Discover the vital force of Black philanthropy and its impact on community empowerment. This insightful panel, featuring leaders from Axios Local, The Acoma Project, ABFE, and the National Council of Negro Women, delves into the critical importance of investment, sustainability, and legacy building within Black communities.
Hear powerful personal "whys" that fuel a commitment to creating larger tables of opportunity. Explore how caring for each other, fostering thriving Black children and families, and viewing investment as a civil rights strategy are essential for collective advancement.
In a time of challenges and historical erasure, understand the urgency of preserving and building Black futures. Learn how proximity to power and self-sustained funding are crucial for maintaining our legacy and ensuring consistent progress for generations to come.
#BlackPhilanthropy #CommunityInvestment #BlackFuture #EconomicEmpowerment
Hear powerful personal "whys" that fuel a commitment to creating larger tables of opportunity. Explore how caring for each other, fostering thriving Black children and families, and viewing investment as a civil rights strategy are essential for collective advancement.
In a time of challenges and historical erasure, understand the urgency of preserving and building Black futures. Learn how proximity to power and self-sustained funding are crucial for maintaining our legacy and ensuring consistent progress for generations to come.
#BlackPhilanthropy #CommunityInvestment #BlackFuture #EconomicEmpowerment
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The dynamic programming of day one of the Global Black Economic Forum stage continues and coming up, we've got the
00:07Black Men's Roundtable headed by our president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, Alfonso David.
00:15But first, we explore the power of giving, investment, and community building. Joining the Global Black Economic Forum stage, please
00:26welcome Delano Massey, Midwest Managing Editor for Axios Local.
00:33Dr. Alfie Freeland Noble, founder of the Acoma Project and the Maddie Fund.
00:42Susan Taylor-Batton, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABFE.
00:48And the Reverend Siobhan Arline Bradley, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Council of Negro Women.
01:10Well, good afternoon.
01:11Good afternoon.
01:15I would say, you know, thank you for having us, thank you for showing up.
01:20It's really hot outside, so you could be many other places, which would be cool.
01:26But we have a limited amount of time, so we really just want to get straight into it.
01:31You don't know me, I'm Delano Massey.
01:34I'm Managing Editor of Axios.
01:36I also write a lot, so I think a lot about the intersection of all of the things that we're
01:43going to talk about today.
01:44And at some point, I've either covered it or I've led coverage about it, just thinking about our community and
01:51being in this space.
01:52So, you know, we've had conversations, and really what you all represent is like an ecosystem and what communities might
01:59need in order for communities to sustain.
02:02And I wonder, like, if we could just start the conversation by, you know, sort of laying out, like, what
02:09your personal why is and the work that you are doing.
02:13So, hi, everybody.
02:14I'm Dr. Alfie.
02:15My personal why is to create space.
02:19I remember a long time ago I worked with a pastor on some research when I was an academic.
02:23This is before this life.
02:24And I remember she taught me something I've never forgotten, and it really describes my why.
02:29And she talked about how anybody older than probably 30, 35, remember those old tables in the dining room where
02:36you would pull the table apart and you would put a new leaf in there to make the table longer.
02:40That's my why.
02:42My why is to create a larger table to create as much space as possible with my philanthropic and nonprofit
02:48work so that everybody, like the folks who look like us in here,
02:52has an opportunity to be at the table and make decisions about how they're going to take care of themselves
02:57and their communities because they have the expertise.
02:59So that's my why.
03:01Yeah.
03:02Hey, everybody.
03:03I'm Susan with the Association of Black Foundation Executives or ABFE.
03:07My why is that, you know, I learned from my parents about the importance of the village and the need
03:16for what some people call philanthropy,
03:18but what we call taking care of each other and loving each other.
03:23You know, my dad was a longtime school teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and on the weekends he ran homework
03:29clubs in our basement.
03:30My mom was a community health nurse and helped raise generations of families in a tough neighborhood in Long Island,
03:37New York.
03:37And so they instilled in me the responsibility to take care of our people.
03:43That's my why.
03:44Yeah.
03:45So, hey, everybody.
03:46I'm Reverend Siobhan.
03:46I think one of the things that pushes my why is my son.
03:50I'm a boy mom.
03:52And when you think about the investment in black children and black families, the ability to be able to survive
03:57is based on the investment of our people.
04:00And the only way he will survive is if others see him not as a threat, but as a thriving
04:04black man in this country in the future.
04:07And so my why is really about how we build a community of people that see investment as a part
04:13of a civil rights strategy.
04:14That the way that we give shows up in the way that we live.
04:18And I think that even in this Essence Festival, I'm looking at all the families that are out here.
