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It may seem the Census and Redistricting cycles have long concluded, but we continue to learn about details, impacts, and overall experience across the state. Various reports have lifted key findings and recommendations for all sectors to consider. Now more than ever, we must reflect on both cycles to build on the strategies and work of funders and nonprofit leaders. Equally imperative, we must incorporate recommendations and voices from our trusted partners to ensure fair representation for all Californians in future cycles.
Since 2020, many funders have embraced new ways of interacting with their nonprofit partners and grappled with how to shift the grantmaking power imbalance. Reporting is no exception. Funders have started to deeply consider grantee partners' work when reporting on their efforts in relationship with the grant dollars they receive.
In 2020, we witnessed philanthropy make major commitments and promises to resource Black-led organizations and movements as part of a renewed reckoning with racial justice after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black lives. Historically, Black-led power-building efforts have been at the forefront of transformative change but have been consistently underfunded and under-resourced. The sudden surge in resources allocated to Black-led nonprofits and power-building organizations over the last four years highlights the urgent need to invest in the leadership and visionary ideas for dismantling systemic racism and advancing an inclusive, multiracial democracy. Now, the question remains whether the investments so far are truly sufficient to provide long-term support for Black power-building organizations and their vital work.
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 third session of the Foundations of Racial Equity Series focuses on the importance of healing justice as a strategy, framework, and way of being within philanthropic institutions. The session will focus on internal organizational practices and external opportunities for philanthropy to resource healing justice strategies.
Anti-Black racism and white supremacy are embedded in philanthropy and in our institutions, often invisible to the majority of us, even as we work with intention towards equity and justice. As change agents within philanthropy, we are stretching to become our best selves, rise to the moment, and progress toward racial equity.
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.