"Philanthropy is at a Moment of Reckoning"
Big philanthropy came under scrutiny at the recent Skoll World Forum, where 1,200 people from 81 countries gathered at the University of Oxford, England, according to Forbes.
At the panel “Is Philanthropy Part Of The Solution Or The Problem?” the power dynamic was discussed as one of the issues. “Philanthropy is top-down, closed-door and expert-driven,” as panelist Edgar Villanueva, author of the book Decolonizing Wealth, put it. His advice: “We need to show up and listen to understand what a community wants," Forbes wrote.
One big challenge for philanthropists, as Forbes reported, is what they can do to reverse the stark wealth inequality:
Panelist Rodney Foxworth, executive director of BALLE, a group that promotes supporting local communities, warned that the trajectory for savings for African American families is headed toward $0. In Boston right now, Foxworth said, the median household wealth for an African American family is $8, compared to $247,000 for a Caucasian family. “This is a conversation we have to have. ...What will the U.S. look like when the majority of its citizens no longer have the wealth to sustain themselves? It’s a question about our collective futures.”
Image: Pixabay / TeroVesalainen