04:24The why is seeing my people thrive in advance.
04:27And our children have to see us thriving in order to want to thrive.
04:31So that's my why.
04:33Yeah.
04:35So I'm not sure if you've noticed, the last couple of years have been different.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Been different challenges.
04:43We've seen rollbacks in DEI.
04:46We've also seen a lot of funding cut through Doge.
04:49We've seen an increase in unemployment.
04:51And a lot of erasure or changing of history in the narratives.
04:59When you guys think about, like, what is important in terms of preserving and building and sustaining communities.
05:07I think I was telling you earlier, I was looking at a video of Ambassador Andrew Young.
05:12And he said that this particular time frame is probably the worst in his lifetime, which said quite a bit
05:20in nearly 100 years.
05:21So what do you guys think about the urgency of this particular moment and sort of what we're facing and
05:28how that actually intersects with the need to build community, to fund community?
05:34And also thinking about, like, what it takes to sustain mentally.
05:40I'll start.
05:41I run one of the oldest black women's civil rights organizations founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
05:47We all know our history about Dr. Bethune.
05:49We are an organization on Pennsylvania Avenue with the only black and woman-owned building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
05:56The reason why that's important when you think about legacy and longevity in history is that our spaces in history
06:02are literally at the verge of an intersection of either erasure or consistency and sustainability.
06:10Part of the reason why it's important to talk about it at this moment is that our ability to finance
06:16ourselves, fund ourselves, and support ourselves, it's about really proximity to power and then sustaining that power.
06:24I will lay down my life before we lose that piece of real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue because it's a
06:29symbol of Dorothy Height.
06:31It's a symbol of Mary McLeod Bethune.
06:33It's a symbol of all the ancestors that came before us.
06:36And I will offer this.
06:38As we're sitting in these spaces, this attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion is an attack on blackness.
06:45And when you have an attack on blackness, it's an attack on you and me sitting in this room.
06:49And so I think it's really important for us to understand that FUBU label, For Us, By Us, was never
06:55a pun.
06:56For Us, By Us, with Us, about Us, right?
07:00It's about how we keep each other in play.
07:03Yes.
07:04So the organization that I lead is a network with the largest network of black professionals that work in foundations
07:12around the country.
07:14And the attack is real.
07:15Yeah, it is.
07:16You know, all these executive orders on DEI, eliminating DEI, we know how corporations folded too soon, quite frankly, because
07:25of the fear.
07:26We know how some universities folded because of the fear.
07:31And right after one of the DEI executive orders came out, the administration actually asked the OMB to list every
07:39foundation in this country.
07:40They're over 100,000, every foundation in this country that had assets over 500 million, and to scrutinize them, scrutinize
07:48them for any illegal DEI activity.
07:52Or language on their websites.
07:54That's right.
07:55That's right.
07:55So basically, just like corporations and universities folded based on fear, so did too many foundations.
08:03So did too many foundations.
08:05They actually started scrubbing their websites when just five years before, after the murder of George Floyd, everybody was rushing
08:11to give money to black communities.
08:14And a couple years later, because of the fear-mongering that's happening in D.C., people started scrubbing their websites
08:21and actually started pulling back their resources that are focused on us and focused on racial justice in particular.
08:28So while we have always needed to be organized, Delana, you and I were talking backstage a bit about sometimes
08:36there's something about this moment that's making us do what we need to do, which is organize even better.
08:41So now is the time that we've got to really be thinking about, and sister, thank you, building our own
08:46foundations.
08:47Yes.
08:47Right?
08:48Organizing our own funds and leaning on black philanthropy for us by us, because that won't waver.
08:54That won't waver.
08:55That's right.
08:55I think we have, whether it's media, really a lot of industries, but for venture capitalists, black-owned venture funds
09:07have less than 1%.
09:09So we're not receiving the money, not receiving the funds.
09:13That's right.
09:15And part of what you do is creating pathways so that people can find the right relationships, right?
09:21Right.
09:22So having the accessibility is critical to that.
09:26It is.
09:27What about the mental aspect of this?
09:30So I think what each of you have described, what my sisters here do, I exist because they do what
09:38they do.
09:38So I run a mental health nonprofit called the Acoma Project.
09:42We're focused on three principles, raising consciousness, empowering people, and changing the system of mental health.
09:48And all of our work is grounded in uplifting, centering, and supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of
09:55youth and young adults who are black and also of color, of other racial ethnic groups.
10:00With a particular focus on, I've met the Professor Crenshaw, and I about passed out, but intersectionality is at the
10:07core of what we do.
