PNY Member Journeys - Equitable Grantmaking Practices to Support Movement Building at the New York Foundation
Zabrina Collazo navigated a unique start, joining the New York Foundation as a program officer during the pandemic. Now, three years into their role at the New York Foundation, Zabrina funds community organizing and grassroots advocacy led by and for people in New York City. As part of their role as Program Officer, they lead a team focused on making the grantmaking process easier and more transparent for grantees, across all areas of the foundation’s processes.
Zabrina’s journey into philanthropy began at the Scherman Foundation just out of college. They expanded their expertise at the Ms. Foundation for Women, focusing on reproductive justice, while honing their skills in equitable grantmaking with an eye toward gender and racial justice.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Philanthropy New York (PNY), Zabrina describes how the move to the New York Foundation felt like a homecoming — a chance to weave their deep Queens roots into a purpose-driven career and view the city through the lens of the communities addressing our most pressing issues.
PNY: How has being part of the Philanthropy New York community supported your work?
Zabrina: The best part of the PNY community has been the learning, the training opportunities, and networking. When I was a program assistant, I participated in the Young Leaders Breakfast Club and was paired so perfectly with my group and mentor. That was one of the things that sustained me and made me want to continue on my journey in philanthropy. And then when I became a program officer, I did the Essential Skills and Strategies for Program Officers series. Again, this was a fantastic opportunity for learning and for being in community with folks who are navigating the same questions around power and how to bring your racial justice or gender justice lens to your work in a genuine way. That was really formative for me.
PNY: How has the New York Foundation worked to incorporate more equitable grant-making practices and processes into its work?
Zabrina: First, I will say this has been an ongoing practice – a lot of what we're doing today was built on generations of work. Our approach is from a holistic perspective of making sure that equity spans all of our areas of work: operations, grantmaking and programs, and communications. You shouldn’t claim externally that you're doing equitable work without also applying it internally, so we created a committee to make sure all perspectives are brought in and then we developed goals together. We have an Intersectional Racial Equity Dashboard where we intentionally set goals and track our actions. With this guide, we can evaluate our work and understand what we're doing well, what we can do better, and where else we need to go.
You shouldn’t claim externally that you're doing equitable work without also applying it internally, so we created a committee to make sure all perspectives are brought in and then we developed goals together.
PNY: Most grantmakers focus on accountability externally but with what you described it sounds like you have reversed this dynamic to make sure that you're following your own best practices to ensure equity.
Zabrina: It really moves racial justice work from just talking about [it] to making it actionable. We track specific goals: We reached our target to have 90% of our grantees be BIPOC-led, 70% women-led, and 50% startup or emerging groups. Those goals were developed through conversations with the board, staff, grantees, and our understanding of the field.
We've also done things like redesigning our website to make sure that potential applicants can see what our priorities are, what the criteria is, how to apply. We hold webinars to make sure that folks know exactly how to apply, so there aren't barriers at the application process. And we found that it has made it much more accessible for grantees with smaller budgets, with less staff capacity, or who might see philanthropy as being unattainable, so that they really know, “this is for you, and we do want you to apply.”
We’re constantly in conversations with the board and staff. We've hired facilitators that focus specifically on racial justice, gender justice, anti-blackness, and transphobia. We really want to examine how our own privilege or how our own biases might be showing up in the work, so that we can make sure that we actively combat that.
The kind of work that we ask our grantees to do – to move policy, organize massive amounts of people, bring their communities along – this is really difficult. And so if we're charging them with these tasks, then we need to also be doing our own difficult work and making sure that we're matching that same level of investment and energy.
We really want to examine how our own privilege or how our own biases might be showing up in the work, so that we can make sure that we actively combat that.
PNY: Was there something that originally sparked a shift with the New York Foundation?
Zabrina: I think we have this legacy of being progressive but it's also been important for us to not just rely on legacy, but to make sure that, as our communities’ understanding of what justice and equity mean evolves, so does ours.
PNY: Can you speak to any challenges that you might have encountered in this process?
Zabrina: There was so much work already being done to have these conversations and to make sure everyone was, if not on the same page, facing the same direction. By the time I came around, we were already in the midst of that and I was able to plug into those conversations, which, yes, are difficult, but, the board was primed; the staff already had experience having these conversations; we were able to hire consultants that could help us move smoothly. It felt aligned.
Maybe I'm making it sound like it was like a breeze. It wasn't, but there was a lot of work that we did with each other to have these conversations and a lot of work that we and Rickke, our Executive Director did with the board to make sure everyone was ready to be part of this.
PNY: We know program staff hold power in determining a grantee's success. Can you speak about what it looks like to acknowledge and hold the reality of that power dynamic in your day-to-day work?
Zabrina: We understand the reality that we are shifting power, but we still also hold quite a lot of it. So we try to acknowledge and help mitigate that and address it in our relationship with grantees. One of the major ways that we do that is to try to reduce the burden on grantees. We've started reducing report requirements. Now it's a site visit or a conversation. I'll take the notes, type it up, put it into the database so there's less time spent and less stress on their part.
There is less focus on the language and making sure that it's perfect and instead stressing whether this is a fundable request. We try to make sure that the open application process is also more accessible. We're doing multi-year funding and general operating support, and we also fund capacity building and technical assistance. And we leverage our relationship with other funders to also give our grantees a platform and make sure they are seen by other funders. We have also done a lot of work to understand and acknowledge where our money comes from, and that has helped inform how we move it forward.
My conversations with grantees educate me about the field, their partners, and the issues on the ground. If we were only relying on metrics and data for learning, I think we would lose out on being able to hear all of the important feedback and the nuances of what our grantees are working on and what challenges they're seeing.
We understand the reality that we are shifting power, but we still also hold quite a lot of it. So we try to acknowledge and help mitigate that and address it in our relationship with grantees.
PNY: We noticed the different funder affinity groups that you participate in. How do these help inform your practice as well?
Zabrina: These groups have been spaces for learning together with other funders. They also help us maximize our grant dollars; as a foundation with a relatively small budget, there's something magical about being able to pool funds together and come up with this wonderful program that benefits far more grantees than our one grant would have been able to. GoVoteNYC is a great example where we are able to fund a cohort of grassroots organizations all working together on strengthening democracy. Funding this cohort and supporting them with capacity building and technical assistance allows greater impact than if we were funding one organization. It really changes the reach and impact that we're able to have.
PNY: Anything additional that you would like to cover regarding NYF’s equitable practice and racial equity journey?
Zabrina: I would just reiterate that this is something that's been a shared responsibility for us. I feel like what has made us successful in what we're trying to do is that the entire responsibility of equity isn't just on the grantmaking team. We’ve looked at our investments and where that money is actually going so that it's matching our values. We've looked at our internal policies around payment and salary. This has an impact on how we relate to each other, how we can really lean into our values, and how we can then go into the field with grantees and funder partners to say, “here's what we're doing and here's how we're really living it.”
Philanthropy New York's new Member Journeys series is designed to exploring PNY member journey’s in service to creating more equitable grantmaking practices.
Established in 1909, the New York Foundation supports community organizing, grassroots advocacy, and movement-building, led by and for people who live in NYC. At the cornerstone of their work is the belief that the resilience and vitality of New Yorkers is the city’s greatest resource. In the ongoing struggle for racial, economic, gender, and climate justice, the Foundation supports grassroots initiatives that build power to confront systemic barriers and inspire people to work toward a more just, equitable, and inclusive city. Current grantees include: Black Trans Media, South Queens Women’s March, Youth Alliance for Housing, and New Pride Agenda.