My Cancer Milestone and My Philanthropic Legacy
Most of us think, at some point in our lives and with varying degrees of urgency, about what mark we will make in this world and what legacy we will leave behind. The questions of legacy and impact became urgent and immediate for me back when I went to the Emergency Room one afternoon with what felt like an intense migraine headache. The kind ER doctor came out after taking a CT scan and said gently, “I have bad news.” The scan had revealed a tumor in my brain that we came to learn was glioblastoma, the aggressive form of brain cancer that has a median survival rate of 18 months.
This week marks the milestone of four years since that diagnosis.
Since that day in 2016, I’ve worked to survive in the present and plan for the future. I literally owe my life to the amazing medical team at the University of California San Francisco Brain Tumor Center who performed the surgery (including after the tumor’s recurrence in 2017) and guided the treatment of chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy and physical rehabilitation. Acutely aware that life is short, I also intensified my efforts to accelerate my social change work, in general, and my philanthropic focus, in particular.
I have been blessed to be part of a family that has had great business success and progressive philanthropic impact. My mother, Marion, broke barriers as one of the first women working in a professional job on Wall Street, and she went on to become the first female — and one of the longest-serving — CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. In 1994, long before the recent awakening in corporate America about diversity and inclusion, my parents diversified the board of their company, taking a rapid and decisive series of actions that created a governing body where women and people of color comprised the majority of its members. As they turned their attention from business to philanthropy, they pursued bold innovations that have transformed the progressive landscape by providing lead and seed funding for the Center for American Progress, ProPublica, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Learning Policy Institute, and other organizations that are cornerstones of this nation’s progressive infrastructure.
My cancer diagnosis forced our family to grapple sooner than we had planned with the question of my legacy. We discussed how I could best continue the spirit of the family philanthropy and also make my own distinctive mark in the world. I am happy to publicly share today that those conversations resulted in the creation of the Susan Sandler Fund, housed at the Sandler Foundation. I am grateful to my father, Herb, and my brother, Jim, and to Steve Daetz, president of the Sandler Foundation, for their assistance in creating the Fund, and I am extremely fortunate to have the partnership of the amazing Vivian Chang, Executive Director of the Fund, who has spearheaded its design, execution, and selection of the initial portfolio of grantees, which we are excited to announce today.
The Sandler Way
My parents attributed their success to a methodological approach marked by analytical rigor, extensive due diligence, and adherence to the highest standards of excellence. Some have referred to this as “The Sandler Way,” and I am working to apply that methodology to the work of the Susan Sandler Fund.
Theory of Change: Power, Not Persuasion
I’ve been active in the non-profit sector, pursuing racial, economic, and social justice for nearly 35 years, and I’ve worked in philanthropy and progressive donor spaces for the past 20 years. Over that time, I’ve developed a distinct theory of change that differs from much of the conventional wisdom. A lot of foundation funding is geared towards persuading people in power to change their minds, and that objective is usually pursued by supporting the development of well-researched reports, studies, and analyses. The premise of those investments is that quality information will persuade the people in power to make better decisions and adopt public policies that will improve the conditions in people’s lives. I do not subscribe to this view as the best way to bring about change.
I have come to believe that, rather than trying to use persuasive papers and reports to attempt to change the minds of those who are making decisions, the more effective way to transform societal priorities and public policies is to change the climate and environment in which decisions are made. Specifically, to make the faces of the people with whom policy makers have to interact reflect the full racial, cultural, and economic diversity of the population that is affected by those policies. When our government, corporate, and other societal institutions are responsive to — and, frankly, fearful of — the people who most bear the brunt of inequality and injustice, then better priorities, practices, and policies follow.
As more and more people get involved in self-government — calling their public officials, showing up at public meetings, and turning out to vote in numbers reflective of their share of the population — the imperative for addressing widespread inequality and injustice percolates up to the highest levels of decision-making.
