A Potential Storm Could be Brewing in Spaces I Occupied

As a grantmaker working to advance equity, did I do something that is possibly going to be deemed illegal?

For five years, I implemented a racial equity funding initiative to support leaders of color who provided programs and services for communities of color in LGBTQ+ spaces. 

I am anxiously watching for the upcoming results of the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case focused on grantmaking that aims to support communities of color. 

From the The Chronicle of Philanthropy today: 

"The American Alliance for Equal Rights argues that the Fearless Fund Management, LLC, an Atlanta venture-capital fund, and its associated philanthropy, the Fearless Fund Foundation, discriminated against applicants from other racial groups by offering a $20,000 grant program exclusively to Black women."

In response, many groups understandably signed on with amicus briefs.

"...Philanthropy leaders including Akilah Watkins, president of Independent Sector, have complained that the summer’s Supreme Court decision has had a 'chilling effect' on grant making that aims to achieve racial equity. Most grant makers have continued their support, she said, but some have started to target their grants to grantees serving people in certain ZIP codes or of certain income levels, which can be used as proxies for race.

Doing so, she said, ignores the reality of racial discrimination.

“When we embed the challenges of a race within economic proxies or social proxies, it doesn’t allow us to have a more full and robust conversation about a particular group’s historical and contemporary structural barriers,” she said. “It changes the conversation.”

Here's the article link https://lnkd.in/ewtrBaUT and inbox me linkedin.com/in/perrymonasterofor a PDF