As a huge infusion of government infrastructure dollars rolls out across the nation, philanthropy has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do things differently. Unlike in the past, grant makers can make sure those funds are shared equitably and create economic benefits for all Americans.
A chance like this hasn’t presented itself in decades. The influx of funds includes $1.2 trillion from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and $1.9 trillion in the American Rescue Plan to both aid pandemic recovery and help states rebuild outdated infrastructure.
Some states are adding their own investments to the mix. California has projected $45 billion for infrastructure investments in this fiscal year’s budget and just proposed tens of billions more for infrastructure and climate-resiliency programs in the next budget. New York has budgeted an unprecedented $32.8 billion to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Repairing roads and bridges, upgrading water infrastructure, expanding broadband access, and building a national network of electric-vehicle charging stations are all important. But this opportunity is not just about what we build but also about who decides, who builds, and who benefits.
Rural areas and communities of color have historically had a harder time accessing funds for major federal and state projects or contributing to decisions about how the money is spent. If old patterns prevail, employment opportunities associated with these projects will go to a small slice of workers at the typically large white-owned firms contracted to do the work.
In other words, millions of people will be left behind again — unless philanthropy works with government leaders to help ensure that all communities have a fair shot at benefitting from these massive investments.
Philanthropy can play a leading role in three critical areas. It can insist on bringing community perspectives to project planning and development. It can ensure dollars and jobs are distributed equitably. And it can coordinate all these efforts on a national scale.
Provide opportunities for community perspectives and decision-making. Economic development efforts are often top-down, excluding the diverse voices of those who live and work in the places affected. An inclusive approach to distributing federal and state infrastructure funds needs to take varying community interests, opportunities, demographics, and workforce realities into account.
Local advocates have already demonstrated the effectiveness of such an approach. In the rural California city of Calexico, the youth-led Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition convinced local officials to use American Rescue Plan funding to invest in parks and resources for low-income workers hit hard by the pandemic, rather than spending the money on a local airport as was initially proposed. The group’s organizing efforts, supported by the Latino Community Foundation, included representing worker views at city-council meetings and securing media coverage.
To support this type of community input, California launched a new $600 million Community Economic Resilience Fund that will enable all 13 regions of the state to create their own blueprint for using state pandemic-recovery funds in equitable and carbon-neutral ways. California grant makers, including the James Irvine Foundation, which I lead, are providing grants to community nonprofits to share knowledge and build their capacity to participate effectively in these regional collaboratives.
Grassroots organizations often lack the resources to influence government funding, especially at this scale. Several foundations have stepped up in response. The Center at Sierra Health Foundation recently started the Community Economic Mobilization Initiative to help local nonprofits, through grants and other assistance, improve their ability to attain and use federal funding. The project also includes the creation of a statewide advocacy network of grassroots organizations to ensure accountability for government investments.
Similarly, the Melville Charitable Trust, along with other philanthropic organizations, is launching a nationwide Partnership for Equitable and Resilient Communities, which aims to halt inequitable federal investment practices that hurt people of color. The effort will provide up to $5 million to nonprofits working with Black, Indigenous, and Latino people to help bring federal resources to their neighborhoods. The funds can be used in areas such as hiring more staff and creating small demonstration programs that promote equitable community and economic-development plans.
Ensure equitable employment opportunities. Even before the infusion of funds for new federal and state infrastructure projects, research showed that more than one in four infrastructure jobs would need to be refilled during the next decade because of retirements and other factors. Making sure those jobs create a path to the middle class for low-wage workers, especially workers of color, will require intentional planning and accountability.
America’s current infrastructure workforce is overwhelmingly white and male — a reflection of inequities in current hiring, training, and job-retention practices. Philanthropy can shape local and regional efforts to make equity a priority in filling these jobs. The Kresge Foundation’s Detroit Program, for example, is working with the city to publicly track how infrastructure dollars are spent and is providing grant support to Detroit’s workforce-development agency, which aims to use American Rescue Plan resources to improve the economic mobility of low-income city residents.
Another philanthropic effort — the Equity in Infrastructure Project, supported by my organization and spearheaded by Phillip Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, and John Porcari, former U.S. deputy secretary of transportation — aims to increase the number, size, and proportion of government contracts going to historically underutilized businesses. The project will help these firms compete more effectively by working with government agencies to revamp the contracting process. That includes improving payment times, standardizing reporting requirements, and increasing the amount and type of financing available.
Support national coordination. The enormous scale of the work ahead will require continuous coordination — a role well suited to philanthropy.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Emerson Collective, the Ford Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation have partnered with nonprofits such as the National League of Cities to launch the Local Infrastructure Hub, which will help leaders in America’s small towns and cities get their fair share of infrastructure funding. The project will connect these local leaders with experts to guide them through the funding application process and will provide a centralized place for sharing innovation so that small towns can better compete with big cities.
Additionally, six foundations, including the Irvine Foundation, are supporting a national public-private partnership called What Works Plus, which will act as a central hub for grant makers to coordinate work on projects funded by the federal infrastructure bill. A core goal is to learn and share what works, and what doesn’t, so that federal agencies and philanthropy can adapt in real time as these massive investments begin to flow into communities.
Foundations nationwide should replicate or join these and many other efforts underway. The stakes are high. Government infrastructure dollars provide an opportunity to change the trajectory for the nearly one-third of the workforce earning less than $15 an hour — a disproportionate number of whom are workers of color.
Philanthropic leaders have rightfully spoken up about the need for racial equity. Here’s our chance. Let’s ensure the workers and communities most often ignored are the most prepared to speak up about where and how government funds are invested. The torrent of government dollars is coming, and philanthropy can either watch it flow by or use our resources, convening power, and knowledge of local nonprofit organizations to steer spending in a direction that allows all communities to thrive.
