Ferguson October Report

News type: 
News from the Field
In support of the growing momentum across many philanthropic spaces, NFG reached out to four organizations deeply involved in Ferguson October for their viewpoint on the weekend of actions, this moment in organizing, what lies ahead, and what the critical resource needs are right now. What we received were accounts of the tremendously brave and incredibly creative organizing happening right now – and specific ways that philanthropy can be in solidarity through increased resources. Read the report.

Democratic Development for Thriving Communities Report

Resource type: 
NFG Report
Mon, June 12, 2017

The Democratic Development for Thriving Communities: Framing the Issues, Solutions, and Funding Strategies to Address Gentrification and Displacement report is the result of collaboration between the California Funders Working Group on Gentrification and Displacement , field leaders, and academics. It builds on previous work from the philanthropic, academic, and...

The Beat is (Back) On! Labor Reporting Reemerges

Event type: 
Webinar
Friday, May 3, 2013
Webinar
Join the NFG Working Group on Labor and Community Partnerships for a discussion about labor journalism today. Cosponsored by the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders and the Ms. Foundation for Women. Where NFG Teleconference Series Call When May 03 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Most major news outlets have a blind spot when it comes to labor and the working people. Once upon a time, it was common for newspapers to cover strikes and workplace issues. Now, only two major print dailies have a dedicated labor beat, and no TV network has a labor reporter at all...
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Topic: 
Future of Work
Workers' Rights

Police in Ferguson committed human rights abuses: Amnesty report

News type: 
News from the Field
By Carey Gillam , Reuters. October 24, 2014. (Reuters) - Police in Ferguson, Missouri, committed human rights abuses as they sought to quell mostly peaceful protests that erupted after an officer killed an unarmed black teenager, an international human rights organization said in a report released on Friday. The Amnesty International report said law enforcement officers should be investigated by U.S. authorities for the abuses, which occurred during weeks of racially charged protests that erupted after white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

Obama Calls for Changes in Policing After Task Force Report

News type: 
News from the Field
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, The New York Times March 2, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday called for prompt action to change police practices across the country after the deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island at the hands of white officers exposed frustrations about law enforcement in minority communities. Mr. Obama, unveiling the recommendations of a White House task force created in the wake of the killings, said local law enforcement agencies should consider requiring independent criminal investigations and independent prosecutors in cases where the use...

Ferguson Commission Report Examines Issues Behind Mike Brown Uprising, Proposes Action

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Mon, September 14, 2015
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]by Kenrya Rankin Naasel, ColorLines Mon, Sep 14, 2015 Today, the Ferguson Commission—a group of regional leaders assembled...

Building a Beloved Community: Strengthening the Field of Black Male Achievement

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Tue, May 13, 2014
Building a Beloved Community: Strengthening the Field of Black Male Achievement is a newly released report that maps the landscape of work in the area of black male achievement and offers recommendations for what it will take to strengthen the field moving forward. Based on interviews with 50 leaders in the social, academic, government, and business sectors, the report takes stock of the major sectors engaged in the field and examines opportunities for other constituencies to become more involved. Read the report. Via:...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice

Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Tue, March 01, 2016
Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People documents how pervasive stigma and discrimination, biased enforcement of laws, and discriminatory policing strategies mean that LGBT people are disproportionately likely to interact with law enforcement and to have their lives criminalized. LGBT people are also treated unfairly once they enter the system; the report shows how they overrepresented in jails and prisons and face abuse while incarcerated. Finally, the report sheds light on the fact that LGBT...
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Topic: 
Criminalization
Gender Justice

California Funders’ Convening on Gentrification and Displacement

Resource type: 
Event Recap
Thu, December 03, 2015

On July 20, 2015, NFG partnered with the California Endowment, Ford Foundation, Common Counsel Foundation, and Smart Growth California to convene a day-long meeting for 70 funders and practitioners working on gentrification and displacement issues in California.

Our goal was to deepen a shared understanding of the problems and solutions to the crisis of displacement affecting residents and small businesses in many cities in California due to gentrification. We also sought to lay the foundation for potential alignment on strategies addressing these issues.

We developed a...

Press Release from Amnesty International

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Fri, October 24, 2014
Amnesty International , October 24, 2014. Following the initial protests in Ferguson, Missouri sparked by the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, Amnesty International USA dispatched a human rights delegation which included observers to monitor the protests and police response. Today, the human rights organization has released a new report, On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson ,documenting the human rights concerns witnessed...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

And Still I Rise/#BlackWorkersMatter

Event type: 
Webinar
Monday, May 11, 2015
Webinar
... your chance to hear directly from the authors of the reports featured via webinar: Highlights, Recommendations, ... from the And Still I Rise/#BlackWorkersMatter Reports Marc Bayard, Sean Thomas-Breitfeld, and Kimberly ... Sean Thomas-Breitfeld. If you have a moment, read the reports in advance! And Still I Rise/#BlackWorkersMatter ...

Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in Our Communities

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Fri, May 05, 2017

On July 5, The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), Law for Black Lives , Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), and over 25 affiliates and allies released a new report examining the budgets of 12 city and county governments that reveals the extent to which local jurisdictions pour money into policing and incarceration, at the expense of community safety priorities such as infrastructure and social safety net programs.

The report,...

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Topic: 
Community Safety & Justice

The $3.4 Trillion Mistake: The Cost of Mass Incarceration and Criminalization, and How Justice Reinvestment Can Build a Better Future for All

Resource type: 
Partner Resource

Communities United , Make the Road New York , and Padres & Jóvenes Unidos have just released a new report, The $3.4 Trillion Mistake: The Cost of Mass Incarceration and Criminalization, and How Justice Reinvestment Can Build a Better Future for All , detailing how the U.S.’s misguided criminal justice policies wasted $3.4 trillion over the last three decades that could have instead been used to more...

Embattled Ferguson police chief resigns

News type: 
News from the Field
CBSnews.com Last Updated Mar 11, 2015 9:40 PM EDT Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson resigned his position Wednesday, a high-ranking city official confirmed to CBS News. The development comes a week after a Department of Justice report heavily criticized the Ferguson police department for bias against African American citizens. The report charged that police disproportionately use excessive force against blacks and that black drivers are stopped and searched far more often than white motorists, even though they're less likely to be carrying contraband. © 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights...

