Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We Have the Answers We Need

   Culture, Equity, and Cities (1.5Mb)

Have you ever begun to just notice something and then suddenly you see it everywhere. Then you wonder, have I been out of it, or did this just become a thing?”

Not only in the United States these political times are divisive. But, as Hilary Pearson, president of Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) says, "funders of civil society organizations can risk more to work with them to support experiments, pilots, new ways to figure out and test approaches and to reinforce inclusion and engagement."

The leadership of America’s nonprofit sector isn’t very diverse, as American Nonprofit Academy emphasizes, but among other organizations working to change that reality is the African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI).

A discussion tool to encourage racial equity in the review and selection process of artists and arts organizations was recently launched to interrogate and apply a racial equity lens to every step of the grantmaking process.

The University of Southern California’s (USC) Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and Time’s Up collaborated back in June to examine the scarcity of critics of color in film journalism and its impact on which movies reach the top. Three months later, in September, the initiative continued to explore the issue in “Critic’s Choice 2,” a follow-up report created with the Time’s Up initiative’s entertainment arm.

The largest philanthropic organization serving American Indians, the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF), was recently established from a landmark 2010 civil rights settlement in which the U.S. government agreed to pay for almost 20 years of official discrimination, reported The Washington Post.

Last November, the Walton Family Foundation and Ford Foundation announced they committed $6 million over three years to support creative solutions to diversify curatorial and management staff at art museums across the United States.

In light of challenging times, Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, examines the role of the courageous leader and the power to make change happen within the philanthropic field and our own culture.