A Reflection on What Can Funders Learn From Black Lives Matter

Submitted by Carmen Graciela Díaz on July 13, 2020

In a recent piece, Gary Stewart reflects on Forbes on Black Lives Matters and the importance impact investment and foundations operating within the scope of program related investments can have in this moment.

"As an entrepreneur," Stewart says, "I believe religiously that change is inevitable, but it will probably require more than a few marches with people of all colours holding hands and shouting 'black lives matter.' Celebrating this historic, symbolic moment doesn’t absolve us from asking the hard questions":

Will mostly White investors finally start to fund Black and Brown entrepreneurs, without reverting to the very same unconscious biases that caused the tragedies they are now bemoaning?
Will mostly White foundations that aim to change the world begin to look outside of their segregated circles and fund Black and Brown social entrepreneurs to solve problems in their communities?
Will the mostly White CEOs of tech companies, who are now railing against racism, remember to look at whether their own HR track records reflect certain assumptions about who is worthy and who is not?