Allied Giving: My Give Out Story

I grew up in an immigrant community that was steeped in the tradition of collective responsibility where I learned to take care of those around me and to always look for opportunities to support others. In my early years I used my time and talent as an organizer working to transform my community. Now as a philanthropic practitioner I have the privilege of working with foundations and individual donors to support some phenomenal organizations and have come to see firsthand how important it is to financially support the people, issues and movements we care about. And so although I am not independently wealthy, I have developed my own personal philanthropy and am committed to giving to the causes that advance my values.

Today is Give Out Day, the first ever national day of giving to LGBTQ causes so I thought I’d share why and how I am using my treasure in support of LGBTQ organizations that empower and advocate for LGBTQ youth of color. Early in my career as a social change agent I managed a drop-in center at the Youth Health Empowerment Project (Y-HEP) in Philadelphia, PA where we sought to create a non-judgmental safe space for the city’s hardest-to-reach youth to access prevention services and support. During my time at Y-HEP many of the young people that came through my door were gay or transgender and victims of bullying or had been abandoned by their families. I carry the faces and stories of these young people with me every day as I pursue social justice through philanthropy. So it is only fitting that my personal giving reflects my values and commitment to the Y-HEP family as well gay and transgender youth of color across the country.

Today I am giving to the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and The Gay Straight-Alliance Network (GSA). NBJC is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black LGBT people and their mission is to eradicate racism and homophobia. One of their key priorities is addressing bullying in schools and advocating for federal protections for Black LGBT students. We know that Black LGBT students that are bullied in school are more likely to drop-out and find themselves in harmful situations, so NBJC’s work is critical to saving our young people. NBJC is headed by Sharon Lettman-Hicks, one of the fiercest women I have ever known. I met Sharon about five years ago when I first transitioned into philanthropy and I remember the excitement I had about being able to work with her. I was still pretty young and had never worked at an organization where a Black woman was in a position of leadership. In the short time we spent together, I watched her always speak truth to power and never compromise her values. I applaud Sharon’s leadership as Executive Director & CEO of NBJC and am thoroughly convinced that without them leading the fight for Black LGBT civil rights neither the Black community nor the LGBT community will be able to achieve full equality and justice.

The GSA Network is a national youth leadership organization that connects school-based GSAs to each other and community resources through peer support, leadership development, and training. I got to know the work of the GSA Network through their Senior Manager for Racial & Economic Justice Programs, Geoffrey Winder. Geoffrey and I met a few years ago and immediately hit it off. While waiting for our flights after a conference we talked about the lack of research on barriers to success for girls of color in schools and how the race and gender lens utilized by many in the education justice movement seemed to only capture boys of color. Our conversation revealed that we both wanted to raise awareness about the challenges cis and transgender girls of color face in schools and since then I have been thoroughly impressed with the work Geoffrey has done organizing LBT young women across the country. He and his colleagues at the GSA Network are building a national movement that brings to light the criminalization, harsh discipline and unsafe environments that young LBT women of color contend with. I recently asked him to present on the GSA Network’s work to a group of funders and he made a point of incorporating the voices of the young women he’s working with. Here’s a short video of one of those young women:

As a former youth organizer I have the utmost respect for young people who speak their truth and demand justice for themselves and others. Without organizations like the GSA Network cultivating youth leadership and encouraging young people to stand in their power the voices of girls of color will continue to be silenced. 

I am proud to support the National Black Justice Coalition and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network! I hope you’ll join me in supporting young people and communities of color today and every day.

Get Well Soon: Day 2 of EPIP_POC

We kicked off the second day of our Knowledge Network gathering at a community health center and heard from the other Dr. Harris (Rahsaan's brother) about health disparities in the Bay Area. Dr. Jamal Harris and his colleagues walked us through the services they provide at their health center and talked to us about how they are trying to strengthen vulnerable populations through various forms of health and wellness. Although I have an extensive background in urban community health, I have been face-down in education issues for the last five years and so I haven't been thinking about the mental and physical healing needs of our communities. Yesterday's site visit to the health center and the conversations with my peers about gun violence and our collective ailments reawakened in me the desire to help us get well.