10:08And I can only say that because of what she did when she coined the term and put it out
10:14there for us to consider.
10:15So for me, it really is about ensuring that as they do their work, as the people who work with
10:22them and under them and for them and beside them do their work, that there is a conscious effort to
10:27ensure that we're taking care of our mental health.
10:29Because that work is not for the meek, right?
10:32Understanding that you are the only sitting on a whole row of streets, we live in the DMV as well,
10:37is not for the meek because you know that you're a target.
10:40It's hyper-visibility and hyper-invisibility at the same time.
10:45So I think the other thing that I would say is I also run something called the Maddie Fund, and
10:52I'll tell you really quickly what the Maddie Fund is.
10:54In 2024, Melinda French Gates picked 12 global leaders.
11:00Each one of those people got a $20 million fund, and their job is to give that money away.
11:07I will say here, because I feel like it's important, four of the people out of the dozen are black
11:13women.
11:14And for somebody to empower black women in that way feels deeply important to me, and I don't take it
11:20lightly.
11:20So the work that I do is really also trying to be mindful of not just giving money for operations,
11:27but also giving money for capacity building.
11:30That's right.
11:30How do you take care of the people who are caring for all the people like us out here in
11:35the world?
11:35So for me, that's what it is, is really seeing and understanding and supporting the people who do the work
11:42to take care of the other people.
11:43Well, let's talk about that a little bit more because we actually, you know, when you think about the work,
11:49I think racism is very tiring.
11:53It's exhausting.
11:54It's exhausting.
11:55It's exhausting being black in America.
11:57It is.
11:58So, you know, there are often times we don't think about that.
12:03We were talking about that, like, with media, that I'm just going through it and covering it over and over
12:09again.
12:09But also we talked about the importance of joy and being able to capture some of those moments.
12:14So just talk about, like, your experience in that and, like, you know, how we should be thinking and approaching
12:20that part of this in this moment.
12:22Because I think a lot of people are just struggling.
12:25Yes.
12:26So I'll say this really quickly, and I'll leave it to my beautiful sisters, my beautiful and brilliant sisters.
12:30One thing I hope everybody in here remembers is that things do not happen to you because of who you
12:36are.
12:37All right?
12:37And just bear with me.
12:38They happen because of other people's perceptions of who you are.
12:42So the next time you go to a store, right, and everybody comes through the line, and they swipe their
12:47credit card, and nobody asks them for the ID,
12:50and they get to you, and they want ID, it's not because you're black.
12:55It is because that person is racist.
12:58That person is biased.
12:59Do you understand the difference?
13:00And so for me, that's the kind of reframe that's necessary so that I don't carry the weight.
13:06Because remember, whatever comes after the word because, I was an English major and undergrad at Howard University, H-U,
13:11you know.
13:11But what I learned is the word because, whatever comes after that is the reason.
13:16You understand?
13:17So the reason is never your blackness.
13:20The reason is that other person's choices and their bias.
13:23So that's what I would say we have to pay attention to and stay with.
13:27We push really hard in terms of working with funders to ensure that they are funding space and time for
13:35joy, right, space and time for rest.
13:38There are a number of leading funders who actually understand that and are giving grants to nonprofits for sabbaticals and
13:48time, again, to dream.
13:50People need time to dream.
13:51Talking about general operating support.
13:53There's a whole new kind of general operating support we need today.
13:56And that's time to dream and to plan with others.
14:00So we are behind a number of foundations that are moving in that direction.
14:05And they're investing in opportunities for joy.
14:07We also, for our members, because we are a membership association, organize retreats specifically for black women as well as
14:16for black men.
14:18Because, you know, in times like this, always being black in America is exhausting.
14:22But in times like this, we are very intentional about making the spaces, going off into the mountains.
14:28Again, being able to dream and bringing nonprofit partners with us.
14:33That's sort of how we're dealing with some of these issues.
14:36Yeah.
14:37So you represent an organization that is very historic.
14:42Yeah.
14:42And we talked a little bit about the cyclical nature of history.
14:48You mentioned that back in 2020, everybody was embracing DEI.
14:54They were running into it.
14:56And that recoil happened.
14:59But we've seen that recoil throughout history.
15:01It's something that, you know, going back to Reconstruction, as we were talking about, that that is something that has
15:06happened to the black community.
15:10Is there a moment that you guys think about, particularly you, do you think, can you trust that maybe things
15:18will go back to a particular place where it was?
15:22Or at this moment, does sustaining truly mean building, preserving what we build today, the infrastructure, the ecosystems that we
15:32build today to move forward and ignore the potential that some people might come around and say, you know what?