L.A. RISING: The 1992 Civil Unrest, the Arc of Social Justice Organizing, and the Lessons for Today’s Movement Building

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Sat, April 28, 2012
By Manuel Pastor and Michele Prichard , April 2014. “This report is our attempt to unravel at least part of the story. It is a long and complicated tale, which partly explains the many pages we take to tell it. Even at this length (and the full report on which this summary is based is even longer), our telling is necessarily incomplete. There were so many actors, so many turning points, and so many skirmishes in the fight for justice. But we try to capture parts of the puzzle, offering key lessons to activists, social movement observers, and funders from our review of the...
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Topic: 
Community Power-Building

Making Change: How Social Movements Work - and How to Support Them

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Mon, November 07, 2016
Making Change: How Social Movements Work - and How to Support Them by Manuel Pastor and Rhonda Ortiz, originally published in March 2009 Social movements are a hidden underpinning of the American story. Using the tools of relationship building, community mobilization, and symbolic protest, they have helped bring us civil rights, labor protections, and even a healthier environment, sparking people’s aspirations, imaginations, and actions for a better nation. This document seeks to provide a guidepost to both funders and the field by detailing what makes for a successful social movement, what...

New Southern Strategies: Employment, Workers' Rights and the Prospects for Regional Resurgence

Resource type: 
NFG Report
Tue, October 03, 2017

What will it take to win successful economic justice campaigns in the South? With many families facing chronically low wages and economic insecurity, an understanding and attention to the political economy of the South can help funders and field organizations develop successful intervention strategies.

The New Southern Strategies: Employment, Workers’ Rights...

Transnational Workers Rights: Emerging Strategies from the Global North and South

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Wed, April 15, 2015

This report was commissioned by the Society for Labour and Development (based in India), the Project of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ProDESC, based in Mexico), and the National Guestworkers Alliance, three labor rights organizations developing transnational strategies for organizing workers in low-wage industries. Economic globalization has created new strains on labor forces and communities, and the increasing mobility of capital (and with it the threat of exit, disinvestment, and job loss) poses unique challenges to traditional models of labor organizing.

The substantial...

Police Reform Organizers Pitch Net Neutrality To FCC

News type: 
News from the Field
by Matt Sledge, Huffington Post. January 9, 2015. Police reform organizers traveled to Capitol Hill and the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to push for open access to the Internet, which they say is an increasingly vital organizing tool in the wake of the controversial deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. The delegation met with black members of Congress including Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). They also met with one commissioner and staffers from the FCC, which will decide in February whether to classify broadband Internet as a public utility, a step...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Economic Justice

Leveraging Limited Dollars: How Grantmakers Achieve Tangible Results by Funding Policy and Community Engagement

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Sat, January 28, 2012
By Lisa Ranghelli, January 2012. This report distills findings from more than 400 pages of research amassed over three years as part of NCRP’s Grantmaking for Community Impact Project (GCIP). The project documented $26.6 billion in benefits for taxpayers and communities in 13 states, and found that every dollar grantmakers and other donors invested in policy and civic engagement provided a return of $115 in community benefit ...read more.
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

Expanding Sanctuary: What Makes a City a Sanctuary Now?

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Mon, March 13, 2017
Expanding Sanctuary: What Makes a City a Sanctuary Now? The term “sanctuary” most recently refers to local policies that limit when and if local law enforcement communicates with, or submits to, (often unconstitutional) requests from federal immigration agents. But in a country where over-policing results in 1 in 3 people being arrested at least once by the age of 23, during a time when evolving technology places fingerprint scanners in the palm of every law enforcement officers’ hand, and as we anticipate the growth in federal...
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Topic: 
Criminalization

Thoughts on Ferguson

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Mon, September 08, 2014
by Alicia Walters, Movement Building Coordinator, Forward Together Originally published on Beyond the Picket Fence: The Strong Families Blog . On August 9th, 2014, unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In the weeks after his death, protests ensued and a national dialogue began about police brutality, the over policing of communities of color, the militarization of our police forces, and the right to...

Democratic Development for Thriving Communities: Framing the Issues, Solutions, and Funding Strategies to Address Gentrification and Displacement

Resource type: 
NFG Report
Wed, May 31, 2017

The Democratic Development for Thriving Communities report is the result of collaboration between the California Funders Working Group on Gentrification and Displacement , field leaders, and academics. It builds on previous work from the philanthropic, academic, and organizing sectors to present a framework for philanthropy to consider in strategically addressing gentrification and displacement.

...

#SayHerName: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women

News type: 
News from the Field
Sandra Bland, the 28-year old Black woman from Naperville, Illinois who was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop in Waller County, Texas on July 10 and was found dead in a jail cell three days later, is the latest victim of police brutality against African American women, says Columbia Law School Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a leading authority on how law and society are shaped by race and gender. In honor of Bland, and to continue to call attention to violence against Black women in the U.S., the African American Policy Forum, the Center for...

Project Phoenix Outcomes and Evaluation

Resource type: 
NFG Report
Wed, March 08, 2017

Project Phoenix: Connecting Democracy, Economy, and Sustainability was a year-long cohort collective learning program for funders exploring fronts ranging from local economies and climate justice to worker co-ops under the frame of a “just transition” or “solidarity economy” or “economic resiliency” or “new economy.” Learn more about it here.

What emerged from our year of learning together? What paths have we found for cross-sector philanthropic engagement around a broad set of interventions that are commensurate to...

Native Voices Rising: A Case for Funding Native-led Change

Resource type: 
Member Publication
Mon, June 10, 2013

This is a pivotal time in Native America. Opportunities are opening up as the result of improving economic standards, higher levels of educational attainment, and better health outcomes in certain regions; however, many of the challenges that have long faced our population still persist. For every major challenge and issue there are also efforts to make positive changes.

Native Voices Rising is a joint research and re-granting project of Native Americans in Philanthropy and Common...

CPR Statement re: Deaths of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu & Rafael Ramos

News type: 
News from the Field
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DECEMBER 20, 2014 Communities United for Police Reform released the following statement tonight on the deaths of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos: “Today, it was reported that two NYPD officers were killed by a man who earlier in the day seriously injured a young woman in Baltimore, and who killed himself after shooting the officers. We express our condolences to the families of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, as well as to the woman reported to be his former girlfriend who was shot earlier today. “As the details of today’s shootings...
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Topic: 
Community Safety & Justice

Governance, Participatory Budgeting and Grantmaking

Event type: 
Webinar
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Webinar
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 TIME: 11:00 - 12:30 pm PST / 12:00 - 1:30 pm MST / 1:00 - 2:30 pm CST / 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST This Neighborhood Funders Group webinar will examine democratic and participatory models where community stakeholders help decide how public and philanthropic resources should be allocated. We will explore different ways participatory resource sharing can deepen democracy, form stronger communities, and build trust. Our discussion will also examine equitable and effective ways funders and community partners can collaborate. Speakers...

