Giving Compass' Take:

• After the recent meeting of a group of 181 CEOs from the Business Roundtable convened to redefine the purpose of a corporation, more stakeholders from private and public sectors are working to prioritize social impact and challenge capitalist systems that perpetuate inequality. 

• How is your charitable giving addressing inequality on a systemic level? 

• Learn more about structural inequalities. 

Capitalism is in crisis. The United States—and our democratic values, discourse, and institutions—is suffering from unprecedented levels of inequality.

Today, the three richest Americans collectively own about as much wealth as the bottom half of the population combined. Worse, extreme levels of economic inequity are only one of the many forms of inequality that plague our nation: We also face rampant discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and ability. Looming over all of this is the threat of a global environmental catastrophe, which will make every one of these disparities more extreme through droughts, food shortages, and refugee crises.

When I was a child, I had the distinct sense that America was rooting for my success. Despite living in a small rural town in East Texas—and despite the prejudices I faced growing up black and gay in the South—I experienced the benefits of individuals and institutions working in concert to cheer me on. Time and again, I felt the wind at my back. But as I reflect on our system today, I find myself wondering and worrying: Do today’s underprivileged children feel optimistic? How could they?

Today, a growing number of leaders in the business and social sectors are finding ways to make our capitalist system fairer. They recognize that if we create the context and conditions for an inclusive and just economy, the more we can use capitalism’s undeniable productive power to unlock better ideas and outcomes for humankind.

Early positive signs of that recognition came in late summer, when a group of 181 CEOs from the Business Roundtable announced that they had redefined the purpose of a corporation.

Read the full article about how businesses in the social sector can work together by Darren Walker at Fast Company.