Racial Equity & Philanthropy
Kia Croom
Kia Croom is an ardent supporter of the Movement For Black Lives (M4BL), which was born in 2014 after police killed Michael Brown, and hit an inflection point in 2020 following George Floyd’s murder, which sparked racial injustice protests globally.
Kia champions racial justice in philanthropy for people and communities of color by directing companies looking to make charitable contributions to Black-led (and BIPOC-led) nonprofits across the nation. She stridently speaks out about how Black-led and BIPOC-led nonprofits receive less funding and encounter more scrutiny than white-led nonprofits through philanthropic discrimination— rooted in systemic racism.
To date, Kia has partnered with over 100 fortune companies—directing their philanthropic contributions totaling over $10 million in STEM education for thousands of Black and Brown students nationally. Contact us today to learn ways your company can make impactful charitable investments in communities of color to fight racial inequities.
Kia is challenging companies to make deep, charitable investments in Black-led and BIPOC-led nonprofits across the nation to address the racial inequities plaguing communities of color.
Through the Just Philanthropy Initiative, Kia connects philanthropic-minded companies with Black-led and BIPOC-led nonprofits to create high-impact partnerships that address the racial inequities that plaguing the Black community including: social determinants of health, education inequity, homelessness, hunger, systemic racism, STEM inequity and more.
Kia is frustrated by the philanthropic discrimination that has and continues to be perpetrated against Black and BIPOC-led nonprofits. To promulgate awareness about the philanthropic disparities Black and BIPOC-led agencies contend with compared to the experiences enjoyed by white-led organizations. We’ve complied a list of resources Kia frequently references when advocating for Racial & Philanthropic Justice for people and communities of color.
We hope the tools, guides, resources, and more listed here will help donors, families, foundations, companies, and others in the field of philanthropy support and accelerate efforts to create a more just giving to Black and BIPOC-led agencies.
Racial Equity & Racial Justice Resource Hub
- Racial Equity Tools Glossary
- Equity and Racial Justice Philanthropy Resources (Arabella Advisors)
- Putting Racism on the Table: a learning and action series for philanthropy (Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers)
- Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: resources for advancing equity within your organization and through the grants you make (National Center for Family Philanthropy)
- Guiding a Giving Response to Anti-Black Injustice
A collaboration of ABFE and The Bridgespan Group - The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change: Redlining by Another Name: What the Data Says to Move from Rhetoric to Action
- Grantmaking with a Racial Justice Lens: A Practical Guide, by Rinku Sen and Lori Villarosa (Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity)
- Racial Equity and Philanthropy: Disparities in Funding for Leaders of Color Leave Impact on the Table, by Cheryl Dorsey, Jeff Bradach, and Peter Kim (The Bridgespan Group)
- Grant Making with a Racial Equity Lens – GrantCraft
- Understanding and Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex An Overview for Philanthropists Here’s the link: https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Understanding-and-Confronting-the-Prison-Industrial-Complex.pdf
Racial Equity & Racial Justice Articles, Blogs, Opinion Pieces
United Philanthropy Forum: Why Racial Equity and Racial Justice Are Vital for Philanthropy
Funding for racial equity, justice ‘mismatched’ to need, report finds
- America is Burning by Vanessa Daniel
- Philanthropists Bench Women of Color, the M.V.P.s of Social Change by Vanessa Daniel
- Dear Philanthropy: These Are the Fires of Anti-Black Racism by Will Cordery
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- Places to Sign Up for Racial Justice Training: Here
- Resources for Black Employees Seeking Comfort
- White Allyship
- Checklist for White Allies – Power Shift Network
- White Allyship 101: Resources to Get Started– Dismantle Collective (multiple resources)
- What Is Social Justice Philanthropy? – Giving Compass
- Shifting Philanthropy From Charity to Justice
- Social Justice Philanthropy – PEAK Grantmaking
- Justice Funders: Powering Philanthropic Transformation
- Social Justice Philanthropy Restructures to Focus on Power
- Five Principles to Advance Equity and Justice in Philanthropic Strategy
Racial Equity & Racial Justice Articles, Blogs, Opinion Pieces
Organizations to Consider Supporting
- The Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
- RaceForward
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
- Equity in the Center
- Othering and Belonging Institute
- NAACP
- Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity
- Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE)
- Equal Justice Initiative
- Black Alliance for Just Immigration
- Blackbird
- Color of Change
- Groundswell Fund
- Trans Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGI Justice Project)
- National Council For Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
Organizations Directly Supporting Protesters
Organizations Directly Supporting Policy Change
Continuing Your Racial Equity Journey
- Talking About Race– National Museum of African American History & Culture [multiple resources]
- 11 Terms You Should Know Better to Understand Structural Racism– The Aspen Institute
- K. Kellogg Foundation Racial Equity Resource Guide [multiple resources]
- RaceWorks– Stanford University (racial literacy toolkit) [multiple resources]
- The Curb Cut Effect– Stanford Social Innovation Review
- Putting Racism on the Table – – Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers [series of videos]
- Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture– ProInspire
- Dismantling Racism Works Workbook– Dismantling Racism Works [multiple resources]
- Anti-Racism Resources– Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein [multiple resources]
Racial Equity & Racial Justice Guides, Reports & Tools
- A Checklist of Potential Actions: Incorporating DEI in Your Grant-Making Process (Equity in Philanthropy)
- Advancing the Mission: Tools for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
- Catalytic Change: Lessons Learned from the Racial Justice Grantmaking Assessment, by Lori Villarosa, Maggie Potapchuk, Rinku Sen, and Soya Jung (Issuelab by Candid)
- From Words to Action: A Practical Philanthropic Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (GrantCraft)
Racism, Equity, and COVID-19
- Former CDC Head Pushes for Equity in Pandemic Policies, Nonprofit Quarterly
- For vulnerable black communities, the pandemic is a “crisis on top of a crisis,” Vox
- Why some people of color say they won’t wear homemade masks, CNN
- Grantmakers Must Put Equity at the Forefront of the Coronavirus Response
- 10 Ways Inclusive Leaders Can Mitigate Bias When Talking About Coronavirus
- Using a Racial Justice Lens Now to Transform Our Future
- COVID-19 Racial Equity and Social Justice Resources
- NBC News: Coronavirus fears show how ‘model minority’ Asian Americans become the ‘yellow peril’
- Forbes: 5 things to know about coronavirus and people with disabilities
- Toronto City News: Why homeless people are at double risk of getting and spreading coronavirus
- Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva
- Eliminating Implicit Bias in Grantmaking Practice (National Center for Family Philanthropy
- Philanthropists Bench Women of Color, the M.V.P.s of Social Change by Vanessa Daniel (The New York Times)
- The Curb-Cut Effect, by Angela Glover Blackwell (SSIR)
- Dear Philanthropy: These Are the Fires of Anti-Black Racism by Will Cordery (NPQ)
- How Philanthropy Can Help Achieve Racial Justice: a conversation with Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, by Jasmine Aguilera (TIME 100 Talks series)
- You Can’t Fund Equity Without Sweat Equity, by the Quixote Foundation (National Center for Family Philanthropy)
- You do not need to be Black to know that Black Lives Matter (The Communications Network)
Thought Leaders on Racial Justice in Philanthropy
- ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities: ABFE is a membership-based philanthropic organization that advocates for responsive and transformative investments in Black communities. Partnering with foundations, nonprofits and individuals, ABFE provides its members with professional development and technical assistance resources that further the philanthropic sector’s connection and responsiveness to issues of equality, diversity and inclusion.
- CHANGE Philanthropy: CHANGE Philanthropy (formerly known as Joint Affinity Groups) was founded in 1993 to unify identity-focused philanthropic affinity groups into an empowered coalition. CHANGE Philanthropy’s seven core partners are working to integrate diversity, inclusion, and social justice into philanthropic practice, transforming the sector’s culture to be one that embraces equity.
- Funders for Justice: A national network of funders increasing resources to grassroots organizations addressing the intersection of racial justice, gender justice, community safety, and policing.
- Funders for LGBTQ Issues: A network of more than 75 foundations, corporations, and funding institutions that collectively award more than $1 billion annually, including approximately $100 million specifically devoted to LGBTQ issues.
- Justice Funders: Justice Funders is the home of Bay Area Justice Funders Network while also 1) offering professional and leadership development programs, 2) providing coaching and consulting for organizational transformation; and 3) designing, piloting and scaling innovative collaborations that advance social justice movements. By engaging in these multiple areas of programming, Justice Funders is ushering a Just Transition within the field of philanthropy to take a proactive role in building the world we need.
- Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE): PRE aims to increase the amount and effectiveness of resources aimed at combating institutional and structural racism in communities through capacity building, education, and convening of grantmakers and grantseekers.
- D5: In 2007, 50 foundations and allied leaders began the Diversity in Philanthropy Project (DPP), a time-limited campaign to expand diversity in the field. D5 was the culmination of this effort. D5 was a five-year coalition to advance philanthropy’s diversity, equity, and inclusion. As our constituencies become increasingly diverse, we need to understand and reflect their rich variety of perspectives in order to achieve greater impact.
- Darren Walker, CEO Ford Foundation
- Susan Taylor Batten, CEO Association of Black Fundraising Executives
- Edgar Villanueva
- Black Freedom Collective
- Black Philanthropic Network
- The Center for Effective Philanthropy
- Ford Foundation
- Communities for Philanthropic Justice
Black Philanthropy
- BLACK PHILANTHROPIC NETWORK (BPN)
- August is Black Philanthropy Month
- 2022 State of Black Philanthropy – The Miami Foundation
- A Generosity of Spirit: The Legacy of Black Philanthropy
- New England Blacks in Philanthropy: Home
- Black Philanthropy Initiative – The Winston-Salem Foundation
- Black Philanthropy in Hampton Roads
- Cleveland Black Futures Fund
- Black Philanthropy Fund – TBF – The Boston Foundation
- The A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity & Impact Fund
- Wimona Community Foundation
- Baltimore Community Foundation
- Seattle Foundation
- The Ultimate List of Black Philanthropists, Black funders, Black donors and grants for Black-led nonprofits
- Black Freedom Collective
- The California Black Freedom Fund