New Southern Strategies Webinar: Employment, Workers’ Rights and the Prospects for Regional Resurgence

Event type: 
Other
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Webinar
What will it take to win successful economic justice campaigns in the South? With many families facing chronically low wages and economic insecurity, an understanding and attention to the political economy of the South can help funders and field organizations develop successful intervention strategies. The New Southern Strategies: Employment, Workers’ Rights and the Prospects for Regional Resurgence report assesses economic indicators affecting quality of life in the South and examines corporate strategies that are driving these changes. It presents some of the efforts...
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Topic: 
Workers' Rights
Program: 
Funders for a Just Economy

Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Tue, November 24, 2015
Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families proves that the costs of locking up millions of people is much deeper than we think. Locking up individuals also breaks apart their families and communities, saddles them with overwhelming debt, and leads to mental and physical ailments. The situation is dire, but a better approach is possible. Executive Summary: Each year, the United States spends $80 billion 1 to lock away more than 2.4 million...

Cuomo Appointed A Special Prosecutor For New York Killings Involving Police

News type: 
News from the Field
by Christopher Mathias, Huffington Post New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order Wednesday appointing a special prosecutor to handle cases involving civilians who die at the hands of police. "We have seen this all across the country where there's a lack of trust in the criminal justice system, triggered by a particular case," Cuomo had told reporters on Tuesday, according to Capital New York . "And the basic argument is always the same. That they don't trust the prosecution because of the connections with the police. And a criminal justice system doesn't work without trust."...

Timeline of Race, Racism, Resistance and Philanthropy 1992-2014

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Sat, May 31, 2014

By Larry Raphael Salomon, Julie Quiroz, Maggie Potapchuk and Lori Villarosa

This historical timeline attempts to capture, in one place, many significant moments, events, controversies and victories that have defined the racial landscape since the turbulent days following the LAPD/Rodney King beating verdict over two decades ago. When communities in Los Angeles rebelled, "race riots" exploded the commonly held myth that our nation had progressed from the explicitly unjust conditions that had defined earlier generations. And in the decades since, the...

California Funders Working Group on Gentrification and Displacement

News type: 
NFG News
Release Date: 
10/12/2016
The California Funders Working Group on Gentrification and Displacement (CA FWGGD) is a working group of funders committed to addressing gentrification and displacement issues in California and nationally. It is now moving into a new phase of work that will result in the creation and capitalization of a collaborative fund. The fund is being designed in consultation with community leaders to advance racial and economic equity and community health in California’s cities, with a focus on supporting community-driven policy solutions to the crisis of gentrification and displacement while...

VICTORY: HUD Program Changes to Reduce Foreclosures and Increase Affordable Housing

News type: 
News from the Field
Release Date: 
04/30/2015
April 24, 2015 - Exciting news from our partners at Right to the City, Center for Popular Democracy, and Alliance for Community Empowerment: Following a six month campaign led by the community groups working with the Right to the City Alliance (RTC) and the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) of HUD announced significant changes to the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP). Following the changes announced today, the DASP’s new plan will include: A commitment to selling more loans through special pools that require investors to achieve a certain...

USHRN Statement on the State of Emergency of Anti-Trans Hate Violence

News type: 
News from the Field
August 21, 2015 The US Human Rights Network's Coordinating Center extends our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of the 18 transgender women, - primarily women of color, and specifically Black, - whose lives have been taken this year due to hate violence. Along with our members, we raised this issue as a human rights crisis in March and have since seen the numbers increase at an alarming rate. These numbers are likely on the conservative end as they are only the reported cases. When we include Mya Hall, a Black trans woman who was killed by the NSA, the number jumps up to 19...

Response to Ferguson: Systemic Problems Require Systemic Solutions

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Mon, November 24, 2014

Dear friends,

Last night, like many across the world who were watching, we experienced deep disappointment in the decision by the St. Louis County grand jury not to indict Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenage boy, on August 9. Our thoughts are first with the family of Michael Brown and the community of Ferguson. It’s important to note that this case has never been about just one police officer. The spotlight on Ferguson has revealed with a renewed, sharper focus a deep divide in our society highlighting...

Towards a Better Place: A Conversation About Promising Practice in Place-Based Philanthropy

Resource type: 
Event Recap
NFG Report
Fri, March 13, 2015

In response to a resurgence of interest in place-based grantmaking, the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions and Neighborhood Funders Group convened over 100 funders and leaders from the field in September 2014 for Towards a Better Place: A Conversation About Promising Practice in Place-Based Philanthropy. This conference report provides an overview of the discussions that took place at this conference, including:

  • lessons shared by experienced place-based funders;

  • key challenges and

    • ...
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

Recap: 2017 Grantmakers for Southern Progress Spring Convening

Resource type: 
Event Recap
Fri, May 05, 2017

In bayous, hollers, cities, and small towns across the American South, visionary leaders have long pioneered cutting edge, successful strategies to build lasting change in their communities and beyond. These leaders have the skills and expertise necessary to navigate an inclusive way forward for everyone in this era of unprecedented political, economic, and demographic shifts. Yet philanthropy—for reasons both mundane and profound—hasn't kept up. How can Southern and national philanthropists alike change this trend and help advance progress in the region and the nation overall?

...

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Topic: 
Community Power-Building

Grant-making with an Intersectional Lens

Event type: 
Webinar
Thursday, May 24, 2018 -
11:00am - 12:30pm
Webinar
The current economic system and laws were not designed for Black people, indigenous peoples, people of color, women, people who identify as LGBTQI, and migrants to thrive. As we consider the implications of this economic system, and philanthropy as a sector within that system, what will it take to truly integrate a historical and intersectional analysis in our grant-making of the economic policies that have led to systemic poverty, structural racism, and patriarchy in order to resource the movement to shift power and seed change? Over the last few years, Funders for a Just Economy (FJE) has...

Five Things President Obama Could Do to Stop the Killing

News type: 
News from the Field
By Gordon Whitman, Deputy Director, PICO National Network If my son - who is 14 years old, has Autism and is hearing impaired - were African-American I would be worried every time he left the house to walk to school or the library, worried that he'd have a failed encounter with a teacher, school administrator or police officer that would result in him being hurt, psychologically or physically. That anxiety - which I know many parents of African-American and Latino children have - is by no means irrational. Whites bring a host of unthinking stereotypes into their encounters with African-...

Outrage Over Garner and Brown Cases Should Keep Philanthropy Focused on Criminal Justice

News type: 
News from the Field
By Vincent Stehle, The Chronicle of Philanthropy. December 17, 2014 The streets of Ferguson, Mo., New York City, and many other cities across the nation have been overflowing with protests for the past month in reaction to grand-jury decisions not to indict police officers responsible for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The anger and frustration many people feel over those deaths and many others involving the excessive use of force by police is understandable, particularly when it comes to encounters with African-American men and boys. ProPublica, an investigative journalism...

