Donors, activists, and nonprofit leaders must seize this rare and special moment in the fight for racial justice — and be more willing to wade into the thorny issue of police conduct in particular, say philanthropy leaders nationwide.
Many people in the nonprofit world said they were pleased by the conviction of Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of killing George Floyd, but they stressed that the fight for racial justice is far from over.
“This work takes people, it takes resources, it takes a lot of different things,” said Rashad Robinson, head of Color of Change. “We have to continue to do the work to attract people who want to stand with us, who believe change is possible. But we only have to look at the attacks on the right to vote to know how fragile this progress is and how quickly we could lose it all.”
Robinson said the racial-justice protests during the last year were a game-changer in many ways, including drawing a demographically diverse group of supporters into the movement, and in more concrete ways, like boosting voter registration.
He said it would be a mistake for foundations to take their foot off the gas in their efforts to unwind centuries of racial injustice, which he calls the most powerful force holding back progress in so many areas that philanthropy cares about, like health care and housing.
“Racial justice is the strategic driver. It is the vehicle. It’s a motivating force. It’s the most powerful motivating force for so much of the change that we want to win,” Robinson said.
Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation and chair of the Council on Foundations, agreed that the current moment can and should be a catalyst for progress on so many other issues held back by racial injustice, including affordable housing, voting rights, and environmental justice.
“This is a moment we won’t get again to push for transformational changes in public policies and practices,” Allen said. “Before the world moves on, philanthropy can use its considerable influence and conviction to push private and public sector leaders to listen to what frontline racial-equity community leaders have long been advocating for, which are shared power, participation, and prosperity.”
Vangela Wade, CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, said history offers clear warnings against declaring victory too soon.
“I know that people are tired. People are weary, and they may be ready to take a social-justice pause,” Wade said. “But we can’t. That’s how we got to this point in the first place, because we stopped. We went through the civil-rights movement and the movements prior to that, and we stopped. Many of us became complacent. We thought that we had arrived at some point of mutual respect and equity within our systems.”
Julio Marcial, vice president of strategic partnerships Liberty Hill Foundation, said philanthropy remains “too comfortable” in terms of issues where it’s willing to meaningfully engage. “We need more people in philanthropy to move from ally to freedom fighter,” Marcial said.
A Focus on Policing
Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, said improved policing will be a considerable challenge because it involves a huge network of 18,000 independently operating police departments, with a labor force protected by incredibly powerful unions. In addition, changing policing nationwide will require undoing decades of misinformation about crime and policing.
“Most Americans are really conditioned to think that, in fact, it is the thin blue line that separates us from chaos,” Turner said.
The advice for philanthropy today is, yes, we understand you’re a little bit wary about policing, but it’s not going to change without substantial investment.
Turner said he’s been seeing positive signs that grant makers are willing to go where they haven’t in the past in terms of the criminal-justice system, but policing remains a tougher, more controversial piece of those efforts.
“In the past five or six years, we’ve seen big swings in institutional and individual philanthropy towards justice reform generally, addressing mass incarceration, bail reform, issues like that. But in that context, policing has largely been one that has really remained unattended to,” Turner said.
He added: “We’re seeing the wins in deeper investment, and the advice for philanthropy today is, yes, we understand you’re a little bit wary about policing, but it’s not going to change without substantial investment and durable investment.”
Nicole Taylor, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, echoed the need for a focus on policing, insisting that philanthropy has a role to play. The Chauvin verdicts “fuel my persistent hope that this country will finally and carefully examine and reform law enforcement,” Taylor said. “Indeed, today has been an important step toward much needed accountability in this country. "
Don Chen, president of the Surdna Foundation, said he has many relatives in Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and elsewhere who regularly text or call to check on his safety after seeing news reports about conflict and violence in America. A flood of those calls and texts arrived after the Chauvin verdict. “I felt like this was a shared moment, a shared experience by just such a wide range of people in my life, including my relatives who live in other countries,” Chen said.
Here at home, the case and the verdict have sparked a much-needed conversation about the huge investments that society makes in its criminal-justice system, Chen said. “One of the effects of last year’s protest has been that rethinking public safety is now a serious conversation that communities are having in weighing what they’re getting based on the investment that they’re making in something as crucial as public safety,” he said.
Moving Beyond ‘Transactional’ Grant Making
Chanda Smith Baker, chief impact officer and senior vice president of the Minneapolis Foundation, said philanthropy has a critical role in helping change societal understanding and attitudes about the damage still being done by entrenched racism.
“The spotlight on our city and the death of George Floyd has presented an opportunity through that horrific tragedy for people that had not been tuned in to the entrenched systemic racism in policing and in the justice system,” said Smith Baker. “Now that they’re tuned in, I think our responsibility is to keep them attentive to the issue.”
She also urged foundations to move beyond “the transactional grant exchange” to become leaders on the issues of equity and criminal-justice reform.
“We need to bring our voice and our leadership to these issues in ways that are timely and intentional and that are bold and courageous on behalf of the communities that have been suffering from injustice,” Smith Baker said.
The demands that lie ahead will be substantial, she added. “I anticipate requests for leadership, for involvement, for resources that are unplanned,” Smith Baker said. “And we need to be positioned to respond to those requests quickly.”
But first, Smith Baker said, she needs a break — a week of vacation. The last year has been exhausting, particularly for Black leaders, she said, and she encouraged her colleagues to find time to take a deep breath before diving back into the substantial work that still lies ahead. It’s a good time, she said, “for Black leaders to take a step back, to reflect, to refresh, to exercise some self-care so that we can continue to be solid leaders in this community.”
Smith Baker is not alone in that feeling. The McKnight Foundation announced last night that it will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday. “Given the collective trauma of this past year,” the foundation said on Twitter, “we are taking time for rest and reflection. Please take good care of yourselves and your organizations.”
Alex Daniels, Maria Di Mento, Dan Parks, Olivera Perkins, and Nicole Wallace contributed to this article.