Weekly Reads – January 15, 2021

A roundup of timely insight from the grantmaking community and beyond.

“We want our philanthropy and nonprofit colleagues—especially those who may feel alone in your institution or community—to know that we see you, and that we are holding you in our response to this collective trauma […] As funders, we need to hold ourselves, and each other, accountable. We must continue to name and work to end white supremacy and structural racism in our foundations, our processes, and our sector. Even when some public leaders won’t.” [more]
– Brenda Solorzano, Headwaters Foundation, and Pia Infante, The Whitman Institute, on Trust-Based Philanthropy Project

“[W]hite supremacy still reigns in America. Our work must begin by acknowledging these realities, by determining the role each of us needs to play to contribute to a new and different future, and by holding our leadership—and ourselves—accountable. It is these points that especially deserve our attention as we talk about ‘turning the page.’” [more]
– Jim Canales, Barr Foundation

“The current crises aren’t just revealing inequities: they’re exacerbating them in ways that could last generations. Foundations, by virtue of their long time-horizons, have the opportunity to be a counter-cyclical force—and the great news is that many have.” [more]
– Phil Buchanan, Center for Effective Philanthropy, in Stanford Social Innovation Review

“Those most excluded and exploited by today’s broken economy possess exactly the perspective and wisdom needed to fix it, and they are saying they need money now.” [more]
– Edgar Villanueva, in Stanford Social Innovation Review