Police Shootings Since Ferguson Put Foundations to the Test

News type: 
Member News
By Drew Lindsay, Chronicle of Philanthropy July 19, 2016 In mid-April, a police-reform task force appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered a handsome 183-page report, its cover adorned with photos of city residents and comforting words about "restoring trust." Yet the words inside carried a stinging condemnation of systemic racism in the city’s law enforcement. A similar message is routinely delivered on the streets of Chicago with more raw power and emotion. Since the November release of video footage showing a police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, protests have...

Solutions Emerging from the Movement for Black Lives

News type: 
News from the Field
By Julie Quiroz, May 13, 2015, Let's Talk: At the Heart of Movement Building , The Movement Strategy Center I am an ally in the movement for Black lives, so social and alternative media are my required reading. It’s there – not in the shamefully racist and sensationalistic corporate media – where I find reporting from the streets and movement perspectives from progressive Black leaders. Even if I’m far away from a particular struggle, social and alternative media help me connect the dots to wherever I am. Whether I’m in the grocery store or at a family barbeque, I need to be grounded and...

Seven Ways That Funders Can Support Racial Justice

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Fri, June 27, 2014
By , Senior Fellow, Movement Strategy Center A few months ago I spoke to Eva Paterson, president of the Equal Justice Society , who described “disturbing trends in some national foundations; a pulling away from race where they seem to be adopting the notion of post-racial America.” “What,” asked Patterson, “is going on?” How far have we come from 1993 when — a year after the LA uprising — “...

The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change

Resource type: 
Member Publication
Mon, March 13, 2017
The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change The Black Social Change Funders (launched by Hill-Snowdon Foundation and ABFE ) presents "The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change" as a charge to inspire sustained commitment to strengthen and expand the infrastructure for Black-led social, institutional and political power in the U.S. The case addresses three interwoven questions:

Why focus on anti-Black racism?...

FFJ Advisor Discussion Series: Kris Hayashi

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
01/14/2019
Hear from Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center and FFJ Field Advisor, about the efforts to seek #JusticeforRoxsana and the horrific conditions trans migrants face, particularly in ICE custody. Click here to participate in a matching gift challenge. #JusticeforRoxsana Six months ago, our government murdered Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman and asylum-seeker from Honduras. Last month we put ICE on notice. On November 26 th, 2018 Transgender Law Center (TLC) and the Law Office of Andrew R. Free announced that we have filed a Notice of Wrongful Death Tort Claim in New...

FFJ Advisor Discussion Series: Jenny Arwade, Interviewed by Manuela Arciniegas

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
11/06/2017
Next up in our discussion series with FFJ ’ s Field Advisors , Manuela Arciniegas (Associate Program Officer at the Andrus Family Fund ) interviews Jenny Arwade (FFJ Field Advisor and Co-Executive Director of Communities United ) . Read the interview below to learn more on how Communities United changing the narrative of reinvestment, leading the charge on invest/divest strategies and campaigns, and developing sustainable leadership at the helm of the social justice movement. What are some of the ways Communities United is providing national leadership in social justice movements?...

FFJ Call Recap: Policing and Criminalization in the Trump Era

Resource type: 
Event Recap
Wed, February 15, 2017

“This is a time for you and for us to be fearless; to find ways and resources to fund organizing and base building.” — Marielena Hincapie, National Immigration Law Center

Over the course of these past few weeks, marginalized communities have been relentlessly targeted and criminalized by the new federal administration. These include immigrants, with an executive order to begin building a wall along the southern...

In Defense Of Black Lives — How NFG's Amplify Fund is Supporting Power Building in Black Communities

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
06/08/2020
Black Lives Matter, today and every day. The Amplify Fund, alongside our colleagues at NFG, stands in solidarity with Black communities as we again find ourselves anguished, angered, and compelled to action in response to the murders of George Floyd and Black people across the U.S. by police. Today we are especially energized by mass protests around the country, and the concrete steps towards defunding the police and investing in community priorities. Today, it is clearer than ever, that defending Black lives requires us all to take...

For Philanthropy, Time to Double Down to End Injustice

News type: 
Member News
For Philanthropy, Time to Double Down to End Injustice January 10, 2017 By Jennifer Buffett, Peter Buffett, and Pamela Shifman of the NoVo Foundation As people across the country prepare for the White House transition next week, foundations and other nonprofits are grappling with the consequences of change for our collective future, especially as we have witnessed how deep a grip misogyny and racism hold over America. With the country’s leadership, priorities, and legislative agenda now in flux, grant makers understandably feel compelled to explore new strategies to fulfill their missions and...

Living Resource Systems: A New Approach for Supporting Movement Networks

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Tue, November 01, 2016
Living Resource Systems: A New Approach for Supporting Movement Networks

article and photo provided by the Movement Net Lab

In tandem with the many movement networks of the last decade, innovative funding channels and configurations have emerged to support them. These changes are part of the shift from foundation-centered funding to a broader conceptualization of resources we call a living resource system . A living resource system provides a relationship-based approach to resources: resources are...

Field & Funder Convening explores strategies to resource transformative solutions to the US housing crisis

Resource type: 
Event Recap
Wed, August 01, 2018

In July 2018, Neighborhood Funders Group and the Right To The City Alliance hosted a Funder & Field Convening alongside the Homes For All Member Assembly in Atlanta, GA. Grantmakers met with grassroots leaders to strategically align and move more resources to support housing justice efforts happening throughout the country. The convening included workshops on investing in long-term narrative shift, a funder tour through Atlanta with the ...

COVID-19 and Indigenous Communities: A Call to Action and Relationship for Philanthropy

Event type: 
Webinar
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 -
10:00am - 11:30am
Webinar
As the philanthropic community takes stock of the impact COVID-19 has on our operations and long-term strategies, we must act now to move resources to communities who are hardest hit by the compounding impacts of this pandemic. California Foodshed Funders, First Nations Development Institute, and Neighborhood Funders Group, with other national co-hosts invite you to join us for a conversation to make visible the people and issues facing Native American communities across the country as they endure this crisis. Taking the lead from our colleagues rooted in Indigenous...

Hundreds Rally for the Right to Refuse Stop and Frisk

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Wed, April 20, 2016

By Kavitha Surana, Bedford & Bowery

April 21, 2016

In 2013 Mayor Bill De Blasio was voted into office with pledges to reign in police violence and stop-and-frisk policing targeted at blacks and latinos. (Remember that emotional video about needing to have stop-and-frisk conversations with his son, Dante?) And since he took office, street-stops have continued on a downward...

