New Report Highlights Power of Black-Led Change During the Three-Year Remembrance of George Floyd

MINNEAPOLIS, May 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Formed in the wake of the 2020 Uprising for Racial Justice in response to George Floyd’s murder, the Black Collective Foundation MN (the Collective) has engaged its national partners, the Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI) and the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE), to research investments in racial justice.

What will it take for institutional philanthropy to move at the speed of courage and invest wholly in Black lives?

“Today, we share our first research publication: Toward Power-shifting Solidarity With Black-led Change. It unapologetically centers the progressive social, political, and economic change led by diverse groups of Black people and explores philanthropy’s opportunities to transform and do better,” said Lulete Mola, the Collective’s president & co-founder.

The research weaves together data from national and local philanthropic sources, insights from Black community leaders, and the input of stakeholders committed to racial equity in Minnesota. Among the findings from 2018–2021:

• Less than 4% of funding for Minnesota nonprofits was focused on racial equity, and only about 0.5% was focused on racial justice.
• Funding for Black communities in Minnesota also increased but didn’t keep pace with national trends.
• Minnesota, the epicenter of the racial justice uprisings in 2020, saw only a tiny fraction of foundation funding invested in Black-led social change organizations.

“The research asks: What will it take for institutional philanthropy in Minnesota and beyond to move at the speed of courage and invest wholly in Black lives?” says Dr. Chera Reid, lead researcher and co-executive director of CEI.

Repa Mekha, Lulete Mola, and Chanda Smith Baker, leaders of the Collective, the state’s first Black community foundation, are working to ensure Black-led organizations and communities are adequately recognized and resourced. While funding to Black communities rose in 2020, analysis from the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, the organization behind Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice, found it still was only 1.6% of institutional funding for the year.

“Like in our previous report, Mismatched, our analysis of more current data showed that claims of massive increases in racial justice funding in Minnesota were grossly exaggerated,” said Lori Villarosa, executive director of PRE. She went on to add, “Fortunately, a growing number of Minnesota-based funders seem to be beginning to develop a structural racism lens for their grantmaking—a trend we hope will continue.”

Systemic inequities take years to solve. The report provides five clear and tangible actions to urge all philanthropy to invest in Black lives year-round and long-term to build community power and support thriving individuals and families. To read the full report, visit https://www.minnesotablackcollectivefoundation.org/research

MEDIA CONTACT:Meredith Leigh Moore612-520-7569
[email protected]

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SOURCE The Black Collective Foundation MN