Understanding AB 624

DONATE Understanding AB 624 Rick Cohen is the national correspondent of Nonprofit Quarterly magazine. Prior to joining NPQ, he was the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a national nonprofit philanthropic watchdog organization. He is a former member of the PRE advisory board. If one California state legislator has his way, his … Read more

With Foundations as Partners, Communities of Color Can Share Creative Visions

DONATE With Foundations as Partners, Communities of Color Can Share Creative Visions David Cournoyer is co-chair of the board of directors of Native Americans in Philanthropy, a Council on Foundations affinity group that seeks to build bridges between foundations and Native communities. He has worked at two national private foundations as well as the American … Read more

Our Dis-Ease with Race

DONATE Our Dis-Ease with Race Eva Paterson is the president and a founder of the Equal Justice Society, a national organization dedicated to changing the law through progressive legal theory, public policy and practice. Previously, she worked at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for 26 years. As a cofounder and chair of the California … Read more

Fund Racial Justice Strategies, Not Just Diversity

DONATE Fund Racial Justice Strategies, Not Just Diversity Rinku Sen is the president and executive director of the Applied Research Center and publisher of ColorLines. Her latest book, The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization (Berrett-Koehler, www.accidentalamerican.us/the_book/) was released in September, 2008. She is a member of the PRE advisory board. … Read more

Can Counting Really Make the Difference?

DONATE Can Counting Really Make the Difference? Makani Themba is former executive director of The Praxis Project, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization supporting community-based policy and media advocacy nationwide. She is a member of the PRE advisory board. Every organized interest has a love-hate relationship with government regulation. We want clear public monitoring and benchmarks … Read more

Data Collection is an Important Tool for Building a More Vibrant Nonprofit Sector

DONATE Data Collection is an Important Tool for Building a More Vibrant Nonprofit Sector Arturo Vargas is the executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund, the leading nonprofit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service. He is also the board chair of ZeroDivide (formerly the Community … Read more

Foundation Discussion Starters

DONATE Foundation Discussion Starters​ We hope that many foundations committed to strengthening their work in communities of color and LGBT communities will continue, or perhaps, start this discussion within their own institutions – away from the heated debates over legislation. While some foundations have formal policies asking grantees to share a range of racial, ethnic … Read more

Minority-led nonprofits

DONATE Minority-led Nonprofits by Rick Cohen What do we really know, in terms of hard research, about the greater efficacy or effectiveness of minority-led organizations serving their communities? This is the implicit question of AB624, and not answered by the generic response that “diverse” organizations are more effective or innovative entities, a contention asserted in … Read more

Foundation Governance

DONATE Foundation Governance By Rick Cohen AB624 is hardly aimed at simply foundations’ reporting on their grantees. Provisions call for covered foundations reporting on their own top staff and board members diversity, not only by race and ethnicity, but also by gender and sexual orientation. Can and should public policy affect the composition of foundations’ … Read more