From the Front Lines of Ferguson

News type: 
Member News
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"] April 10, 2015 by Terrance Pitts, Program Officer, Open Society Foundations Read the original blog post here. The incident...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

Justice Dept. to investigate NYC chokehold death

News type: 
News from the Field
By Eric Tucker , Associated Press, December 3, 2014. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will conduct a federal investigation into the chokehold death of an unarmed black man after a grand jury in New York City declined to indict the white police officer who applied the move, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday. The investigation will look for potential civil rights investigations in the July 17 death of Eric Garner, 43, who was confronted by the officer on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A video shot by an...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

The long, halting, unfinished fight to end racial profiling in America

News type: 
News from the Field
By Emily Badger Originally published on WashingtonPost.com , December 4, 2014. In his very first address to Congress — in the speech where new presidents first detail their priorities for the nation — George W. Bush devoted a few moments to an unlikely topic: racial profiling. "Too many of our citizens have cause to doubt our nation's justice," he said, "when the law points a finger of suspicion at groups instead of individuals." The issue had, in fact, played into the 2000 election. The national news was full of stories of doctors and lawyers and NFL players stopped for "...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

Third Wave Fund Launches Mobilize Power Fund for Urgent Gender Justice Activism

News type: 
Member News
Third Wave Fund's new Mobilize Power Fund is now accepting proposals ! This fund supports urgent organizing, activism, and mobilization led by young women of color, queer, and transgender youth around the country who lead movements for justice and take on this country's most challenging issues. Mobilize Power Fund The effort to end gender, racial, and economic oppression is long-term, yet there are critical moments that call for quick action. This fund was set up to support grassroots groups who are often the first to respond to issues of state-violence, reproductive...

Weathering the Storm: Building Resilience Against Opposition Attacks

Event type: 
Webinar
Monday, June 29, 2015
Webinar
A Webinar for Funders Hosted by Common Counsel Foundation , Funders' Committee for Civic Participation , Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees , National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy , Neighborhood Funders Group , and Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock Monday, June 29, 2015 10:30am-12:00noon pacific/ 11:30am-1pm mountain/ 12:30-2pm central / 1:30-3pm eastern Speakers Linda Meric, 9to5 Mary Ochs, RoadMap Gihan Perera, Florida New Majority Anna Wadia, Ford Foundation Moderated by...
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

Lifting up Philanthropy Forward Fellows’ Response to Coronavirus

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
05/22/2020
NFG’s Philanthropy Forward fellowship provides dedicated space for CEOs of progressive philanthropic institutions to organize together, a critical effort especially in this profound health and economic crisis due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Check out these timely articles and calls to action from our Fellows that urge philanthropy to pivot, adapt, and transform the sector to focus on community-centered strategies; push for long-term systemic change; and advance justice, equity, and power: Fellows Nicky Goren, President and CEO of Meyer Foundation, and Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat,...

Minneapolis Protestors Occupy Police Precinct, Shut Down Highway After Police Kill Jamar Clark

News type: 
News from the Field
by Kenrya Rankin Naase, ColorLines Tue, Nov 17, 2015 4:59 PM EST On November 15, 2015, at about 1 a.m., Minneapolis police shot Jamar Clark, an unarmed 24-year-old black man. Last night, hundreds of protestors shut down a major highway in a bid for justice. Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau detailed officers’ account of the shooting during a press conference on Sunday. Two officers say they were called to break up a domestic dispute between Clark and his girlfriend, and that he was interfering as EMTs were caring for her. They maintain that Clark struggled with officers and one of them...

Can place-based grantmaking help turn the tide of inequality?

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
03/19/2015
By Dennis Quirin and Steve Patrick Today we see many local communities – urban, suburban and rural - swamped by historic disinvestment and the growing tide of economic and social inequality in our country. Place-based grantmaking can play an important role in turning this tide, but not without addressing the core structural barriers that have produced and propelled it. In local communities, addressing the lived experiences of people who are marginalized by racism, poverty, immigration status, gender discrimination, homophobia and disability will require many funders to retool their approaches...
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

For Love of Humankind: A Call to Action for Southern Philanthropy

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
09/10/2019
Justin Maxson, Executive Director of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, calls on fellow funding organizations based in the South to respond to the federal government's anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies with three concrete actions. This post was originally published here on the foundation's website. Justin was part of the first Philanthropy Forward: Leadership for Change Fellowship cohort, a joint initiative of Neighborhood Funders Group and The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions. The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, which strives to help people and places move out of poverty...

A Multiracial Rural Equity Summit: Why Now

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
06/16/2020
As part of Neighborhood Funders Group’s virtual convening series , NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group (IRSG) will host its first ever Multiracial Rural Equity Summit on July 1. As Americans across the country rise up in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, IRSG calls on philanthropy to: Uplift the voices of rural communities demanding economic and environmental justice. Uplift the voices of Black, Indigenous and people of color in rural places. Uplift racial solidarity and shared prosperity. IRSG’s Multiracial Rural Equity Summit will explore how systemic racism is harming rural...

#HandsOffTheHomeless Protest of de Blasio’s NYPD

News type: 
News from the Field
Release Date: 
09/09/2015
For months, we’ve been working with homeless folks living on 125th Street, who have been the target of increasingly aggressive policing by Mayor de Blasio’s NYPD. This is part of a huge citywide effort to push the homeless people out of public space, with the Daily News reporting that the NYPD has identified “80 sites” across the five boroughs where homeless people congregate, that they plan to break up. But homeless people aren’t going to take this lying down. They’re fighting back. And yesterday, we helped the folks on 125th organize an incredible rally and press conference, complete with...
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Topic: 
Criminalization
Economic Justice

Minneapolis repeals lurking, spitting laws that criminalize people of color

News type: 
News from the Field
Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (MN NOC) June 5, 2015 Today, after months of organizing and community pressure, the Minneapolis City Council voted 12-1 to repeal laws against lurking and spitting. These laws, disproportionately enforced against people of color, had been criticized as "Minneapolis Black Codes." The repeal comes on the heels of a new ACLU report showing that in Minneapolis, black and Native American people are over 8 times more likely to be arrested for low level offenses than white people. The Twin Cities' racial disparities, among the worst in the nation on...
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Topic: 
Racial Justice
Criminalization

The Power of the People – SB1445 is a Strategic Victory With Lessons for Alliance Building

News type: 
News from the Field
Post by Tia Oso, National Coordinator for the Black Immigration Network and BAJI Arizona Organizer Late Monday , in a much anticipated decision, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey vetoed Senate Bill 1445 , dubbed the “Secret Police” bill. As the Movement for Black Lives shines the light of justice on the crisis of police brutality plaguing Black communities across the country, powerful Arizona police unions used their influence to introduce SB1445. The bill withheld the identity of officers that used deadly force or police brutality for 60 days, as well as redacting officer’s...

