When we released Grantmaking with a Racial Equity Lens, the original guide produced in partnership between PRE and GrantCraft, a small number of foundations had made racial equity a major focus of their work, but it was still common to have funders thinking colorblindness or universal approaches was the ideal and then others were only focusing on diversity and inclusion.
In the 13 years since that guide was developed, the country’s political, economic, and cultural landscapes have undergone multiple, dramatic changes. Public engagement and organizing against racism has risen to historic levels, driven by the contributions of organizers, communicators, journalists, scholars, and artists. There has been significant growth in the number of foundations integrating a racial analysis into their work.
We have learned a lot from those experiences, but we also face a rapidly changing and alarming set of conditions. And we know from our own research and data that the overarching giving to communities of color and POC-led work is still incredibly low. Funders who care about racial and social justice face urgent new responsibilities, yet also have more tools and the racial justice movement has greater capacity than ever.
With recognition of the complexity of these shifts and the evolution of the work, PRE has published Grantmakingwith a Racial Justice Lens: A Practical Guide, to help foundation leaders understand what it means to move from racial equity to racial justice funding strategies, co-written by PRE Senior Fellow Rinku Sen & Executive Director Lori Villarosa. It also addresses how to align operational practices to both reduce racial inequity and advance racial justice, with a chapter on selecting the right tools and consultants written by Maggie Potapchuk.
The guide centers what racial justice activists want funders to know and includes experienced funders’ stories and how-to tips on advancing foundation practices to achieve racial justice. This includes responding to resistance; resourcing in ways that builds power, tackles anti-Black racism and white supremacy; correcting the course of some problematic trends; and more.
Grantmaking with a Racial Justice Lens can be downloaded for free here.