Giving Compass' Take:

• Amy Celep highlights three ways that funders can promote social justice in their philanthropic efforts by addressing privilege. 

• What shifts are you ready to make in your own philanthropic work? How can funders support each other's efforts to promote social justice? 

• Learn about social justice philanthropy. 

While many stories from the Unity Summit in New Orleans affected me, the ones that most stuck with me were from Dr. Denese Shervington, a psychiatrist who works with kids in the New Orleans juvenile justice system. She talked about the trauma experienced by the kids, mostly black and brown, in the system, and the need for us as individuals and as a society to see the hurt and avoid labeling kids as bad. To bring this message to a broader audience, leaders in New Orleans have launched a movement, In That Number, to reframe how we view young people who have experienced trauma; the goal is to help society recognize that the kids ensnared by the juvenile justice system are “sad, not bad.”

Hearing stories like these led me to more deeply reflect on how we, as consultants, and I, as a white woman leading a consulting organization, can play a bolder role in the racial justice movement and become better advocates for an equitable society.

Three ways to be bolder:
  1. Speak up about race.
  2. Challenge any inkling of privilege or superiority in strategy.
  3. Bring an equity lens to organizational capacity-building efforts.

Read the full article about promoting social justice by Amy Celep at Medium.