15:39We made a mistake.
15:40Yeah.
15:41I don't trust them.
15:44I don't trust people that oppress.
15:46But what I do trust is in the resilience of blackness.
15:50I believe, honestly, that the kind of opposition that we are seeing now is pushing black communities to do something
15:58a little bit different.
15:59So what I trust in is new investments from our own people.
16:04I trust in a commitment that will be made that has never been made before.
16:09I tell people all the time, the way that we've been able to sustain ourselves are by small gifts.
16:13People get caught up in, I need millions of dollars.
16:16I tell people, $20 a month for organizations like civil rights organizations, for charities, literally sustains them.
16:25What people have to understand is that your Starbucks cup of coffee can save the movement.
16:30Like one cup away from keeping black institutions alive.
16:34Your HBCU needs your $20 a month.
16:39NCNW.org, go online.
16:40If you're not a member, it's a problem, right?
16:42These institutions require that kind of commitment.
16:45I think the opposition has risen up another generation.
16:49My fastest growing members are 19 to 24-year-olds.
16:54We're on 113 college campuses in 33 states.
16:58And the reason why is because every generation now sees the same enemy.
17:04And because of that, I believe that this moment is calling for us to get new dollars in, new donors
17:10in, new quote-unquote allies in,
17:12but also a resurgence of folks that have been checked out because we got comfortable in 08 through 16.
17:19We thought 16 to 20 was a fluke, and we found out in 24 it wasn't.
17:23And so now we've got young people that have been really recharged.
17:27We've got seasoned folk that are saying, not on our watch, we're going to teach you.
17:30And now when the generations are talking the same language, y'all black people have never lost a fight that
17:35we got on the same page about.
17:37Let's win this fight.
17:39Can I co-sign on with you, Lana?
17:42Absolutely.
17:43Absolutely.
17:44And when we talk about the power of philanthropy and the power of black philanthropy, I love, sis, when you
17:49say it's the small checks, the $20 checks.
17:52We know that is how we have survived in this country.
17:56So even though I lead an organization that is pushing on institutional philanthropy, that made their billions of dollars in
18:03their endowments really off the backs of our people,
18:06I know that we've got to do much more to bring foundations and individual donors together, and particularly black individual
18:13donors.
18:13The power of everyday givers is something that we really have to lift up and be intentional about.
18:21And the explosion of, for example, black giving circles around the country is so exciting.
18:28There are so many black giving circles being developed around the country that there is now an association called the
18:35Community Investment Network that's organizing black giving circles.
18:39And there are funds that are being developed around the country.
18:43I think, again, since 2020, because we saw this coming.
18:46We saw this coming.
18:47And one example I will give, there's a brother named Jamie Wooten in Baltimore, Maryland.
18:53He runs something called Collectively.
18:55Every year, every August, which is Black Philanthropy Month, y'all, every August is Black Philanthropy Month.
19:02They have a 24-hour drive, fundraising drive for grassroots black organizations in Baltimore.
19:11Last year, in 24 hours, they raised a million dollars to support 150 black organizations.
19:19And they've done that every year for the last three years.
19:23Shout out to Jamie.
19:25So we've got to lean into what is our legacy.
19:28We know we are a giving people.
19:30It is how we have survived.
19:32There's actually data funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation that says that black people actually are the most giving
19:40people on the planet, African descendant people.
19:44We give away more of our discretionary income than any other racial ethnic group.
19:49We've been tithing forever, right?
19:52We've been paying our membership dues to our fraternities and sororities forever, over 100 and some odd years.
19:58So now is the time to lean in on what is our strength, and that's the giving of our people
20:04for our people.
20:05That's right.
20:08What do you think is the thing that would help you all right now?
20:14Like if there was a message that you would want people to leave with that would be beneficial to you
20:21in your respective lanes, what would that look like?
20:24For me, I think it is that every single one of us can give something.
20:27So if you can't give money, you can give your time.
20:30If you can't give your time, you can share your talent.
20:33Maybe you are an artist and you can create some art that a nonprofit would benefit from.
20:38Maybe you're a person who knows of a young person because so many young people, I've met so many who
20:45are developing their own nonprofits and doing their own activism.
20:48Maybe you know someone.
20:49Get them connected with people like this so they can have insight and they don't have to reinvent the wheel
20:55figuring out how to build up and grow up.
20:58So I think every single one of us can do something.
21:00And my challenge to everybody in here today is to find one black-led organization.
21:06It can be a coma.
21:08It can be any of the NCNW.
21:10It can be any of these organizations up here.
21:12And figure out what you can give.
21:14But find an organization and figure out what you can give.
