Racial Equity Resources

Philanthropy New York has been working to deepen our own learning, and that of our members, about structural racism and its deep roots in our history, culture, and institutions. Core to our work is designing programs and sharing resources that equip members to adapt and transform their practices as philanthropic organizations.

Programming

We work to embed racial equity analysis into Philanthropy New York programming and continually invest resources in developing programming of all shapes and sizes that can offer guidance to funders on foundational racial equity concepts, internal organization equity practices, grantmaking frameworks, and how structural racism impacts all areas in which we work.

Our programming is ever-evolving. It has included:

our intensive cohort program, Leading With Race Equity: Building Stronger Culture and Practice
an equity speaker series,
our Food for Thought series of conversations hosted by PNY's Committee for Equitable and Inclusive Philanthropy,
regular issue-based programming, and
partnerships with colleague organizations to bring racial equity training to PNY members.

We add new programs to our Calendar of Events regularly and all PNY members should receive our program emails each Tuesday with the list of upcoming offerings. Please continue to share with us the type of programming that would support your foundation in advancing racial justice.

Philanthropy New York has a long history of supporting programs that seek to increase diversity in our sector and beyond. Learn more about this work here.

Resources

Thousands of resources exist to support and move individuals and organizations wherever we all are on our racial equity journey. RacialEquityTools.org provides a deep database of tools, resources, and learning opportunities.

Subscribe to The Weekly Phil, where Philanthropy New York members share articles and resources that align with PNY's commitment to racial equity. Read PNY's Insights Column, which includes member and sector leader reflections on how structural racism impacts philanthropy and the communities being served.

Below are resources we have used in our Leading with Race Equity cohort program and additional resources from partners in philanthropy who have been offering the field guidance on advancing racial justice for decades.

Please share resources, training opportunities, and consultants you have worked with to deepen your racial equity work.

Organizational Race Equity Work

Frameworks, resources, and articles focused on organizational culture and operating practices.

AORTA Guide to systems of oppression in the workplace (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance)
Assessing Organizational Racism (Western States Center)
Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture (Equity in the Center)
The Bias of Professionalism Standards (Asya Gray, SSIR)
Checkbox Diversity Must be Left Behind for DEI Efforts to Succeed (Nicole Anand, SSIR)
Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Institution (Crossroads Ministry)
Demos: Racial Equity Transformation Case Study (Demos)
Management practices: Link between slave ownership and modern management (HBS Working Knowledge)
Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non-Profit Organizations 1 (MP Associates)
Paying Attention to White Supremacy Culture (Gulati-Partee & Potapchuck, FoundationReview)
Racial Equity Stages (Dismantling Racism Works)
Transforming Organizational Culture Assessment Tool (MP Associates)
White Supremacy Culture in Organizations (Tema Okun, Dismantling Racism Works)
Woke@Work blog (Equity in the Center)

Consultants & Training Organizations

Many foundations engage consultants and training organizations to work with individuals and their institutions to deepen learning about levels of racism, establish institutional racial equity frameworks and transform organizational culture and practices.

Philanthropy New York and PNY members have shared 'diversity, equity and inclusion' consultants and training organizations.

'DEI' is a broad category that encompasses related but distinct concepts. As such, this list of consultants is inclusive of a wide range of consulting work, expertise, and approaches. As you explore consulting firms and training organizations, it's important to unpack 'DEI' and understand what kind of work you're looking to do with a consultant.

Several consultants and organizations have developed assessment tools that help organizations reflect on where they are in terms of racial equity work and where they might want to focus. (For example, this organizational assessment from Race Matters Institute or this series of questions developed by Western States Center for advocacy groups to assess readiness and capacity to move a racial justice agenda.) Catalyst: ed's DEI Expert Hub provides sample projects to help organizations more effectively scope work they are ready to engage in, under the broad DEI umbrella.

See also:

Equity in the Center's two-part blog series, So You Want to Hire an Equity Consultant? (Part 1 and Part 2)
A review of Equity in the Center's 2018 Summit, Building Healthier Equity Projects
FakeEquity's blog post, How to and How Not to Hire a Racial Equity Consultant
Anti-racism trainers were ready for this moment. Is everyone else? (Washington Post)
Checkbox Diversity Must be Left Behind for DEI Efforts to Succeed (Nicole Anand, SSIR)

Philanthropic Practices & Funding

Research and resources that are race-explicit and focused on funding practices.

ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities (research, programming and resources to confront anti-Blackness in funding)
- “We Must be in It for the Long Haul”: Black Foundation Executives Request Action by Philanthropy on Anti-Black Racism (10 imperatives and related action steps for philanthropy to take to ensure the wellbeing of Black communities)
- The Case for Black-Led Social Change (research on Black-led social change groups and their experiences with institutional philanthropy, and recommendations for creating more authentic, efficient and effective partnerships between foundations and Black-led organizations)
- See also: Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness (kihana miraya ross)
Building Movement Project: Race to Lead (research and recommendations to address the racial leadership gap in the nonprofit sector)
CHANGE Philanthropy: Resources on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion - Where Do I Start? (resources from a coalition of philanthropic network working to integrate diversity, inclusion, and social justice into philanthropic practice)
Nonprofit AF (blog by Vu Le on reimaging funding practices in service of justice)
- Tool for making grantmaking more equitable
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (reflections, frameworks and tools for advancing racial justice in any philanthropic setting)
- Grantmaking with a Racial Equity Lens (published in partnership with GrantCraft, this guide offers critical building blocks for grantmaking with a racial equity lens)
- Guide to Grantmaking with a Racial Justice Lens (this guide builds on the first to add a racial justice lens on top of a racial equity lens to grantmaking)