Created through deep collaboration with our partners and communities, our Racial Justice & Equity strategy reflects years of work to build solidarity, shift power, and center the wellbeing of Black and Brown people.
As we reflect on the years long journey, we are incredibly grateful to launch our first Racial Justice & Equity (RJE) strategy to guide our continued work in supporting racial justice movement organizations in the United States. This strategy is a fabric threaded by hard work, collaboration, and learning, and we are deeply grateful to our partners and communities for their unwavering support along the way.
Origins
Throughout the 2020 uprisings, HU undertook an exploratory process to assess how we can shift power and resources to communities of color that are defining solutions that will lead to a just, sustainable, and inclusive society. In choosing to work with partners in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., we prioritized place-based resourcing and a trust-based approach to building and sustaining relationships with partners and the racial justice ecosystem. Our commitment to bring the margins to center is informed by HU’s shared values of humanity, humility, and curiosity.
We focused our work on two interconnected pillars that we believed would most benefit from our investment in communities of color across Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.: Thriving Communities and Building Power. Throughout this exploratory process, our learnings have been grounded in the belief that another world is possible, and our partners’ leadership in their communities must be trusted, prioritized, and nourished. It has been a beautiful journey throughout the last five years, and the RJE team is indebted to the unwavering commitment that our partners hold to cultivate conditions for wellbeing, joy, and transformation.
The Process: A Collaborative Approach
Walking in our values meant the development of our Racial Justice & Equity strategy could not be siloed within philanthropy. The RJE team partnered with Coactive Change to facilitate a seven-month participatory process with our partners and HU staff to shape our path forward. During the initial phase of this process, one grantee partner affirmed that, “We have to address the cracks in the container of U.S. democracy—if it shatters, then so do all other institutions.” Working within pods facilitated the opportunity to flex our muscles across Vision, Fundraising, Grantmaking, Non-Financial Resources, and Learning Processes, fueling a visionary approach to sustaining movement for the long haul.
At this critical juncture, we must express our deepest gratitude to the partners, people, and organizations that shaped and refined our journey over the years. This would not be possible without the dedication of people who share our vision to build the new. Our partners have dedicated generations worth to disrupt systems of oppression, from grassroots organizations to statewide movements, and they have been pivotal in advancing the needle for the dignity, rights, and power necessary for freedom. We thank each of you for your struggle to transform our living conditions.
Treading the Water
As we continue to charter the waters of uncertainty, we are filled with breath and endurance. The journey toward racial justice is lifelong work, and we aim to go the distance. Under the leadership of our partners, the RJE team, and the resourcing movement, we are assured that the right relationship, strategy, and joy will sustain us. Though the work will continue to shift in response to this political climate, our commitment to racial justice and equity remains unwavering. This is an opportune moment to set the pace for how the philanthropic sector can still launch bold experiments and stay the course alongside the racial justice movement.
Photo Credit: Blu Murphy