Weekly Reads—February 21, 2025

Enjoy PEAK’s weekly roundup of timely insights from the grantmaking community and beyond.

“We cannot preemptively fall in line with this dangerous series of threats. Our job at this moment is not to comply but to resist. To fund the programs that need to be funded unapologetically. To defend our right to right these historic wrongs. To never make the job of fascism too easy.” [more]
Brea Baker, Refinery29

“When inspired by a shared vision and hope for a better future, we can marshal enduring resilience and strategic defiance to confront and overcome the assaults on our health and wellbeing. This gives us hope at RWJF. It also gives us a mandate. And even amid the swirling uncertainty, blistering attacks, and pervasive untruths, we cannot and will not abandon our mandate.” [more]
Richard E. Besser, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

“Solidarity and partnership are essential right now, not going it alone or staying on the sidelines. Connection with others brings healing and comfort. It offers encouragement, strength, and resolve to face whatever comes. So, this is a time to invest in opportunities for people to be in community together. We need to know that we are not alone and that, together, we can imagine and realize a stronger, more impactful social sector.” [more]
Jim Canales, Barr Foundation

“Since 2019, [CEP’s new report Breaking The Mold: The Transformative Effect Of Mackenzie Scott’s Big Gifts has found that] MacKenzie Scott has given more than $19 billion in unrestricted support to more than 2,000 organizations, stating that her aim “has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds.” It remains too early to draw definitive conclusions about Scott’s giving and its long-term effects. At this time, however, after five years of giving, the reported effects of her gifts on recipient organizations selected through her quiet-research process remain overwhelmingly positive.” [more]
The Center for Effective Philanthropy