To the Editor:

I appreciated Alex Daniels’s article, “Silent, Defiant, Private: Big Philanthropies React to Trump’s DEI Order” (February 26). The nonprofit sector has been waiting for a response to President Trump’s actions from the foundations that often portray themselves as guardians of equity, including the Ford, Gates, and Kellogg foundations. Unfortunately, as Daniels’s article notes, they have been largely silent.

These funders could use their voice and resources to stand up for those their dollars seek to help — including the nonprofit employees who work long hours for little pay to deliver that help. Grant makers, their board members, and their donors should be intimately aware of the dangers of keeping silent for the marginalized people they’re trying to serve. This silence is especially galling considering how many grant applications over the past four years have required DEI commitments and board and staff diversity data as a consideration for funding.

Foundations need to stop cowering in the face of Trump’s threats and start organizing to fight back. Let’s hope that their current silence means that’s exactly what they’re up to.

Paula Brown
Fundraising and Nonprofit Communications Consultant
For-Impact Solutions