Weekly Reads—September 17, 2021

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

“A critical element of embracing better ways of operating is centering disability inclusion to make our organizations safer and better for employees, grantees, and community members. To be sure, the work of disability inclusion is not merely tangential to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts based on race, gender identity, or sexual orientation; in fact, if anything, it’s a prerequisite. People with disabilities belong to every identity group—ableism compounds with racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other oppressive systems to magnify their impact. But when we expand disability inclusion and integrate accommodations throughout our workplaces, we make them more inclusive for all marginalized people, creating policies that benefit everyone.” [more]
Darren Walker and Rebecca Cokley, Ford Foundation, for the Council on Foundations

“Moonshot challenges such as climate change and the crisis in democracy are political problems even more than they are technical challenges. Solving them requires building broad political consensus, overcoming entrenched and powerful interests, and engaging in a complex, societywide renegotiation of how we organize and regulate our economy and structure our political institutions. Doing this effectively will require large-scale investments in grassroots movements and advocacy strategies to build the political will among government leaders to enact lasting structural solutions.” [more]
Loren McArthur, Arabella Advisors, in The Chronicle of Philanthropy

“[T]here is an increased call for organizations to be transparent about the demographic makeup of our grantees. So, there was this very clear need for us to have this kind of information, and we simply didn’t have it. […] This data collection will be one way to inform us on how we are advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in our grantmaking so we can work to create more positive experiences for organizations led by and serving people of color.” [more]
Nancy Lindborg, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Bradford K. Smith, Candid

“[Guiding a Giving Response to Anti-Black Injustice] offers philanthropy potential paths to invest in organizations and movements within the Black-led racial justice ecosystem. It provides principles for giving that can help funders make investments with sustained change in mind, and highlights priority investment areas and example organizations within those areas that represent tangible opportunities.” [more]
Susan Taylor Batten and Edward M. Jones, ABFE with Leslie MacKrell and Jerry Petit-Frere, The Bridgespan Group