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By READI – Racial Equity Advancement and Defense Initiative, an initiative by ABFE – A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and Native Americans in Philanthropy
The global philanthropic sector has been rocked by the evolving philanthropic landscape in the United States. Perhaps the greatest example of this is how President Trump’s decision to slash USAID, the largest international aid organisation, has disrupted major international humanitarian aid efforts, from hunger to HIV prevention. Domestically, it goes even further: a proposed tax bill could hamstring philanthropy’s ability to fund national and international work, while ongoing legal challenges are forcing foundations to divert resources to defend themselves or deterring them from continuing their work altogether.
As events unfold in the U.S. and impact lives beyond its borders, this assault on its civic sector is not a moment to ‘wait and see’—it’s an opportunity for philanthropy to move from potential victim to activated defender. This includes a visible defence of an at-risk element of American philanthropy: race-explicit grantmaking.
Race shapes every aspect of the American experience, from economic opportunity and health outcomes to education and housing. Erasing race is akin to erasing geography, gender, wealth, or any factor that makes our experiences distinct. Without a race-explicit lens, philanthropy cannot live up to its potential nor deliver on its boldest ambitions.
In 2022, U.S. foundations invested more than $105 billion to help solve some of our most compelling challenges—a transformative amount of money. While an atmosphere of litigation and political obstacles can make bold action seem challenging, leaders like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Marguerite Casey Foundation show us that courage and strategy are still possible with their reaffirmed commitment to racial justice. As the situation in the U.S. develops, all philanthropists should be asking: How can we meaningfully shore up our commitments to racial equity?
This is the question the Racial Equity Advancement and Defense Initiative (READI)—an initiative to promote, expand, and defend race-explicit grantmaking and programming—has been formed to answer. Together, ABFE – A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and Native Americans in Philanthropy believe there are three pathways that leaders of conviction can pursue to make race-explicit grantmaking a non-negotiable aspect of institutional existence.
Despite potential legal threats and a hostile political environment, philanthropy can courageously continue to fund transformational change. While we cannot ignore the risk that accompanies race-explicit work in this current landscape, there are still actions that every philanthropist can take to shore up against current and future attacks.
1. Transforming internal structures/governance
Transforming internal structures focuses on ingraining actions that support race-explicit grantmaking into an organisation’s core, positioning foundations to withstand pushback and weather challenges. These actions focus on the infrastructure, collaboration, and processes that set organisations up to navigate risk successfully. While the existential threat for grantees is much higher than for foundations and funders, advancing race-explicit grantmaking relies on philanthropy to be ready as the first line of defence.
This could look like:
- Structuring the composition and focus of your board of directors strategically to place a race-explicit lens at the centre of its operations and existence;
- Mandating a racial equity and race-explicitness learning agenda to embed both internal and external education and knowledge sharing;
- Centring the influence of programme staff to reground the work in the reality of the grantees you serve;
- Naming and owning organisational appetite for legal risk and field attacks that might arise; and
- Cutting the red tape to give grantees the power and capacity to do what needs to get done.
2. Transforming relationships
Transforming relationships means rethinking how power is shared between philanthropy and the communities we serve. By transforming how philanthropy interacts with partners, foundations can redefine power and influence, actively making room for the voices and experiences of those with the most to gain from racial equity. When collaboration is essential to sustaining race-explicit work, how philanthropy shows up in these relationships signals the direction the sector seeks to go, whether toward our communities or away from them.
This could look like:
- Supporting data disaggregation by race to show that addressing equity for one group of people mutually benefits others;
- Getting creative with funding strategies, such as removing reporting requirements, leaning into trust-based philanthropy, and providing no-strings-attached ‘gifts’; and
- Working with grantee partners to understand how to be supportive to maximise the impact of grants and allow them access to the full suite of resources foundations have.
3. Transforming the field
Philanthropic organisations don’t operate alone. The entire field is influenced by bold, visible action that sets new standards for what is possible. By transforming funding priorities and foci, foundations can build an ecosystem that doesn’t fold under stress or uncertainty and is prepared to withstand and respond to future challenges. The goal is not only to endure the current moment, but to lead the way towards a brighter future.
This could look like:
- Moving more money, and faster, to sustain the nonprofits doing the hard work delivering essential health, education, and community services, and fighting to preserve democracy
- Funding strategic communications and campaign work to change the narrative, counter misinformation, and uplift the positive vision philanthropy has for the world;
- Being explicit about—and visible in—your commitment to racial equity to demonstrate to others that it’s safe to do the same; and
- Having proactive conversations with social welfare organisations and political leaders about the importance of race-explicit grantmaking and philanthropy’s independence in its operations.
While READI’s Transformative Actions to Protect and Advance Race-Explicit Grantmaking was created through the lens of American philanthropic opportunity, our vision for a better world transcends borders. We invite you to explore all of the Transformative Actions here and consider how a race-explicit lens could transform the broader international landscape.
This is a moment for action, not retreat. Our world is made up of diverse people, cultures, and beliefs—a truth we cannot and should not ignore. The international collaboration made possible by philanthropy necessitates race-explicit grantmaking. The alternative is a philanthropic sector that talks about equity while perpetuating inequity, a sector that uses lofty rhetoric but fails to deliver meaningful change.
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