As rights come under attack, philanthropists of color are showing the way
Published in Fortune | By Swatee Deepak and Tynesha McHarris
Abortion rights demonstrators hold signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on June 24. | YASIN OZTURK—ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
As Roe v. Wade falls, women across the U.S. will turn to grassroots organizations, including those led by Black women, to fill gaps in reproductive health care.
These groups have already been busy responding to tightening state-level restrictions and helping women with the sometimes overwhelming costs and logistical obstacles in accessing abortion. This is not surprising: Around the world, grassroots women’s movements are the first responders when rights are threatened.
Those most impacted by injustices are best placed to drive solutions. You might think that this would make grassroots movements a main focus of philanthropic foundations and donors that pledge to support gender, racial and economic equality. Unfortunately, that’s not how the philanthropic industry usually works.
Less than one percent of total foundation funding is estimated to flow to feminist movements. Philanthropy today is a professionalized sector rife with made-up rules and practices that undermine its ability to accelerate social change. Small, newly formed, and informal groups struggle to access resources as they come up against the terms of funder restrictions and systems that can seem impenetrable or too time-consuming.
But a growing number of donors of color are changing how philanthropy works–and who it works for. Take Rihanna’s philanthropic organization, the Clara Lionel Foundation. When it announced new money for climate justice work this year, it said it would specifically prioritize funding for movements led by Black feminists, Indigenous people, and other marginalized groups working at the grassroots.
Actor Idris Elba’s Survivor Solidarity Fund also funds grassroots feminist organizations to support survivors of sexual violence. Indian author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani’s foundation supports numerous local and grassroots groups and campaigns to strengthen democracy, governance, and human rights.
In the Middle East, a private family foundation that one of us worked for gave unrestricted funding to grassroots and locally led organizations around the world. It involved adolescent girls around the world in funding decisions and moved resources to both officially registered and unregistered groups and movements.
While the large-scale philanthropy industry is largely white, there are cultures of giving around the world. In fact, many people in the Global South donate a higher share of their wealth than those in the Global North, according to the World Giving Index. There is also a growing number of High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) of color in the U.S., Europe, and internationally–and they are giving in different ways.
Their unique perspectives on philanthropy, wealth, and social change were reflected in a 2022 report from the Donors of Color network in the U.S. It found that most HNWIs of color have experienced a change in class status during their own lives. They were not born rich and still have close ties to their communities.
Donors of color have their own experiences of systemic inequalities, racism, and colonialism. They may have faced discrimination in their own lives and careers–and within philanthropic spaces too. They are seen as different. And they are, different and unique, in new, exciting ways. Their perspectives can help make giving more effective for social change–exactly what is needed as hard-won human rights around the world continue to face rollbacks and increasing threats.
We also heard how such lived experiences inform non-white philanthropy while speaking with donors of color and their advisors for a new report from Shake the Table (a group that connects feminist movements and philanthropists, of which we are founding members) and the U.S. non-profit consultancy group Bridgespan.
From Africa to Asia, and throughout diaspora communities in Europe and North America, the wealthy individuals we spoke to articulated complex understandings of social issues despite their positions of privilege. They expressed seeing the unfair consequences of prevailing systems even if they have benefited from them personally.
Rooted in community, they emphasized long-term commitments to change, and beliefs that philanthropy should be based on trust and dialogue with the people on the frontline. These communities are not “victims” but have the solutions and power to create change. The wisdom of communities of color on how change happens should come to the fore.
Our report calls for at least an extra $1.5bn a year to be invested in feminist movements that are on the frontlines of resisting the attacks on rights. These critical accelerators of social change are chronically underfunded. Our demand is also for money to be moved differently–and with fewer hoops to jump through, strings attached to funding, and onerous reporting requirements.
In the U.S., feminist movements have been fighting to defend abortion rights for decades, long before the current attack on Roe vs. Wade–and they won’t stop now that it's overturned. Meanwhile, feminist movements in Mexico and Argentina have been critical to recent gains in reproductive rights in those countries.
Such movements need funders who will support their leaders and give them space so that they can be creative. They need core funding for a long period of time.
It is now more vital than ever that these movements get the resources they need–and donors of color are showing how philanthropy must change. Historically overlooked, they are building their own networks, learning from past practices, and making their giving unique. They are models for all funders to follow.
Swatee Deepak is a British-Indian philanthropic advisor, practitioner-in-residence at the London School of Economics’ Marshall Institute, and board member of EMpower-The Emerging Markets Foundation and Global Fund for Children. Tynesha McHarris is the principal at Black Harvest, a Black feminist consulting firm, and co-founder of the Black Feminist Fund supporting racial and gender justice.