Ford Foundation Joins Funders To Launch The Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund

Monday, August 13, 2018

 Ford Foundation Joins Funders To Launch The Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund

The Ford and W.K. Kellogg foundations recently teamed up with Borealis Philanthropy to launch the Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund. The fund just released its first round of grants, totaling $14 million, which will go to advancing racial equity and promoting diversity within the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.

Nonprofits rarely resemble the communities they serve. Studies show that fewer than 20 percent of nonprofit leaders are people of color. These grants are a bid to change that.   

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation contributed $14 million over the next three years to the new fund. The Ford Foundation provided an additional $6 million over the same period.

It's not surprising to see Kellogg and Ford collaborating on this effort. Both foundations have made racial equity a priority, working to combat racial discrimination and also taking on the deeper problems of structural racism. 

Back in 2015, Ford revamped its strategy to focus on fighting inequality. Chris Cardona, the foundation’s program officer focused on philanthropy, says that cultural narratives and discrimination based on identity including but not limited to race and ethnicity are a big part of that work.

Kellogg, meanwhile, has long been a leading anti-poverty funder, and one of the few top foundations to make countering racism a major part of its grantmaking. It's been working on racial healing since 2010. Last year, the funder released $24 million in grants as part of its Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Initiative, which launched in 2016...

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