It is clear that America is a nation in pain. We are sick and wounded in so many areas and yet we can't seem to find the right cocktail of medicines or comprehensive wellness plan that will restore us to perfect health. So what's philanthropy going to do about it? What is the role of philanthropy is healing our nation?

One of the things that stuck out for me during the presentations at the health center was that of all the services they provide, the patients most valued the love shown by the staff. At a clinic where patients have access to acupuncture, yoga and some of the best physicians in the state, they most appreciate being treated like human beings (not criminals or drug addicts) and the loving-care from their case workers and providers. The things that meant the most to patients were receiving birthday cards and care packages from the staff, being escorted to the bus stop and being cared for like family, not clients. As funders, we often look for ways to measure the success and effectiveness of organizations and programs that are quantifiable, but healing through love, encouragement and emotional support cannot be measured through traditional metrics. When we refuse to hear and recognize the stories like the ones shared at the health center, we fail to truly support communities. So what are some ways that we can evaluate grantees in an effort to honor and capture all of the work they are doing and the full impact they are having on the communities they serve?

I'm also left thinking about why philanthropy is not investing in efforts to help America heal in a holistic manner. If we recognize that as a nation we continue to suffer from the pain inflicted by gun violence, inadequate educational opportunities, lack of reproductive healthcare, failure to treat the formerly incarcerated and many other epidemics; why aren't we investing in things like peace circles and other forms of restorative justice? I ask these questions knowing that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is doing some, but we as a field are not having these conversations on a large scale. I need more of us to step up - institutions and individuals. I believe that philanthropy, as a sector has the unique ability to be bold and go where government won't and where the non-profit sector (despite their will) can't. We have power and privilege that other sectors don't and we need to use it to heal our nation. It's time for America to get well!

On the 40th Anniversary of Title IX, Where Do We Stand?

Originally appeared in the January 3, 2013 edition of the Opportunity to Learn Campaign Newsletter

2012 marked 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments, which were established to protect people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities. The passage of this law allowed us to formally acknowledge and address through legislation the disparities that exist in our education system for women and girls. The nation’s progress since 1972 is evident in the participation of women in sports and related professions formally viewed as male-only, the creation of programs for pregnant and parenting mothers and pay equity for female teachers. However, as evidenced by the continued complaints and subsequent investigations of school districts by the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, barriers to educational success for young women still remain.
Title IX states that:

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

This means that in addition to its most common known protections, the law exists to ensure that young women have equitable access to a fair and substantive opportunity to learn. In order for this to happen, young women must be in the classroom and not the victims of harsh discipline practices that remove them from the educational setting. In recent years we have seen growing disparities in the area of school discipline and according to a report from the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy, girls now make up the fastest-growing segment of the juvenile justice system, with more than 300,000 arrests and criminal charges every year. Young women are often being suspended and arrested from school for infractions no more serious than skipping class, talking back or “insubordinate” behavior and fighting. Gender stereotyping combined with these zero-tolerance discipline policies have made young women the fastest-growing population on the school-to-prison pipeline and forced many others down the school-to-low-wage-work pipeline. Both outcomes rob young women of the ability to thrive and live successful lives.
So as we celebrate the gains made over the last 40 years, let us take note of the work still to be done. We must be resolved to put girls back on our agenda. The next decade promises to be an exciting and active time for women but in order to create pipelines for change and pathways to success we must invest in girls and continue to advocate for their Title IX rights. We can start by demanding equitable access to a fair and substantive opportunity to learn for all young women regardless of race, class, sexual identity or citizenship status. It is only through building the public will that we will create the political will to enforce legislation like Title IX on all levels.

EPIP's Knowledge Network Gathering for Emerging Grantmakers of Color

This week I am in San Francisco for the annual gathering for emerging leaders of color hosted by Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy (EPIP) and the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE).  This is the sixth year that EPIP has provided a safe space for emerging leaders of color to come together and explore the meaning of social justice philanthropy and racial equity in grantmaking. This is my first time attending the gathering and after just one day, I'm thrilled that I made this a priority.

