The past two years have seen an increase in philanthropic support for a diverse range of nonprofits advancing a progressive agenda. Grant makers who have just started awarding money to these causes, as well as longstanding supporters of social-justice organizations, have rallied resources to protect fundamental rights that seemed suddenly in jeopardy after 2016 — giving well-established national organizations such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood a “Trump bump.” Newer efforts such as the Black Voter Project, which combats voter suppression based on race, have also gained donor attention and dollars.
We are in a movement moment, a time when major shifts in the public discourse can generate profound social change. We see public attention turning to long-simmering injustices and bringing about new partnerships and alliances like the relationship forged between the student survivors of the Parkland shooting and young people of color combating gun violence in Chicago and elsewhere.
Yet, as reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, support is flattening, a potential sign that interest is waning as the foundation world returns to business as usual at exactly the wrong time. Rather than retreating to our comfortable practices of the past, we need to put the power and the money into the hands of those leading the change.
Early Successes
In every state, facing resistance and often direct physical threats, young people of color are finding new and creative ways to bring people in their communities together to challenge the systems that keep them from thriving or even surviving. With so much in our politics conspiring to make us cynical, these efforts deserve the attention and support of foundations so they can maximize the opportunity of this movement moment.
Building on the lessons of civil-rights leaders from the past, Tunica Teens in Action is one such group of young black leaders who are taking on the intricacies of local and regional government to overcome the longstanding voter suppression of their community in Mississippi, while keeping one another safe from potential attacks from white nationalists. Their leadership and organizing efforts played a key role in turning out black voters in the midterms who elected a slate of black female judges with the direct power to shape how the criminal-justice system treats Mississippi’s black and brown youths.
Across the country in Wisconsin, the organizing of young people of color to build local power has been reshaping both local and national politics. Youth Empowered in the Struggle, a project of the community and labor organizing group Voces de la Frontera, led a strategically targeted campaign for a clean Dream Act, educating and mobilizing both English- and Spanish-speaking voters in their communities who contributed to the resignation of now former Rep. Paul Ryan and unseating of Gov. Scott Walker this past November.
Since most of us in leadership roles in philanthropy are white and have a level of privilege, we may not feel the daily impact of injustice.But the crisis isn’t new and never fades for people of color across the country. Two years of rapid-response funding will not sustain the long-term organizing and movement-building required to dismantle structural inequity.
Not a Traditional Choice
For the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, which I lead, recognizing the possibility of this moment led us to question our assumption of perpetuity. Without any requirement of perpetuity in the founding documents and no remaining family members engaged in the foundation, the board was able to explore multiple options for mobilizing our resources in this critical moment. If the young people and communities that we support are willing to put everything on the line, we decided to do our best to meet their commitment with our own. We are determined to meet the courage of this fierce generation with everything we have and are going all in for justice, spending the full resources of the foundation to do so.
This is not a traditional choice for a private foundation, nor is it without additional risk since we won’t have the luxury of starting over at the end of our next five-year strategic plan now that there is an end date for the foundation in sight. But the moment of crisis and opportunity is not gone, and the support for organizing for racial justice is needed now more than ever. Young people and communities of color have risen up to meet the onslaught of racist, homophobic, and xenophobic policies, demanding that race be at the center of the public debate to challenge discriminatory policing, mass incarceration, punitive school discipline, immigrant detention and deportation, the privatization of education and other critical issues.
History tells us that a movement moment provides a unique opportunity for progress in the fight for equity and justice, and the bravery of young leaders of color is inspiring. When the moment demands courage, philanthropy shouldn’t turn its attention away. It’s time for all of us to take a risk.
Lori Bezahler is the CEO of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, a private grant maker that supports organizing and leadership of young people and communities of color in dismantling structural inequity based on race and class.
