Diversity, equity, and inclusion at Knight
In an emailed statement, the Knight Foundation Director of Communications Rebecca Dinar said that 59% of grant dollars went to BIPOC or women-led organizations in 2021, a figure the Community Info Coop could not independently verify.
If true, the Knight Foundation’s 2021 grantee cohort may be among its most diverse. It is undoubtedly the smallest as 2021 saw Knight award its lowest amount of new grants since 2010 and the second lowest proportion of its endowment since 2008, according to the foundation’s website.
Read more from Knight’s rightward tilt, the previous post in this series analyzing DEI and accountability at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Read more at knightdei.org.
Approximately 20% of the Knight Foundation’s 2020 grantmaking was directed to DEI initiatives or organizations serving diverse populations, approximately the same percentage that was also awarded for “Construction” grants.
Initial research included surveying Knight Foundation grantees for leadership demographics — including the composition of non-men and non-white people serving in executive positions — but a low response rate led Community Info Coop researchers to end data collection and analysis in those areas.
Grantmaking categories often overlap (e.g., journalism projects in Knight cities) but can be individually assessed for DEI or service to diverse populations.
The Knight Foundation dedicated less than 9% to DEI or organizations serving diverse populations in several major spending areas, most notably “Research,” “Higher Education,” “Journalism,” and “Public Spaces.”
Top 7 2020 Knight Foundation Grantmaking Areas and Associated DEI Proportion
The Knight Foundation’s highest proportion of 2020 DEI spending came from grants to historically Black colleges and universities, “HBCU,” and grants dedicated to “Institutional DEI,” organizations focused on DEI or DEI advancement in legacy institutions.
Beyond those, “Journalism Education” was 38% DEI funding. “Professional Development” and “Outlier” grants were approximately 33% DEI funding.
Outlier grants were grants Community Info Coop researchers deemed out of the scope of the Knight Foundation’s grantmaking strategy, including East African wildlife conservation, U.S. national parks, and a federal war memorial.
“Journalism Producer” ranks among the Knight Foundation’s largest proportion of DEI spending at 30%. Though a $2 million award to the Chicago-based local news lab City Bureau made up three-quarters of the Knight Foundation’s DEI spending in this area in 2020.
Below is a chart of 2020 Knight Foundation grantmaking areas in order of most to least DEI spending.