Dr. Rahsaan Harris, executive director of EPIP kicked off Day 1 by asking us to share a defining moment in our lives. I have done all sorts of sharing and talked about my life in many ways, but never in terms of moments that have defined me, so I found this exercise difficult and quite emotionally stirring. But by the end of lunch; after I had listened to all of my peers share their moments, I realized that I have had many such moments but I have simply lived through them without taking the time to reflect, process and mark how these moments have played a role in shaping who I am and how I walk through life. Dr. Harris has convinced me that viewing one's life through Defining Moments has the potential to be an extremely empowering tool and makes me feel that I am not just a passive bystander, but an active participant in my life. And no matter how painful the moment, I have the ability to use it to towards the betterment of myself and my advancement.

The second part of the day was facilitated by Susan Batten, executive director of ABFE. If you don't know Susan you need to - she's kinda the bomb dot com! Now that you know how much I love Susan, let me tell you that the Race Matters training she took us through yesterday is essential to our ability to be change agents working towards more racially just and equitable philanthropy. Susan framed our conversation by helping us to understand the concepts of structural racism and targeted universalism and by defining equity (not the same as equality). She then walked us through three core tools we can use to engage in and lead "race informed" work. I know many of us in our institutions believe that we are working towards racial justice through our grantmaking, but I promise that if we haven't taken the time to ensure that our entire staff thoroughly understands how to conduct a racial equity impact analysis and that the board and staff are on one accord - we aren't moving anything! Susan provided a lot of information that I still need to process, but I'm happy to finally have the tools (weapons) I need to be a true racial justice warrior.

As you can see, Day 1 was a whole lot and I am fired up and ready to go for Day 2. Dr. Harris said yesterday that through conferences like this, "EPIP prepares us to better show up in other spaces and networks." I definitely agree and if I weren't already a member of EPIP and ABFE, yesterday alone would have convinced me to sign up. So if you're not a member of either network, learn more about them and join the movement!

Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy
Association of Black Foundation Executives

Got Privilege?

Privilege is something like a dirty word - it's not something people of color generally like to talk about unless we're talking about White Privilege. For the most part, those of us engaged in racial justice work don't mind having countless conversations with our White friends and colleagues helping them to understand the privilege bestowed upon them by their race. We talk about what it means to be White in America and how they can use their identity to advance the Racial Justice movement and we rejoice when they self-identify as our allies and speak about their privilege to other White people. But in having these conversations, we rarely stop to consider what privilege we might be carrying - or at least I never did. It wasn't until this past Spring that I realized that I have an element of privilege. Yes, working class Black woman me has privilege.

I didn't just wake up one morning with this epiphany, but in May of this year I heard Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry's 2012 commencement address at Wellesley College and it completely changed my outlook on my "position" in life. In her talk Dr. Harris-Perry gave the female graduates three solid pieces of advice, the second of which was to "Be Silent." She explained that no matter what circumstances of dis-privilege from which they came, that their degrees now conferred upon them privilege. She went on to say that when they choose to be silent in the face of those who have less, they undermine the idea that only people with certain degrees and certain certifications have a right to speak.

Dr. Harris-Perry helped me to see that I had spent so much time relating to and operating from my places of dis-privilege that I hadn't bothered to see how I had transitioned into a place of privilege or in some respects had it all along. I particularly think about the privilege I have as a practitioner in philanthropy. I have always recognized that my job gives me access to people and institutions that would otherwise be off limits to me, but I didn't see that through my position I have the ability act in such a way that creates access and opportunity to often marginalized people - people just like me. This was a huge lesson for me and definitely one of my top five lessons from 2012.

As we head into 2013, I will make a concerted effort to do more self analysis and check for moments and areas of privilege. I encourage you to do the same. Join me and ask yourself, "where might privilege show up for me?"

From A Young G's Perspective

It's been a while since I last posted and I apologize for the lack of content, but I promise I've been busy! Over the last few months I've been conferencing it up from coast to coast, trying to create a communications echo chamber to support the work and elevate the voices of my women and girls grant partners and most importantly, I've been sitting at the feet of our elders desperately soaking up as much knowledge and wisdom as possible. So you see, my absence hasn't been in vain.

