Recently, Dwayne Marsh, CEO of Northern California Grantmakers, and I were reflecting on how many foundations in our memberships are looking to change direction and move toward racial equity. In an ice-bucket-style challenge, Dwayne posted his thoughts and then tagged me with the question, “How best does philanthropy choose courage in the face of the unprecedented complexity the moment offers?"

The answer, from where I sit, begins with leadership. I’ll reflect on my own, as a start.

  1. Less Certainty, More Curiosity: As much as I may feel compelled to be viewed as an independent thinker, it serves me best to tap into the collective genius of colleagues as well as the people living closest to any issues to understand priorities and develop solutions to persistent challenges our communities face.
  2. Authenticity Over Appropriateness: In addition to maintaining a learning posture, it serves me to be honest about my observations and express my perspective with integrity, rather than censor my expression to conform to a set of expectations, real or perceived, which define decorum for our industry.
  3. Authenticity Over Appropriateness: In addition to maintaining a learning posture, it serves me to be honest about my observations and express my perspective with integrity, rather than censor my expression to conform to a set of expectations, real or perceived, which define decorum for our industry.

The uncomfortable truth is this: American systems were never designed with a multi-ethnic pluralistic democracy in mind.  And we will not change that which we first do not accept as real. So, our work includes designing laws and policies that eliminate disparities. It also requires us to re-imagine the societal infrastructure to effectively serve a broad range of identities, beyond our ethnic distinctions to include gender, ability, age, class, geography, education level, immigration status, and sexual orientation.

Philanthropy has an opportunity - a responsibility - to lead change. My experience is that the lack of awareness or will by leaders to deploy philanthropic resources in unconventional ways restricts problem-solving to a narrow set of considerations for what is practical rather than expanding our collective vision for what is possible. This is our greatest barrier to changing direction toward more equitable outcomes.

Read the full article about barriers to racial equity by Marcus Walton at Northern California Grantmakers.