Racial Equity
Wells Fargo pledges $400 million to small business recovery effort
The company's Open for Business Fund will support nonprofits working to provide capital and technical assistance to small businesses, with a focus on minority-owned enterprises....
'Loving Cities Index' finds disparities in support for student success
A report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education examines indicators of support in ten U.S. cities with large numbers of low-income children and children of color....
Stephen Ross pledges $13 million to help end racism through sports
RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) will use the gift from founder and board co-chair Stephen M. Ross to advance its mission to empower the sports community "to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice, and improve race relations"....
LeMoyne-Owen College receives $40 million endowment
The unrestricted gift is the largest in the school's history and one of the largest ever to an historically black college or university....
Twin Cities Rebuild for the Future Fund awards $2.5 million
Grants awarded through the fund will provide emergency support for small businesses owned by Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color in areas most affected by the unrest following the murder of George Floyd....
California foundations call for addressing state's racial inequities
In an open letter to Californians, the leaders of more than thirty California-based grantmakers call for "bold steps to ensure a future based on economic inclusion, racial equity, and compassionate humanity"....
Morgan Stanley awards $10 million to National Urban League
The funding will support the organization's Urban Empowerment Fund, credit union, and financial literacy and homeowner counseling programs; its workforce development program; and an internship program for rising leaders....
Akonadi Foundation launches $12.5 million youth justice initiative
The All In for Oakland initiative will partner with organizations to dismantle systems of punishment and criminalization in the Bay Area that harm African-American youth and youth of color....
Netflix to invest up to $100 million in Black community development
The media distribution company will allocate 2 percent of its cash holdings to financial institutions and organizations that directly support Black communities, including $25 million to LISC and $10 million to Hope Credit Union....
Robin Hood launches fund for nonprofits led by people of color
The Power Fund will work to catalyze a shift among business and philanthropic leaders, encouraging them to support smaller nonprofits led by people of color that are working to address poverty and racial injustice....
Mellon Foundation commits $5.25 million for prison libraries
A partnership with Yale Law School's Justice Collaboratory, the Million Book Project will provide a curated five-hundred-book collection to a thousand medium- and maximum-security prisons and juvenile detention centers in every state, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia....
Clark Foundation awards $27 million for pediatric, maternal health
The grant to MedStar Health will support the D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms initiative, a collaboration of four clinical programs aimed at addressing high mortality rates among mothers and children in the national capital region....
Report calls on funders to support culture change for social justice
A report from a collaborative working to raise up the role of artists in culture change urges funders interested in advancing social justice to invest in "artist disruptors" whose work exposes systems of oppression and domination....
Salesforce commits $410 million for racial equality and justice
The commitment includes $200 million in philanthropic support and a million volunteer hours over the next five years for organizations working to advance racial equality and justice and $10 million in support of Tableau Software’s Racial Justice Data Initiative....
Funder collaborative for a just, sustainable global economy launched
An initiative of Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE), partners in the Response and Vision Fund include Fundación Avina, Humanity United, Omidyar Network, the SAGE Fund, True Costs Initiative, the Wallace Global Fund, the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and the Ford, Laudes, and Open Society foundations....
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to focus grantmaking on social justice
Two years in the making, the strategic shift includes a revised mission statement that emphasizes the foundation's ambition "to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking where ideas and imagination can thrive"....
Microsoft commits $20 million for global digital skills initiative
Combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft, the initiative aims to provide twenty-five million people with the digital job skills needed for success in a post-COVID economy....
Independent Sector announces 2020 American Express NGen Fellows
The program annually selects twelve charitable sector leaders age 40 and under to engage in professional development training aimed at honing their leadership skills and growing their influence....
Kaiser Permanente, LISC to invest $60 million to promote equity
With the goal of providing flexible, lower-cost financing to women- and minority-led businesses, Kaiser Permanente and LISC are each committing $30 million in capital for inclusive economic development in low-wealth communities....
