Giving Compass' Take:

• In this podcast, Hispanics in Philanthropy President Ana Marie Argilagos discusses the importance of directing philanthropic efforts to the Latino community and taking steps toward dismantling social ills.

• How can partnerships among different stakeholders empower minorities in philanthropy, and what can we do to make sure their voices are being heard?

• Here's how the Latino community can strengthen its collective power.

Ana Marie Argilagos joined Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) as their new President on January 1, 2018. She is guiding HIP with a bold vision: to usher in a new generation of philanthropy that is for, by, and about the Latino community.

"Right now there’s a lot of really well-meaning work that’s happening, but we are not able to have long-term, sustainable work. When you’re just working with foundations, strategic plans change, funding interests change, lines of work change, theories of change are altered, and what I’m trying to figure out is how we develop other ways. HIP has been doing this for a while, through our funding collaborative and through our crowdfunding sites, where Latinos, who are such generous givers, are able to invest in their own community infrastructure and institutions. And when I say ‘by our community, for our community, about our community,’ it’s taking that into consideration, if we’re able to harness just a fraction of the Latino community’s buying power, which is 1.4 trillion dollars, and we’re able to invest that into our communities, we can really start closing some of these inequality gaps impacting the community.

“For me, philanthropy is much brighter than foundations. It’s giving and it’s getting, one person to another, with no expectation back. And, as such, it can be used as an instrument towards dismantling inequality, towards dismantling poverty and racism. And I think it’s a way to be audacious and take risks. Philanthropy is the way to really address problems that feel persistent and enduring, and that have no hope. If you look at the words of Nelson Mandela, he said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’ That’s how we can use philanthropy as a way to address issues that feel like they’re impossible and they’re daunting — we can get it done through philanthropy, by working together and by giving broadly.”

Listen to the full podcast about philanthropy for latino communities by Ana Marie Argilagos at hiponline.org (originally posted by The Wakeman Agency).