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Last year in July 2021, NCG hosted a conversation with trans women of color leaders and queer/trans funder advocates–including the Akonadi Foundation, Borealis Philanthropy, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Horizons Foundation, and Solidaire–to highlight trans leadership and dispel myths that BIPOC trans leaders and their organizations were being adequately resourced, even in the Bay Area.
How can philanthropy best strengthen organizational resilience? To find out, Alan Kwok spoke with Ana-Marie Jones, who has spent her career transforming organizations with her leadership on readiness, preparedness, and disaster response. Read the Q&A below to learn more about our work internally and with our state-wide membership.
In the wake of recent violence in Half Moon Bay, Monterey Park, and Memphis I hope you are finding opportunities to collectively grieve and honor the lives of Asian, Latino, and Black community members tragically lost. At NCG we have been sitting with the heaviness of this grief. We extend empathy and solidarity to those who mourn the loss of loved ones and those supporting the injured to heal from these profoundly traumatic acts of violence.
Our criminal justice system is broken. It disproportionately impacts and targets communities of color and poor communities, and costs California taxpayers billions a year, money that could otherwise be directed towards more fruitful investments in community development, drug treatment, mental health services, education, and jobs. Our system of mass incarceration does not increase public safety, reduce crime, or bring adequate relief to crime survivors
Trans leaders need the spaciousness–many of us understand to be provided by sufficient resourcing–to be able to dream even bigger. As funders, we must understand, now is not the time to center our individual agendas; we cannot focus on single program areas, issues, and strategies, or tepid expansion of portfolios. The Right continues to fund for the long haul, and progressive philanthropy needs to expand our funding and our imagination. If we are working toward equity, we must be steadfast in resourcing trans leaders committed to, and creating long-term strategies for, trans people to live with self-determination and full autonomy.
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.
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.