Moving Funders from Racial Equity to Racial Justice
PEAK Grantmaking recently released the latest issue of its journal “Driving Racial Equity in Philanthropy.” This issue is dedicated to centering the need to advance racial equity and racial justice with the philanthropic sector as the vehicle for driving this change.
One of the key opportunities for funders to advance equity is by taking a closer look at their grantmaking model. In the article How We Can Advance Support for Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding, Lori Villanova offers four key strategies for funding with a race equity lens
Analyzing data and information about race and ethnicity
Understanding disparities and the reasons they exist
Looking at structural, root causes of problems
Naming race explicitly when talking about problems and solutions
But these strategies only begin to move organizations in the direction of racial equity. For transformation system change to happen, funders should also focus on advancing racial justice by taking these critical actions:
Understanding and acknowledging racial history
Creating a shared, affirmative vision of a fair and inclusive society
Focusing explicitly on building civic, cultural, economic, and political power by those most impacted
Emphasizing transformative solutions that impact multiple systems
Racial justice moves beyond preventing harm and seeking solutions within existing systems to making investments that build power, particularly among marginalized people, and break down existing structures. Recognizing the difference between these two terms is an important first step for philanthropic organizations to examine their own practices and how they may be helping or harming the organization’s racial equity efforts.
There are also a number of practical steps funders can take to adopt new practices that align with a more equitable funding model and to advance racial equity. Little Consulting Company can help your organization assess your current grantmaking strategy and co-design a new approach that centers on racial equity and racial justice. Funders have an opportunity to show up as leaders in paving the way for a new type of giving driven by the commitment to make the type of transformational impact that permanently changes systems.