Now that I'm back, I figured I'd start by sharing some of the pearls I pocketed from the Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy (EPIP) and Council on Foundations (Council) conferences I attended.
The text below is from a blog post I wrote for the Council on Foundations blog, RE: Philanthropy, What Matters Now? You can find the original post here: Next Gen.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Change Agents

It’s been about a month since I returned from Los Angeles, where I attended the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) National Conference and the Council on Foundations Annual Conference. I am extremely grateful that those organizations partnered to provide “Stay in L.A.” scholarships to Next Gen-ers, which afforded us the opportunity to participate in both conferences. The experience was invaluable, and I came away from my week in L.A. thinking deeply about the challenge issued by Carol Goss to be an “activist philanthropist” and the charge from Angela Glover Blackwell to “be bold.”

Both conferences emphasized the need for emerging practitioners to develop their voices as grantmakers and use philanthropy as a catalyst for social change. I learned that in order to do so, we must bring our whole selves to this work and be willing to leverage our relationships and resources in support of our grant partners. Activist philanthropists work towards the transformation of individuals and communities, understanding that funding people, organizations, and movements that are doing the absolute best work can bring about change. Funding such work can be risky and this is where—as individuals, institutions, and a field—we need to muster up boldness. As Robert Ross helped us to appreciate, the real risk is in doing nothing.

Now the reality is that most of us emerging practitioners do not possess any real grantmaking power within our institutions. We can’t decide to fund the Occupy moment in hopes that it will grow into a movement, but the key to developing our voice is leading from wherever we are on the organizational chart. Simply speaking up can be a game changer, for there’s power in just getting an idea out there. As uncomfortable as that can be, we were reminded that discomfort yields change and creativity. They’re the defining characteristics of our generation.

As I hustle to complete reports and prepare to close this fiscal year, I am encouraged by EPIP and the Council’s commitment to developing the next generation of philanthropic leaders. I was truly inspired in L.A. and I look forward to being a part of an intergenerational philanthropic movement for justice.

Proteus Fund Diversity Fellowship

Attention Next Gen-ers: The Proteus Fund in Massachusetts is now accepting application for their 2012-2013 Fellowship class! Of all the fellowships out there, this has to be one of my favorites. This fellowship is designed to prepare and cultivate the kind of leaders the philanthropic sector and society so desperately need. If you are a bold thinker determined to represent the varied needs of marginalized communities with integrity and authenticity, Philanthropy needs you!

 See the information below and visit the Proteus Fund website for more information...

Proteus Fund announces request for applications for the 2012-2013 Diversity Fellowship

Proteus Fund is a national grant making organization committed to advancing social justice through democracy, human rights and peace. The Diversity Fellowship complements Proteus' work in the areas of strategy development, research and fund management and their established partnerships with donors and foundations.

Proteus believes that philanthropy is deepened when it is reflective of the perspectives, life experiences, and issues relevant to our diverse society and particularly of the organizations and constituencies that philanthropy serves. Although the racial and ethnic demographics of our society continue to change, professional staff and trustees at many foundations do not reflect this diversity.  The Proteus Fund Diversity Fellowship seeks to increase diversity in philanthropy, meet the interest of emerging practitioners, help prepare them, and open doors for Black and African Americans, Latino/a and Hispanics, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans.  The Fellowship was founded and formerly housed by Associated Grant Makers.

Candidates will come from the nonprofit and corporate sectors with evidence of community or volunteer experience.  Candidates will be considered based on knowledge, commitment, experience and skills and will be placed at foundations in and around Boston and Western Massachusetts.  Applicants must currently reside in the United States and satisfy federal laws regarding employment eligibility verification.

The 2012 application can be found here.  A guide to frequently asked questions can be found here. The application is due by 5pm on Wednesday, April 18, 2012. Further questions should be directed to program Director Tammy Dowley-Blackman at tdowley-blackman@proteusfund.org.