Urgent Funding Needs and Opportunities

News type: 
Member News
Following are opportunities to fund local organizing in Ferguson, MO, New York, California and nationally. Last updated March 23, 2015. F erguson, MO: Funding needs in Ferguson, MO, as compiled by Rev. Starsky D. Wilson, President & CEO of the Deaconess Foundation and Robert Hughes, PhD, President & CEO of the Missouri Foundation for Health. Funders engaged community-based leaders to delineate current efforts aimed at meeting the needs in the Ferguson area, as well as to identify gaps that present opportunities for additional investment. This...

Funder Coalition Calls for Building a Just and Resilient New Orleans

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
09/01/2015
August 29, 2015, Philanthropy News Digest - While challenges such as entrenched poverty and overincarceration remain, funder collaborations, cross-sectoral partnerships, and community-based leadership and participation have helped transform New Orleans in the decade since Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage to the city, a paper from the Greater New Orleans Funders Network argues. The paper, Fulfilling the Promise, Making New Orleans a Just and Resilient City (16 pages, PDF), outlines the progress made and challenges that remain in areas where philanthropy has played an important role...
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Topic: 
Climate Justice
Economic Justice

5 Hot Causes for Donors in 2015

News type: 
NFG News
Release Date: 
02/04/2014
Chronicle of Philanthropy, January 15, 2015 The Battle for Racial Justice: Grant makers are uniting to address racial-justice issues as tensions remain high following the failure of grand juries to indict white police officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City. Funders for Justice, a new group of about 30 foundations and other groups affiliated with the Neighborhood Funders Group, has set up a website to publicize activities and promote giving to community organizers working on issues like police accountability. Lori Villarosa, executive director of the...

Health, Housing, Race, Equity and Power Funders Convening

Event type: 
Convening
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 - Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Oakland, CA
All funders are welcomed to register for this event! Please create an account on our website to register. For security purposes, new accounts take 24 hours or less to be approved. You will receive an email notification when your account is approved. We look forward to your participation. Please contact neda@nfg.org with any questions! Planning Committee Across the country, community residents and institutions are collaborating, networking, organizing, and passing policies to protect renters and preserve and expand affordable housing. Yet, from rural to urban, and from hot to...

For the Surdna Foundation, Communities Should Define Their Futures

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
09/01/2016
Will Cordery, Program Officer of Surdna Foundation ’s Strong Local Economies program, writes about racial justice and inclusive economic development. This post originally appeared in NCRP’s quarterly journal, which you can find here . When people have asked me what compelled me to join the team at the Surdna Foundation more than a year ago, I’ve often shared that I saw a philanthropic organization that is not only guided by principles of social justice, and working to address real societal problems, but one that is committed to investing in new ways of building economies, environments and...

For the Surdna Foundation, Communities Should Define Their Futures

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
09/01/2016
Will Cordery, Program Officer of Surdna Foundation ’s Strong Local Economies program, writes about racial justice and inclusive economic development. This post originally appeared in NCRP’s quarterly journal, which you can find here . When people have asked me what compelled me to join the team at the Surdna Foundation more than a year ago, I’ve often shared that I saw a philanthropic organization that is not only guided by principles of social justice, and working to address real societal problems, but one that is committed to investing in new ways of building economies, environments and...
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For the Surdna Foundation, Communities Should Define Their Futures

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
09/01/2016
Will Cordery, Program Officer of Surdna Foundation ’s Strong Local Economies program, writes about racial justice and inclusive economic development. This post originally appeared in NCRP’s quarterly journal, which you can find here . When people have asked me what compelled me to join the team at the Surdna Foundation more than a year ago, I’ve often shared that I saw a philanthropic organization that is not only guided by principles of social justice, and working to address real societal problems, but one that is committed to investing in new ways of building economies, environments and...
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Strategies to Address How Amazon’s HQ2 Will Impact Workers and Local Economies

Event type: 
Webinar
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Webinar
While tax and other incentives are often used to attract corporations to cities, there is little evidence that these mechanisms improve employment rates and spur economic growth. In fact, these public policies can advance a concentration of power and a monopolization of the market. These then drive geographic and racial inequality and force local communities to bear the brunt of revenue loss without reaping the benefits. The frenzy surrounding Amazon’s new headquarters’ bidding process sheds light on how corporate incentives are used for more profit under the guise of economic development...

Strategies to Address How Amazon’s HQ2 Will Impact Workers and Local Economies

Event type: 
Webinar
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Webinar
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 While tax and other incentives are often used to attract corporations to cities, there is little evidence that these mechanisms improve employment rates and spur economic growth. In fact, these public policies can advance a concentration of power and a monopolization of the market. These then drive geographic and racial inequality and force local communities to bear the brunt of revenue loss without reaping the benefits. The frenzy surrounding Amazon’s new headquarters’ bidding process sheds light on how corporate incentives are used for more profit under the...

Philanthropy Isn’t Doing Enough to Support Youth-Led Voter-Mobilization Efforts

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
10/20/2020
Alejandra Ruiz, Executive Director of the Youth Engagement Fund , and Lori Bezahler, President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation , write about youth of color civic engagement and voter mobilization work as a core opportunity for grantmaking on racial equity, leadership development, and building people centered long-term infrastructure that transforms our communities and democracy. This op-ed was originally published here in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Alejandra was part of the 2019-2020 Philanthropy Forward: Leadership for Change Fellowship cohort, a joint initiative of Neighborhood...

Strike Watch: From Food to Fashion, Workers are Countering Corporate Talking Points with Organizing for Economic Security and Protection

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
05/21/2020
Updates from the Front Lines & How Funders can Support Growing Movements As mostly-conservative state governors and the federal government enforce rapid re-opening and block closures in some sectors like meatpacking, workers continue to put their livelihood on the line to protect themselves through strikes and other actions. Employees are coalescing under the banners of established labor (including in the first union election since the pandemic ), worker advocacy and organizing non-profits and a new crop of grassroots unions. These endeavors are exposing the hollowness...

Bending the Arc from Interest to Advancement

Resource type: 
Member Publication
Wed, April 08, 2015
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Topic: 
Funding Opportunity

As the South Grows

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Tue, June 12, 2018

As the South Grows is an initiative of Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP) and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) to give philanthropists the tools they need to partner effectively with visionary leaders across the South. The initiative will produce a four-part investigative research and resource report series around place-based strategies for supporting structural change in the South. Through timely...