Strategy for Change: Focusing on Systemic Racism
Guided by this theory of change, we have developed a philanthropic investment strategy that is rooted in our analysis that the power relationships established by centuries of systemic racism are the greatest obstacles to creating a just and equal society. Accordingly, we are focused on supporting organizations that are led by People of Color and working to increase the power and influence of historically-marginalized communities of color.
Even after the recent racial reckoning in this country, there is still a tendency to separate out addressing systemic racism as a distinct or additional item on the social change menu. We believe that not only is it all connected, but that the best way to make progress on the full panoply of challenges facing this country — from education to housing to public health to the environment to the economy and more — is to empower those organizations and leaders most connected to and focused on eradicating systemic racism and building a more just and equitable multiracial society.
Looking at the American landscape through the lens of systemic racism and the promise and potential of the movements to overcome it, one can see that the road to a more just and equal country runs through the South and the Southwest. The states in those regions — the former slave-holding states and the land that used to be Mexico prior to the bloody, pro-slavery Mexican-American war of 1848 — are still home to the majority of People of Color in the United States. As the composition of the electorate in those states comes to reflect the full racial diversity of the population of those states, the social contract in these states can be rewritten in ways that improve the lives of millions of people.
This reality is one of the reasons why we are excited to support efforts that are focused on changing power relationships in this region — especially in Arizona, California, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Virginia.
Our Portfolio — Catalysts for Change
Over the past year, Vivian and I have worked to finalize the framework for the Susan Sandler Fund and to identify organizations and leaders that match our theory of change and strategy for progress.
The organizations we fund are driven to change the policies and structures where structural racism manifests. They understand that voting on election day is simply one tactic in a much larger strategy in developing a democracy that is inclusive of — and led by — the very people whom this society has shut out. These organizations have a tremendous track record winning real and concrete changes in the lives of people they are in service of.
My family has learned that management and leadership are critical to success. In selecting our initial set of grantees, we looked for organizations that are run by people who can execute on mission. These leaders have a clear path to power in their state, and are rigorous in their work. They build excellent staff teams and understand what it takes to build durable organizations. They understand how to work in collaboration with other organizations because they understand that the change they seek requires the action of many.
There are many great organizations and leaders in this work. We don’t claim to know all of them. But we do know and believe deeply in the organizations we have chosen to fund. And we hope with our resources and support, they can go even further. Our initial portfolio of grantees consists of the following organizations:
•Asian American & Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Fund
•Advance Native Political Leadership
•Arizona Center for Empowerment
•State Power Caucus
•New Florida Majority Education Fund
•New Virginia Majority Education Fund
Life and Legacy
As I mark this personal milestone in my health and medical journey, I am touched by the outpouring of love and support I have received. I am well aware that even as someone who is battling cancer, I am in an extremely privileged position. I have worked hard to use that privilege to do what I can to make this world a better place, and I am grateful that we have been able to create the Susan Sandler Fund as a vehicle to support the work of transformative leaders and organizations. It is my hope that this will be a meaningful part of my legacy.
As we were formalizing the creation of the Fund, Vivian gave me a framed poster that crystallized how I think about life and legacy. It quotes the lyrics from Sweet Honey in the Rock’s “Ella’s Song,” and it hangs on my wall to this day.
We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes
Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons
Is as important as the killing of White men, White mothers’ sons
That which touches me most
Is that I had a chance to work with people
Passing on to others that which was passed on to me
To me young people come first
They have the courage where we fail
And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale
The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on
Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm
Not needing to clutch for power
Not needing the light just to shine on me
I need to be one in the number as we stand against tyranny
Struggling myself don’t mean a whole lot, I’ve come to realize
That teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survives
I’m a woman who speaks in a voice and I must be heard
At times I can be quite difficult, I’ll bow to no man’s word
In ways big and small, each of us can establish a legacy. I’m grateful that I’ve been given the time since my cancer diagnosis to establish mine. I urge each of you not to wait to work on establishing yours.
