Social Justice

This briefing on [Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 2pm EDT] is co-sponsored by the ABFE, a Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, and Grantmakers in the Arts. Join Funders for LGBTQ Issues for a powerful conversation with Black TGNC artists about cultural organizing in the midst of hate, misinformation, and anti-LGBTQ backlash. Webinar link shared with approved registrants.

Learn more and register here.

"Sometimes when we’re living inside a system, it’s hard to imagine what an alternative could look like. In our desire to make progress — to improve the way things work — we focus on a tweak here, a shift in implementation there," said Althea Erickson, former director of Center for Cultural Innovation's research and advocacy work. "And to some extent, that can be a good and pragmatic strategy. But it has its downsides."

"Even after the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the plight of immigrants, many of whom were essential workers, laid off from service-industry jobs, and/or excluded from government relief programs, they continue to face heated anti-immigrant rhetoric and xenophobia," said Kyoko Uchida for Philanthropy News Digest. "While funders are collaborating to better support immigrants, the immigrant rights movement—including advocacy, civic engagement, and grassroots organizing—remains severely underfunded."

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From PEAK Grantmaking: The idea of “risk” in grantmaking is pervasive. A critical factor in reaching awards decisions, it’s also a stand-out feature of the traditional philanthropic approach that has come under intense fire for its long-standing exclusion of smaller, grassroots organizations – the kind that are often led by BIPOC and devoted to the neighborhood-level work that is so badly needed.

"In the year since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn abortion rights, millions of people have lost access to the procedure. Most of them live in the South," said Kwajelyn Jackson and Zaena Zamora for The Chronicle of Philanthropy. "We’re the leaders of an abortion clinic in Georgia (Kwajelyn) and abortion fund in Texas (Zaena) — two states with some of the country’s strictest abortion bans. The Dobbs decision and subsequent abortion bans have severely affected our work. While we can’t provide the level of abortion care we previously offered, organizations like ours are doing everything possible to connect abortion seekers with out-of-state care, expand services to meet changing health needs, and win back basic reproductive rights."

"For many in the LGBTQ+ community, Pride Month is a month of celebration. It is a time to reflect on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement and to authentically celebrate queer lives," said Kelsey Andersen for PEAK Grantmaking. "It is a time of community, of belonging, of love, of joy—and unfortunately, it is also a month where queer celebrations and increased visibility can lead to more opportunities for violence."

"This is a crucial moment for philanthropy, and the lack of support for the LGBTQ+ community is deafening."

From the 2023 IDEAS Festival: Join us [Saturday, June 24 at 4pm] for a Behind the Actor's Studio-style interview with powerhouse practitioners in social change and cultural equity! Grantmakers in the Arts President Eddie Torres will be joined by Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre Founder and Artistic Director Rosalba Rolón in a session that will engage personal narrative to illuminate pathways of activism in the performing arts. Listen in as Eddie and Rosalba grapple with the tension between the individual and the societal as related to decisi

From Philanthropy News: The Barr, Kresge, and William Penn foundations have announced $13 million in funding to support arts and culture programs that help address systemic and intersectional societal challenges.

The commitments will support the Culture and Community Power Fund (CCPF), a funding collaborative formed in 2022 by Barr, Kresge, and Penn to serve as “a lab for investing in, connecting, and amplifying efforts to help build community power through art and culture.”

Former GIA Board Member Ken Grossinger announced his new book, Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together: An inside look at the organizers and artists on the front lines of political mobilization and social change.

An artist’s mural of George Floyd becomes an emblem of a renewed movement for racial equality. A documentary film injects fuel into a popular mobilization to oust a Central American dictator. Freedom songs course through the American civil rights movement.

From The Chronicle of Philanthropy: A new report on giving to LGBTQ+ organizations found that, from 2015 to 2019, they received just 0.13 percent of overall philanthropic support but grew their giving faster than non-LGBTQ+ groups during that time. Donations to LGBTQ+ groups increased 46.3 percent, while contributions to non-LGBTQ+ nonprofits grew just 24.9 percent. Researchers ended their study in 2019, the most recent year they could access near-complete tax filings from organizations. The findings come from Equitable Giving Lab, a research project of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy that digs into how philanthropy serves historically marginalized communities.