Racial equity

Special Collection

Racial equity can be defined as "the condition that would be achieved if one's race identity no longer influenced how one fares." (from "Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture" by Equity in the Center). This collection focuses on racial equity and also includes works that explore the larger diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework. Our aim is to raise awareness about funding for racial equity efforts as well as activities in the social sector meant to realize racial equity. The collection is part of Candid's Funding for racial equity special issue website.

More ways to engage:
- Add your organization's content to this collection.
- Send us content recommendations.
- Easily share this collection on your website or app.

Search this collection

Clear all

176 results found

reorder grid_view

Reimagining Capacity Building: Navigating Culture, Systems & Power

October 20, 2021

With racial equity becoming more and more central to the work of grantmakers, in this guide GEO explores how considerations related to racial equity can apply to the full range of grantmakers' capacity-building efforts — everything from financial management to human resources to leadership development. Advancing racial equity in philanthropy, of course, calls for a systemic response that extends beyond capacity-building practices. At the same time, given the prevalence and importance of capacity-building initiatives within the GEO community, it behooves us to take a specific and critical look at how we can make the practice of capacity building more racially equitable — and ideally apply these principles more broadly to our work within the sector. Of note, this guide does not focus on equally important and related efforts on racial equity capacity building — in other words, the training and activities organizations participate in to deepen their understanding of racial equity itself.

Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice

October 16, 2021

Mismatched: Philanthropy's Response to the Call for Racial Justice is the most comprehensive assessment of racial equity and racial justice funding to date, providing a detailed analysis of funding from 2015–2018 and a preliminary analysis for 2020. Written by Malkia Devich Cyril, Lyle Matthew Kan, Ben Francisco Maulbeck, and Lori Villarosa, the report examines trends, contradictions, and divergences in funding for both racial equity and racial justice work.

Beyond Inclusion: The Critical Role of People of Color in the U.S. Documentary Ecosystem

October 15, 2021

Drawing from a dataset of nearly 200 organizations, Beyond Inclusion details the key functions and activities of these organizations today, which range from supporting the artists (providing equipment and training, resources, and networking opportunities), to distributing the works of filmmakers of color to audiences of color, to funding.The report's recommendations to funders include investing in POC-led organizations with clear plans and commitments to nurture POC authorship, audiences, and careers as well as film production models and practices with a higher standard of ethics and accountability in the creation, funding and distribution of documentaries.The report concludes that a generational investment in POC infrastructure is necessary to both shore up legacy organizations that have worked with minimal resources for decades as well as dynamic new organizations and networks that have emerged in the last ten years. These players constitute a powerful ecosystem that -- if properly resourced -- can be a significant force in transforming the documentary landscape toward one that is more inclusive, ethically grounded and sustainable, and that ultimately is a more powerful force for social change.

Family Surveillance by Algorithm: The Rapidly Spreading Tools Few Have Heard Of

September 29, 2021

The latest reckoning with structural racism in the United States has involved critical reflection on the role of the criminal justice system, education policy, and housing practices in perpetuating racial inequity. But another area long overdue for collective reexamination is the child welfare system and the algorithms working behind the scenes. That's why the ACLU has conducted a nationwide survey to learn more about these tools.This report examines how many jurisdictions across the 50 states, D.C. and U.S. territories are using one category of predictive analytics tools: models that systematically use data collected by jurisdictions' public agencies to attempt to predict the likelihood that a child in a given situation or location will be maltreated.

Incorporating Racial Equity and Inclusion into Communication Strategy

September 23, 2021

Marga Incorporated provides strategic advice and research to philanthropic initiatives and community partnerships. Marga's Race and Equity in Philanthropy Group (REPG), created in 2006, brings together foundations that are committed to improving their ability to effectively promote racial equity and inclusion in their policies, systems, and practices. Through peer learning, member foundations are able to incorporate new ideas and practices into their institutional efforts, which can lead to transformative change. This paper provides concrete examples of how REPG member foundations are strategically communicating their commitment to racial equity and inclusion both internally and externally. Eight foundations from REPG's membership were interviewed to develop the profiles featured in the paper.

