Closing the Gap
by Liz Jansen, Executive Director
Women Unite!’s organizational model is designed to respond to the inherent inequality within the nonprofit sector. White people continue to hold disproportionate amounts of wealth, wealth that was built on and continues to rely on the exploitation of Black people. White wealth drives philanthropy and all too often white donors drive nonprofits–their mission, their vision, the how and why behind their work.
We see this most clearly in how resources are allocated. Rather than eradicating funding inequity between Black and white communities, philanthropy often perpetuates it. In the nonprofit world, overall revenue of Black-led organizations is 24% smaller than white-led organizations and only 8-9% of foundation funding goes to communities of color. This is unsurprising when you consider 92% of foundation CEOs are white and 89% of foundation boards are all white.
This lopsided distribution of resources and lack of meaningful representation means a majority of funding goes to advance the goals and ideas of white-led organizations. It means, just like in all other sectors of society, Black people are tasked with doing much more with much less.
All of this is, of course, immensely depressing. Thanks to the far-reaching tentacles of white supremacy, even donating money can be fraught with anxiety and doubt. This month we’re hoping to overcome some of the anxiety and doubt by identifying steps we can take to close these funding gaps and put the people back in philanthropy. We’ll be sharing a variety of resources on our social media, so keep an eye out for:
Our monthly Resource Roundup will feature a list of Black-owned businesses, Black-led organizations, and other Black-created content for you all to check out.
Daily updates on social media that highlight Black-led nonprofits and link directly to their donation pages.
An upcoming panel that will discuss what this giving gap looks like in practice and what we can do to support the organizations and communities most impacted. The panel will be moderated by L’Oreal Thompson Payton and will feature:
Janell Nelson, Co-Founder & Director of Engagement for Englewood Arts Collective
Eva Maria Lewis, Founder & Executive Director of Free Root Operation
Camesha Jones, Executive Director of Sista Afya Community Care & Founder of Sista Afya Community Wellness
Jennifer Pagán, Co-Founder of The #LetUsBreathe Collective
The problems we face are complicated and deeply entrenched, but together we can make real, measurable change. Join us this Black History month as we amplify Black voices and use our resources to support the work of Black leaders across Chicago.