What It's Going to Take to Change Philanthropy

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
12/06/2017
In October 2017, Funders for Justice (FFJ), a program of Neighborhood Funders Group, hosted a funder briefing on the Freedom Cities Movement at the NoVo Foundation office in New York City. FFJ got the chance to sit down and talk with NoVo's Ramatu Bangura, Program Officer for Advancing Adolescent Girls’ Rights, and Jesenia Santana, Program Officer for the Initiative to End Violence Against Girls and Women, about the foundation's vision and funding of the movement. Ramatu Bangura FFJ: The last year or couple years have been really the challenging ones in many parts of the country with...
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

Community Ownership and Land Trusts: Power-building Solutions for America’s Housing Crisis

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
08/08/2019
In June 2019, Neighborhood Funders Group's Democratizing Development Program joined grantmakers and community leaders from across the country for a three-day convening in Santa Fe, NM, at the “Nuestro Corazón” People’s Assembly, hosted by Chainbreaker Collective and Right to the City . As part of the convening, a funder track brought together key allies in philanthropy interested in taking a deeper dive on alternative land and community ownership housing models. The funder track was an impactful opportunity to engage colleagues, hear from community leaders, and discuss concrete opportunities...

Feature: Freedom Inc.’s Creative Response to the Criminalization of Black Communities in Madison, Wisconsin

News type: 
Member News
Release Date: 
03/08/2016
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice has been supporting Freedom Inc. (FI) for 4 years. FI was founded in 2003, is based in Madison, WI and has used particularly creative and inspiring strategies to respond to oppression, racism and violence. FI works to end violence within and against low and no income communities of color. They work at the intersection of prison abolition, LGBT rights, education rights, and reproductive justice. FI aims to challenge the fundamental root causes of violence through leadership development and community organizing in Black and Southeast Asian, particularly...

Questions Linger for LGBT Community After Police Kill Jessie Hernandez

News type: 
News from the Field
by Jamilah King, Wed, Feb 18, 2015 7:00 AM EST, ColorLines It's an unseasonably warm February Friday in Denver and four young activists are looking for a place to eat lunch. They don't have much time -- it's already 12:30, and Diane Amaya has to be back at work in the clerical office at the Denver Elections Division by 1:00 -- so they're scouring the grass around the city's McNichols Civic Center. The lawns are mostly empty, minus the police SUV blaring Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," but they're worried about crossing an invisible boundary. "Why can't we sit there?" asks Angel Campos, holding...

Ferguson Action Demands

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Sat, November 01, 2014
from Ferguson Action

OUR VISION FOR A NEW AMERICA

WE WANT JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL BROWN. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR OUR COMMUNITIES

We Want an End to all Forms of Discrimination and the Full Recognition of our Human Rights

The United States Government must acknowledge and address the structural violence and institutional discrimination that continues to imprison our communities either in a life of poverty and/or one behind bars. We want the United States Government to recognize the full spectrum of our human rights and its...

Response to Eric Garner's Case: A Deeper Conversation

Resource type: 
Partner Resource
Wed, December 03, 2014

Eight days after thousands took to the streets in protest, grief, and outrage following a Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager, we are faced ­with the reality that a New York grand jury, tasked with determining whether to hold another white police officer accountable for the publicly witnessed and video recorded death of an unarmed black man, reached the same decision: no indictment.

We are faced with the reality of a...

Five Principles for Engagement on the Future of Work(ers) and Two Big Ideas

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
10/11/2018
In these videos, Sarita Gupta (Jobs with Justice) talks about collective bargaining and the future of work and Michelle Miller (Coworker.org) describes the concept of “surveillance capitalism” and data generated by workers. Please watch and share these videos! Below, Emma Oppenheim (Open Society Foundations) and José García (Ford Foundation) share how they're thinking about the future of workers. The future of work is everywhere. Between the two of us, we’ve attended countless conferences, meetings, report releases, or other future of work-themed events. In philanthropy,...

Answering the Call from Movement Leaders

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
07/12/2018
In June 2018, Neighborhood Funders Group convened hundreds of local, regional, and national funders for the NFG 2018 National Convening, Raise Up: Moving Money for Justice. Here, Julia Beatty , Program Officer for the Black-Led Movement Fund and the Communities Transforming Policing Fund at Borealis Philanthropy , reflects on philanthropy's accountability to grassroots movements. “Uprising creates the authorization for funding movements.” These words, spoken by Reverend Starsky Wilson, Executive Director of the Deaconess Foundation in St. Louis, are some of...
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Topic: 
Philanthropic Practice

Webinar Recap of Stabilizing Communities: Advancing Housing Justice Organizing and Policy Strategies in This Political Moment

Resource type: 
Event Recap
Fri, April 21, 2017

Across the country, resident-led institutions and their allies continue to build organizing strategies that address housing, displacement, and gentrification at the local, regional, and state level. Strategies and solutions to gentrification and displacement like rent control measures, passing local ballot initiatives for renter protections, developing community land trusts, and financing affordable housing has had some success, but the demographics of many communities are still rapidly changing.

At the center of these shifts, philanthropy continues to play a critical role...

Can you tackle poverty without taking on place?

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
06/29/2016
Earlier this month, House Republicans released a new plan to fight poverty and social immobility. However, there is little mention of the role that place plays in perpetuating poverty or shaping economic opportunity. Growing research shows that geography plays a powerful role in determining life outcomes in the United States. This article from the Urban Institute discusses the importance of place on poverty and makes several policy recommendations. By Solomon Greene, Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and former NFG board member Earlier this month, House Republicans released a new plan to...
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Topic: 
Economic Justice
Housing Justice

Funders for a Just Economy Florida Learning Tour

Event type: 
Learning Visit
Monday, April 8, 2019 - Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Fort Myers, FL
This event is for NFG members, Florida Philanthropic Network members, and other funders only. You will be asked to log in to the website in order to register for this event. If you need to create a login, please do so here , and then register for the event. Feel free to contact Manisha Vaze at manisha@nfg.org if you have trouble with registering. The registration fee for this event is $150. From Native people to migrants and retirees, people have long sought to live in Florida for its climate, land, and resources. Known as the “Sunshine...

FFJ Advisor Discussion Series: Zachary Norris

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
04/02/2019
Zachary Norris, FFJ Field Advisor and Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights , tells us about his vision for change and the need to invest in building the foundation for marginalized communities to thrive. What’s happening for Ella Baker Center in this moment? It's a very exciting time for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights as we move to a new, permanent home in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood: a community advocacy and training center called Restore Oakland . At Restore Oakland, community members will have access to a wide range of resources -...

Announcing the 2019 Discount Foundation Legacy Award Winner

News type: 
NFG News
Release Date: 
05/01/2019
This International Workers' Day, Jobs with Justice Education Fund and NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy are excited to celebrate Odessa Kelly as an outstanding champion for workers' rights and economic equity, and this year's winner of the Discount Foundation Legacy Award. The Discount Foundation Legacy Award was launched in 2015 to commemorate and carry on the legacy of the Foundation’s decades-long history of supporting leading edge organizing in the worker justice arena beyond its spend down as a foundation in 2014. Created in partnership with Jobs With Justice Education Fund and the...