21:16I think that's what we can offer.
21:19I would share.
21:20Thank you for that.
21:22Yeah.
21:22Yeah.
21:23Because you just mentioned, Sister Alfie, some people's definition of philanthropy.
21:28That's a big fancy word, right, that didn't come from us.
21:33But people, some people describe it as the giving of time, talent, and treasure.
21:38Treasure is the money.
21:39Time and talent is really, really important, right?
21:43And one of the things I will share with you, the studies and the research that we have on black
21:48-led nonprofits in this country and what they're going through right now.
21:51That fear that I said is coming out of Washington, D.C. and threatening foundations that will pull your 501c3
21:58status if you fund illegal DEI activity is actually rolling down and hitting black nonprofits very hard.
22:06We know that some foundations, and let me be clear, black CEOs in foundations are holding the line.
22:14Yes, they are.
22:14And they're pushing forward.
22:15But we are still a small percentage of the number of leaders in the field of philanthropy, in foundations, right?
22:23But it is really, really important that we think about the threats that black nonprofits are under right now.
22:30I've talked to more lawyers than I have cared to talk to over the last couple of years.
22:35And many of them, nonprofits, need support around legal counsel.
22:40They need support around crisis communication because they are under the radar.
22:45And it's not just the administration.
22:48In red states, attorney generals are coming after black organizations.
22:51If you say your work is black, you have a target on your back these days.
22:56And so we are trying to do more to get pro bono support.
23:00And just want to shout out Damon Hewitt, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.
23:05Straight up.
23:05He stood up an entire program, you know, a couple of years ago that's providing pro bono counsel to organizations
23:12led by black folks.
23:13So you don't have to be afraid.
23:16You can pick up the phone and call and get some legal counsel.
23:20So the giving of talent and your giving of your time, we need black lawyers.
23:25We need black communications specialists to actually make these relationships with black nonprofits because we're under threat.
23:33We're under threat.
23:34Yeah, that's absolutely amazing.
23:36We are the National Council of Negro Women.
23:39The constant targets of being the only black building between the White House and the Capitol has been unprecedented.
23:47There's two things that we need.
23:48I think, one, you talked about it, which is small donations.
23:51If you're not a member or affiliated or if you have small dollar donations, go on websites right now.
23:57Like, pull out your phone, go to ncw.org, go to NACP, go to AFI, go to these organizations, give
24:03a small donation.
24:04But here's the second thing.
24:06Social media.
24:08Follow black institutions online and help our algorithms.
24:11We don't talk about this enough.
24:14A lot of the foolishness and misinformation that gets put out is because we are following foolish people and we
24:20are sending out their information.
24:23Deal with accurate institutions that are giving out the right information.
24:27So, go on social media.
24:29Follow us on Instagram, on TikTok, on LinkedIn.
24:33For those that use Facebook, follow us online.
24:36Follow us individually.
24:38Because when our algorithm goes up, people then begin to see more clearer, cleaner messaging.
24:44And they invest in what they see.
24:46The last thing I'll say is don't forget to invest in black children.
24:50Making sure that we get opportunities for our babies.
24:54We have a program called BHCP.
24:56We're giving students $5,000 each to pay towards their tuition.
24:59Please support organizations that support black families.
25:03It's the way we sustain ourselves.
25:05Yeah.
25:06I think we're about to wrap.
25:09Yeah.
25:09One thing that there is a word that you could think of just quickly.
25:15Yeah.
25:15What is the word that comes to mind when you're thinking about community and what is needed to sustain community?
25:24What is, if you could think of a word that when you think about what's necessary to sustain community and
25:31to sustain a black community, like, what is that?
25:34I would say empowered.
25:35And when I say empowered, I mean embodying the power that is within you.
25:40That's all I mean when I say empowered.
25:41I would say that's what it is.
25:43Mine is self-determination.
25:45Ain't nobody coming to save us.
25:46For us, by us.
25:48I would say bold collective.
25:52Right?
25:53I'm combining my words.
25:55Because blackness cannot be contained.
25:58It is bold.
26:00It's beautiful.
26:00It's bodacious.
26:01It's bad.
26:02It's big.
26:04And bold collaboration of blackness means that no matter where you come from, no matter if you got a degree
26:10or not, whether you're from the north, south, east, west, if you're black, you're bad.
26:14And you woke up that way.
26:16And that collaboration and investment allows us to do great things.
26:19So bold collaboration.
26:21All right.
26:22I mean, that's it.
26:24All right.
26:25Well, thank you.
26:32Get it now, yeah, yeah
26:35Get it now, yeah, yeah
26:37Get it now
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