Giving Compass' Take:

• Mission Investors Exchange reviews their recent National Conference in Chicago, where foundation representatives discussed how to best serve communities: Meet people where they are and check privilege at the door.

• Are we practicing what we preach in the social sector? The wisdom from these philanthropists should serve as inspiration for those looking to keep their community-driven missions on track.

• Here's how we can re-imagine power structures to address equity. 

On the third day of the Mission Investors Exchange 2018 National Conference, plenary panelists Lata Reddy of the Prudential Foundation, Lori Bezahler of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Jamie Merisotis of Lumina Foundation, and Jocelyn Sargent of Hyams Foundation engaged in a pragmatic conversation on how foundations are driving racial and social justice through their impact investing practices. The panel was moderated by Kurt Summers, Treasurer of the City of Chicago.

It is important to authentically engage the community you are working in, said Reddy, and "meet people where they are." Reddy went on to provide an example of how Prudential partnered with community leaders in Newark to preserve certain services of a community-based organization providing youth programs when a charter school was financed to purchase the facility in which it had previously operated.

“You have to step back sometimes and say, ‘I am actually not living the experience,’” noted Bezahler in describing the Hazen Foundation’s decision not to pursue an investment in a student loan program for individuals eligible under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy — in light of community concerns about contributing further to the student debt crisis. Lori continued: “We have the privilege of having all these great ideas. But we have to remember that our power and our privilege is not necessarily the experience of the young people we’re trying to serve."

Read the full article about championing equity in practice and in place by Anjali Deshmukh Mission Investors Exchange.