Overlooked: Foundation Support of AAPI & Native Communities Sorely Lacking

About

Recent years have seen increased attention from philanthropic leaders to questions about race, systemic racism, and systemic inequities. This increased attention was heightened by the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequities and the national protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police. Since early 2020, some foundations have made greater efforts to address systemic inequities by increasing their funding to nonprofits serving communities of color. More than 40 percent of foundations report increasing their funding to nonprofits serving Black communities, and a little more than a quarter report doing so for nonprofits serving Latino communities. However, other communities affected by systemic inequities, including Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Native American communities, appear to have been overlooked. These communities have not received much increased support from foundations during the same period.

Across four research studies the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) has conducted in the past two years, we’ve noticed two concerning trends emerge for AAPI and Native American nonprofit leaders and communities (trends that we do not see for nonprofit leaders and communities of other races/ethnicities):

1. AAPI and Native American nonprofit leaders report having less positive experiences with their foundation funders than nonprofit leaders of other races/ethnicities. This has been the case during, as well as prior to, the pandemic.
2. Despite the significant challenges facing AAPIs and Native Americans, most foundations continue to overlook nonprofits that serve these communities.

These trends and other findings can be found in two reports released by CEP in December 2021.

• Overlooked (Part One)
• Overlooked (Part Two)

In this panel discussion, you’ll hear from two foundation CEOs and two community- and identity-based nonprofit leaders on their calls to action in light of these findings.