Support Minneapolis Protesters

News type: 
News from the Field
Release Date: 
11/27/2015
Last updated December 2, 2015. Please check back regularly for updates. DONATE to Black Lives Matter Minneapolis : Please donate to help support their efforts with bail, legal support, and other supplies. November 27, 2015 Dear Community, In the past 10 days Minneapolis has experienced horrific acts of violence, first with the shooting of Jamar Clark, a 24 year old unarmed black man, who was killed by the Minneapolis police just over a week ago. Then, on Monday night, in the wake of an ongoing peaceful occupation demanding justice for Jamar Clark outside of Minneapolis’ 4th...

"Intersections of Justice in the Time of Coronavirus" by Cara Page & Eesha Pandit

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
03/25/2020
In the midst of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, NFG stands with our communities and workers who are in crisis. As we help organize with frontline leaders and philanthropy to meet the immediate needs of our communities at this time, NFG also remains committed to long-term transformation towards a just and equitable society. The essay below was written by Cara Page and Eesha Pandit, who are part of the Funders for Justice community, and urges us to hold this moment for movement & philanthropists to understand what led us here and explore opportunities towards transforming our futures...

Youth on the Move: How Funders Can Support the Growing Movement of Young People of Color in 2015

News type: 
Member News
Funders Collaborative for Youth Organizing , Jan 9, 2015 As we begin 2015, we at the Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) have been re-inspired by the undeniable potential for young people of color to play a transformative role in advancing social justice. Young people of color are demonstrating a readiness to organize that has not been seen in many years. For funders and others who care about youth leadership and social and racial justice, it is an important time to support the actions taking place across the country to help them coalesce into a sustained movement. For funders...

Catalyzing a Movement for Health and Housing

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
07/12/2019
By Lindsay Ryder, Neighborhood Funders Group; Alexandra Desautels, The California Endowment; Michael Brown, Seattle Foundations; and Chris Kabel, The Kresge Foundation. In June 2019, Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) gathered nearly 90 funders at Grantmakers in Health’s national conference in Seattle for a panel discussion on how philanthropy can invest in community housing solutions. Despite the large number of concurrent sessions, funders filled the room to dig deep into the urgent issue of equitable housing — and what role health funders can play in addressing this critical health...

COVID-19 Strike Wave

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
04/10/2020
By Rob Chlala, Program Manager of Funders for a Just Economy The last few weeks have seen an unprecedented wave of labor organizing, coast to coast. Payday Report has offered a map of these strikes ; Labor Notes is offering both updates and guides for workers; and the American Prospect has nearly daily news via its new “ Unsanitized” column. Across these, strike demands include personal protective equipment (PPE), hazard pay, closure with pay of work sites where COVID-19 presents a high risk, as well as demands for broader policy and corporate responses to protect communities – such as GE...

Healing Justice Guidance to Philanthropy During COVID-19, the Uprisings, and Beyond

Resource type: 
NFG Resource
Thu, July 16, 2020

By maisha quint, Libra Foundation; Cindy Alvarado, The Simmons Foundation; Claribel Vidal, Ford Foundation — members of the Funders for Justice Healing Justice Strategy Group

Context

As we witness the ongoing health and economic crisis of the pandemic of COVID-19, and the simultaneous murders and violence by the state and White nationalists, and the glaring role of ableism in our nation, we must recognize that our country is being forced to reckon with...

Is Democracy Funding Undemocratic? Funding Civic Engagement in an Era of Protest

News type: 
News from the Field
By Austin Belali Nonprofit Quarterly - March 22, 2016 This piece is part of our ongoing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Project created to spotlight millennials’ voices and thoughts on diversity and justice. We urge you to read how this project came together in collaboration between NPQ and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and about the ideology behind this series. We intend to publish another 20 pieces in the upcoming months. Readers will be able to subscribe to an RSS feed to follow articles as they are published, approximately every two weeks. NPQ and YNPN will be using the...

Strike Watch: Workers refuse to relent for Black lives, as COVID-19 workplace dangers expand

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
06/26/2020
If there is an image that encapsulates the continued expansion of worker-led direct action in the last few weeks, it is Angela Davis on Juneteenth. With her fist raised high and face mask tight, Dr. Davis stood strong out of a roof of a car moving through a massive strike linking dockworkers and community to shutter the Port of Oakland for 8-plus hours. Led by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) shipping and transport workers, 29 ports were shut down as tens of thousands came together, and drew connections by featuring speakers such as fired Amazon warehouse worker Chris...

Meeting the Moment: 2020’s New Civic Engagement Landscape in Rural and Small-City America

Event type: 
Webinar
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 -
9:00am - 10:15am
Webinar
Neighborhood Funders Group’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group and The Heartland Fund invite you to join this three-part series, Meeting the Moment: 2020’s New Civic Engagement Landscape in Rural and Small-City America. ______ The 2020 elections are set to be the most important, volatile, and unpredictable in recent history. In addition to creating a health crisis with devastating impacts in rural communities of color, the coronavirus pandemic has crippled the economy, exacerbated cultural and political divisions, and created a new set of existential challenges to democracy and our electoral...

NFG 2018 National Convening — Raise Up: Moving Money for Justice

Event type: 
Convening
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - Thursday, June 7, 2018
St. Louis, MO
“Thank you for an amazing conference making us better grantmakers and partners in the field. And above all, thanks for pushing us to break silos and change systems of oppression through action and example.” – 2018 CONVENING PARTICIPANT CONNECTING, ORGANIZING, & MOBILIZING PHILANTHROPY IS AT THE CORE OF NFG’S WORK. Our 2018 National Convening provided an opportunity to connect with grantmakers committed to racial, social, economic, and gender justice in the U.S. We shared models, strengthened partnerships, and forged new alliances with the goal of moving resources to...
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Announcing FFJ’s Latest Field Advisor Cohort

News type: 
NFG Blog
Release Date: 
01/13/2020
Funders for Justice is excited to share the latest cohort of FFJ Field Advisors. FFJ looks forward to expanding our own understanding to support organizing toward racial and gender justice, and to growing our commitment to mobilize resources toward transformative social change. As this dynamic group continues to build momentum with their leadership and organizing in racial justice, gender justice, and anti-criminalization movements, they will also work together with FFJ to continue to envision a new way forward for philanthropy. FFJ hosted its third national funder organizing meeting in...

Discount Foundation Legacy Award

News type: 
NFG News
Release Date: 
01/13/2021
The nominations are now open for the 2021 Discount Foundation Legacy Award! The Discount Legacy Award annually identifies, supports and celebrates an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and contributed significantly to workers’ rights movements in the United States and/or globally. Through public recognition and a $20,000 stipend, we hope to recognize and amplify the work of individuals at the intersections leading the way toward justice for low-wage workers of color. This is a one of a kind opportunity to recognize the often unheard voices of worker...