Share our Truths for Collective Action: #DisruptPhilanthropyNow!
Way back in April 2018 (it seems so long ago…), we - Within Our Lifetime National Network, Old Money New System, joined by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy - launched #DisruptPhilanthropyNOW! - a vehicle for us, grantees and philanthropic allies, to speak our truth about inequitable grantmaking practices, create accountability practices with funders toward restorative justice[1] and share bold ideas to transform how resources are distributed. Over a dozen stories were shared, but outreach to our broader nonprofit community revealed hesitancy for truth telling; legitimate fear of directly or publicly sharing stories about foundations’ actions due to the potential ramifications. Most grant-dependent organizations believe the risk of calling foundations is too high.
And now it is 2021. We went through a horrendous 18 months of intense trauma, pain, loss, state sanctioned violence and murder of Black and Brown people, increased violence and hate incidents toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, continued invisibility of violence against Native American women, and the racialized impact of COVID-19. Though we have seen an increase of grantmaking dollars, and even some foundations working to operationalize racial justice internally, the stories of harmful grantmaking practices have not decreased, further deepening impact on the field, especially for people of color-led organizations. Some foundations’ press releases discuss their investment as a way to “uplift and invest in” Communities of Color; still reinforcing the power dynamic not shifting it... The communities most impacted by structural racism still are unable to access and direct resources.
There have been countless blogs and essays listing all the ways philanthropy needs to change and issuing calls to action (mine too). Though many in the sector can now parrot the list of actions, the sector continues to lack accountability. It is unacceptable given the nation’s movement towards racial reckoning. Inequitable, harmful practices and behaviors continue. Therefore, we are relaunching #DisruptPhilanthropyNOW! because we say...
We can no longer whisper to each other, or yell behind closed doors, or call up our favorite program officer and vent. Just as we use data and stories publicly to challenge immigration, criminal justice, health, educational inequities, so must we use data and stories to challenge philanthropy to do right by our communities. We must share the stories of foundations that have served as poor gatekeepers, whose lack of action impedes the progress necessary to achieve racial justice, who claim they are all about racial equity but do not walk the talk and remain unaccountable for their actions.
This is a loving invitation to our colleagues, friends, and comrades in the racial justice movement to say “enough!” We need to speak the truth about the impact of the current grantmaking system. We can no longer protect our own resources by being silent when we know one of our funder’s unjust practices has devastating effects on other organizations or in the communities where we work. For us who are working to dismantle the system of white supremacy and structural racism, disrupting the philanthropic sector must be part of our work. We need to stand in solidarity. We must disrupt inequitable practices and radically transform the philanthropic sector, so we collectively end racism within our lifetime.
We invite you to take Courageous and Collective Action
By no means is #DisruptPhilanthropyNOW! stating this is the only vehicle for transformational change in the philanthropic sector (whoa, deep breath…that would be a lot). We are saying to begin to shift power and relationships toward restorative justice, we need to adopt practices, including truth-telling about the harm of inequitable grantmaking practices and demand foundations be held accountable. We invite all our colleagues, especially established racial justice anchor organization with broader shoulders and financial stability, to take a collective risk and use our voice and power to disrupt and transform philanthropy.
#DisruptPhilanthropyNOW was organized to disrupt the status quo of how philanthropy operates through truth telling. The impact of inequitable practices, even among funders of racial justice, comes in all forms – sometimes there are extreme burdens placed on the organization, causing unrecoverable impacts on our work, complete organization destruction and/or staff and community trauma. We are currently limited in our ability to respond given the potential for organization’s being impacted financially. The consequence of our limited actions reinforces existing power imbalances and ultimately, funders assume inequitable practices are acceptable. Developing accountable relationships with funders is one step in shifting toward racially just grantmaking. (Read an example of accountable practice here.)
We cannot significantly move the needle for racial justice if we are unwilling to challenge how resources are distributed. We must work to create accountability practices with foundations. Our interactions with funding organizations must align with our vision and values for racial justice and liberation. We must work to organize and transform the philanthropic sector. We urge advocates, organizers, and practitioners to challenge philanthropy, so we can collectively tackle structural racism and white supremacy. We invite you to share your story!
And to Funders: we cannot address the life and death issues of racial injustice while being told how we should do our work, having to prove our work is effective based on a foundation’s standards, meeting deliverables decided on by you and not by the community, or consistently witnessing the disparate funding between white-led and people of color-led organizations. We invite you to share your stories too – anonymously if you like. We need leaders in philanthropy to step up and be willing to hold up the mirror to what is happening and for your story to also be a catalyst for action.
In the article “The Disruption of White Supremacy,” Michael Trahant, an independent journalist and member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, discusses disruption,
’Disruption’ is an important word to add to a discussion of ending colonialism. It explains the sudden—and not-so-sudden shifts in history—in a way that “decolonization” alone does not. Disruption is what we need to free ourselves from the economic, racial, and cultural oppression that is colonialism’s legacy. … We need democratic institutions that share power among diverse people and reflect the range of life on Earth. We need disruption and innovation.
If we are working for racial justice and ending white supremacy, then we must organize together with our philanthropic co-conspirators to disrupt the status quo of how philanthropy reinforces and maintains systems of oppression and white supremacy through our stories and demands for accountability.
We look forward to hearing from Truth-Tellers!
Once a week, for the next 4 weeks, we will be sharing information about #DisruptPhilanthropyNOW! and encouraging people & organizations to share their stories through writing and video (including anonymously). We can support you by providing a thought partner and/or editor.
In September we look forward to sharing a series of stories.
JOIN US!!
My appreciation and gratitude to Allen Frimpong, Jennie Goldfarb, and Simran Noor for your feedback, edits, and encouragement.
Maggie Potapchuk founded MP Associates in 2004. It is a national consulting practice that works in partnership with individuals, organizations, and communities, to co-create a racially just world. Potapchuk works with organizations to operationalize racial justice in their policies, programs, and culture; engages whites to learn about white privilege and white dominant culture including facilitating caucuses; provides racial equity individual and group coaching; and develops racial equity curricula and tools. She co-developed Transforming White Privilege: A 21st Century Leadership Capacity curriculum for leaders to better identify, talk about, and intervene to address white privilege and its consequences with CAPD and World Trust. They also co-created the website www.racialequitytools.org and she curates its resources. Her most recent writing is DEI Approach is No Longer Relevant: Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non-Profit Organizations. For more information, www.mpassociates.us
[1] We are suggesting restorative justice includes acknowledgement of the harm that was caused, being responsive to the individual/organization’s needs for justice, as well as a responsibility to identify root cause to be addressed so the harm does not reoccur.