An Update on PACE Members’ Commitments to Racial Equity
In July, we shared that PACE members had committed nearly a quarter-billion dollars of new grantmaking toward racial justice and equity efforts. Social momentum for this work continues to build; encouragement for philanthropy to take aggressive steps to “help everyone understand that a benefit for one is a benefit for all” continue to percolate across the field. It’s now October, and we are excited to update you on some additional initiatives launched and commitments made by our Members in recent weeks:
Racial Equity 2030 is a call for bold solutions to drive an equitable future for children, families and communities across the globe, issued by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In honor the Foundation’s 90th anniversary, the Challenge will award $90 million to invite, build, and scale actionable ideas that “embrace and reflect the values of racial equity and justice” and strive to transform systems and institutions to make them more equitable.
The National Archives Foundation launched its Fund for Rights & Justice which will help provide resources for research, public programs, exhibitions and educational materials focused on the stories of African Americans and people of color, as found in the records of the National Archives. In a video announcing the fund, the foundation said it “seeks help to bring light to [the] stories [that demonstrate] the challenges and victories of the African American experience that provide a more complete story of our nation’s past.”
The Ford Foundation announced the doubling of its dedicated funding to racial justice and civil rights groups, which will now total $330 million in 2020 and 2021. The foundation articulated a specific focus on civic work for those funds — specifically grassroots organizing and movement-building — citing that “only 5 percent of racial equity funding in the U.S. is specifically focused on movement-building and grassroots organizing, indicating an urgent need to increase funding for activists and groups that are advancing sweeping change.”
In its commitment to address the “twin epidemics” of COVID-19 and systemic racism, the Chicago Community Trust has announced the launch Together We Rise. This collaboration is a partnership between the Trust, the Mayor’s office, and area businesses, philanthropies (including fellow PACE members, the Joyce and Robert R. McCormick foundations), and community leaders. It was created to increase funding, align business practices, and change policies to build a more prosperous Chicago for everyone.
More tracking on philanthropic funding and leadership toward combating systemic racism and committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion is available from Candid.
