The vast majority (roughly 95%) of the ~$1 trillion in U.S. foundation assets are invested in the stock market in order to gain the financial returns needed to exist in perpetuity. Many foundations have chosen to grow their endowments by generating enormous profits from industries that harm the very Black and Brown communities that their grant dollars aim to support, such as predatory lending, speculative real estate, surveillance, money bail and the prison and military industrial complexes.

Meanwhile, less than 2% of grant funding by the nation’s largest foundations specifically supports Black communities. Even in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic like COVID-19, many foundations have chosen not to increase their spending in order to protect their endowments from the economic downturn.

When grants are made to Black-led organizations, they are more likely to be restricted in purpose compared to grants to white-led organizations. Even foundations with stated commitments to racial equity narrowly set their sights on “equitable outcomes” in health, education and employment within the unjust systems that have never cared for Black people without seeking to dismantle those systems altogether.

What if philanthropy were to humbly acknowledge its role in the centuries of harm caused to BIPOC communities, and accept its moral obligation to provide reparations? What if foundations were no longer induced to endlessly accumulate capital by maximizing their return on investments at the expense of communities they claim to support?

This kind of deep, radical transformation of philanthropy — one in which our field re-orients its purpose toward redistributing wealth, democratizing power and shifting economic control to the communities — is precisely what is required for a Just Transition to a regenerative economy in which Black lives are valued and cared for.

Here are some concrete actions that philanthropy can take to get us closer to a different future.

  1. Divest from systems that harm Black communities
  2. Redistribute wealth to Black communities
  3. Transfer decision-making power over the allocation of philanthropic resources to Black communities

Read the full article about philanthropy's role in dismantling white supremacy from Justice Funders at Medium.