Philanthropy that Advances Justice

An interesting and critical eye on philanthropy can come from different perspectives and that is what “Liberate Philanthropy,” a blog series, published on Medium, precisely does.

In one of the recent entries, Crystal Hayling explains how in her role as executive director of The Libra Foundation, one of her first priorities was to apply a racial justice lens to their human rights framework.

Part of the efforts had to do with "examining our role in perpetuating inequality — and taking proactive steps to promote equity and justice — at every level of the organization: with and among grantees, staff and the board," she wrote.

Hayling states that in philanthropy, "we have to build new muscles for trusting and engaging, if we hope to support emancipatory social movements." She writes:

Yes, that means looking outside at who we usually fund, and finding more groups led by people of color, working intersectionally and building community power. And it also means looking internally to liberate ourselves and our organizations from assumptions and practices that undermine our effectiveness in advancing justice. We all have to keep searching for the ‘upstream’ in us.

Click here to explore the series.

Image: Pixabay / CQF-avocat