Giving Compass' Take:

• Nell Edgington shares key takeaways from the 2018 GEO National Conference about philanthropy's current and potential role in race relationships in the United States. 

• How can organizations make sure that they live their values always, and just when it is convenient? How can philanthropy shift from maintaining racist structures o overturning them? 

• Find out how hiding diversity data keeps philanthropy from growing. 

Pass the (Decision and Strategy-Making) Ball to Community
Instead of trying to get a slam dunk based on our own top-down strategies, what if we passed some of that strategy- and decision-making to community leadership who have direct experience with the issues we seek to address?

Change the Lineup
While we can and should strive to educate those in power about racial (in)equities, we will not achieve true equity until we diversify the lineup of who sits at the decision-making table.

Change Up the Plays
If we haven’t considered the role of advocacy when funding for complex social change and social benefit, perhaps it’s time we did. If we have only looked at single issues with singular solutions, it might be time to study up on how interrelated our one issue is to many others.

Let Go of Habitual Structures of Distrust
If we really examine our funding protocols, we may find they are based on the premise that we should be inherently suspicious of nonprofits and communities, and that they need to prove their trustworthiness before we enter into relationship with them.

Pass the Wealth, Too
Often we hear from communities who have suffered from structural racism like redlining and upon whose lands and backs the wealth in this country has been built — that the ultimate goal is self-determination.  As a sector, what would it look like to transfer self-generating and wealth-building mechanisms to our communities?

Read the full article about diversity and inclusion by Nell Edgington at Social Velocity.