From Seed to Harvest: A Toolkit for Collaborative Racial Equity Strategies

September 14, 2021

This tool is meant to guide racial equity practices in the creation and assessment of sustainability and renewable energy policies and programs. It offers a framework and systematic process to build cultures of accountability and work towards racial equity outcomes in decision-making. Lastly, it provides a tangible pathway for an ecosystem approach to operationalizing collective racial equity values.

Connecticut Town Equity Reports

September 9, 2021

This series of reports is designed to inform local-level efforts to improve community well-being and racial equity. These reports disaggregate data from the 2020 Census, American Community Survey microdata files, DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey record-level files, and other federal and state sources to create relevant town-level information that is not typically available from standard public databases.DataHaven has published a town equity report for all 169 towns in Connecticut. We have also created these reports on request for custom-defined geographic regions, such as agency service areas.

Leveraging Fiscal Sponsorship For Racial Equity

September 1, 2021

Leveraging Fiscal Sponsorship for Racial Equity complements previous research and provides recommendations for how fiscal sponsors, both as individual organizations and as a field, might address the needs of grassroots groups by leveraging their assets, skills, resources, expertise and networks. As such, we hope the recommendations in this report are useful to fiscal sponsors — especially those for whom fiscal sponsorship is their primary purpose, with resources and relationships that can be leveraged to implement and sustain the recommendations within.We hope these recommendations also resonate with the staff and leaders of grassroots racial equity groups, whose perspectives and needs were prioritized in this research; and with fiscal sponsors who are rooted in equity and have the practices and community relationships to best meet the needs of grassroots groups. The people and communities most impacted by racial inequity have long led work toward equity and justice, and it is the position of our organizations and of this report that supporting racial equity requires centering and amplifying their leadership, experience, and expertise.

Everyday Donors of Color: Diverse Philanthropy During Times of Change

August 25, 2021

The findings of this research demonstrate expanded philanthropic support from individual donors for racial and social justice causes in 2020. The research also found that while donors of color led this growth, they are also beginning to drive a shift in the sources of influence that have historically shaped the charitable community's approach to racial and social justice giving. The report incorporates data from a national survey of 1,535 households, insights from focus groups with diverse donors, and an analysis of case studies on the impact of mutual aid.

Centering Racial Equity in Measurement and Evaluation: Emerging Lessons and Guidance from Human Services Nonprofits

July 21, 2021

Many nonprofit organizations that provide direct human services are exploring how racial equity and inclusion (REI) and performance measurement collectively inform decision-making and strategies that affect their core mission. Human service nonprofits often hold an explicit charge to increase the well-being of people who have been disempowered, disadvantaged, and systematically oppressed. Starting from this mission orientation, organizations can benefit from guidance, outlined in this report, on operationalizing racial equity values within their measurement and evaluation work and acknowledging the systemic barriers that influence client outcomes.

Black Education in the Wake of COVID-19 and Systemic Racism: Toward a Theory of Change and Action

July 20, 2021

This report presents findings from a research study the Black Education Research Collective (BERC) conducted to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism have impacted Black education from the perspectives of Black parents, teachers, students, educators, and community leaders. Findings underscored the historical and systemic nature of trauma in Black communities as a result of racism in U.S. institutions, including schools and school systems. Participants expressed concern over the fact that schools are ill-equipped to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of their children and that COVID-19 and increasing racial violence have revealed further their lack of capacity or willingness to meet the educational needs of Black students or expectations of Black parents.

Moving from Intention to Impact: Funding Racial Equity to Win

July 15, 2021

This joint PolicyLink-Bridgespan analysis says funders are a key part of the racial equity ecosystem: to benefit the entire nation they should both be transparent in reporting where grants go and fund what movement leaders say is needed to achieve enduring change.