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We can only act on what we can imagine. As philanthropy is called to meet this moment, we need to expand our imagination. How do we not imagine philanthropy as it is, but what it could be at its best? Within philanthropy we need practices, tools, and ways of being that are in service to resourcing freedom and equity. As those mobilizing resources, we must stay steadfast in imagining and co-creating generative pathways to a more equitable future. At NCG's 2024 Annual Conference, we will offer space to conspire, imagine, and act on ushering in new possibilities.
As we mark another Black History Month and celebrate Black futures, there is an urgency for us to address the existing divisions in our country and create solutions that move us closer towards our vision of a strong, inclusive, multiracial democracy with Black communities at the center. Some of the barriers we continue to see in communities across the nation include attacks on voting rights, biased immigration policies, blatant displays of white supremacy and white nationalism, and a decline inequitable economic opportunities.
In the last year alone, Californians have experienced the impacts of multiple climate disasters including severe drought, extreme heatwaves, earthquakes, catastrophic wildfires, and now several back-to-back Atmospheric Rivers. Climate change will only continue amplifying the risk that Californians face from natural hazards. We can’t keep doing business as usual philanthropy to meet the scope of our current reality.
Our nonprofit leaders are tasked with solving our most critical issues – meeting the needs of communities, driving social justice solutions, and leading the advocacy and movement work to transform systems. We must prioritize the wellbeing of our nonprofit workforce if we want to succeed in advancing our social justice and racial equity agenda. Our dedicated, passionate nonprofit workforce needs adequate rest and repair to sustain themselves, and continue their work for the long term.
California’s Central San Joaquin Valley is a vast region with 8 counties. It is home to rural, agricultural, poor and working-class communities of color and contains the majority of the state’s prisons. Despite its rich history of organizing and the undeniable impacts of the state’s investment in carceral infrastructure, the Central Valley is overlooked by philanthropy. This region receives the least amount of philanthropic resources for community organizing in the state.
In June & July, NCG and the UC Merced Community & Labor Center brought funders,
government, and leading community, work, and labor organizations dedicated to serving
farmworkers and rural communities across California together – both virtually and in the San
Joaquin Valley. These events cast a spotlight on the social and economic impacts of the 2023
floods, while also examining the persistent inequities that rural and farmworker communities
experience.
This anthology archives and documents the cultural memory of health, healing, care and safety practices led by BIPOC, Queer, Trans, migrant, femme, women, sick and disabled communities; and frames these practices as both an organizing and bridge building tool. Page, Woodland and their collaborators demonstrate the connection between healing justice and abolition—in order to build a world without prisons, policing, and criminalization, we need to develop (and fund) long-term infrastructure for health, healing and collective care and safety led by the community.