We too are grieving and angry; structural and anti-Black racism are root causes of wealth, health, employment, and education disparities. The enforcement of racist policies is putting Black and Brown lives at the mercy of the pandemic and police brutality’s deadly toll.
n mid-April, 18 funders from throughout California traveled to Fresno for the California Criminal Justice Funders Group Central Valley Funder Convening. They were joined by 20 movement leaders representing community organizations throughout the Central San Joaquin Valley from Stockton to Bakersfield. Take a look at the report back, here.
Earlier this year, Angie Junck, director of the Human Rights program at the Heising-Simons Action Fund attended NCG’s Funding Strategies to Accelerate Power-building Cohort.
The Community of Practice helped connect like-minded funders who wanted to expand their toolbox to strengthen democracy. Below Angie shares how investing in (c)(4) funding can build power for marginalized communities especially during an election year.
The Resourcing Resilience report, created in partnership between Philanthropy California and Nonprofit Finance Fund, provides a landscape analysis of public and philanthropic investments in climate resilience and serves as a call to action for both sectors to unlock pathways to more equitable, accessible funding. Philanthropic and government funders have important roles to play in addressing the real challenges communities face when securing funding for their work on climate adaptation, mitigation, and disaster resilience. Neither can achieve meaningful and equitable climate action alone, and community-led solutions require coordinated public and private support. The actions recommended in this report outline a path forward for ensuring communities are able to access funding they need.
Well, it didn’t take long for 2021 to remind us that the journey back from the edge of an abyss will not be a gentle one. Last Wednesday showed us we will need to advance racial equity to achieve a functioning democracy. And if democracy fails, we cannot sustain racial equity. The insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th undermines both.
As a member of a marginalized community, I keep getting tasked with playing the “educator” or “teacher” in my institution. I’m a member of the communities we aim to serve, but I feel uncomfortable serving as a spokesperson or ambassador for my communities. I hold authentic relationships with these grantee-partners outside of philanthropy and feel pressure to represent the MULTIPLE perspectives of my communities. Help, what can I do?