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NCRP VP and Chief External Affairs Officer Russell Roybal and LGBTQIA+ advocate Dolores Huerta
NCRP VP & Chief External Affairs Officer Russell Roybal and lifelong LGBTQIA+ advocate Dolores Huerta

A few weeks ago, I presented an award to Dolores Huerta at the annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast in San Diego. Dolores co-founded the United Farm Workers, and at 94 is still fighting the good fight. In my remarks I said, “For Dolores, justice is indivisible, and she has long recognized that the struggle for LGBTQ rights is inseparable from the broader fight for human dignity and liberation.”

Dolores and Harvey were contemporaries. They marched together, organized together, and they called attention to the injustices faced by farmworkers and queer people…they dissented…together. That was nearly 50 years ago.

Fast forward to today, to a world where dissent is increasingly criminalized as we continue the annual season of Pride celebrations — the vibrant tapestry of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (LGBTQ+) pride stands as a testament to the power of resistance. From its humble beginnings as a commemoration of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 to the global celebrations we see today, pride has always been, at its core, a protest. However, as governments and institutions around the world clamp down on dissent, the very essence of pride – its radical roots – is under threat.

The criminalization of dissent takes many forms, from outright suppression of protests to the enactment of laws targeting marginalized communities. In recent years, we’ve witnessed a troubling trend of governments stifling dissent under the guise of maintaining order or preserving so-called traditional values. This crackdown is particularly pronounced when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, as authoritarian regimes and conservative lawmakers seek to erase the hard-won gains of the queer community and literally criminalize our very lives.

But pride refuses to be silenced. It stands as a defiant declaration of existence in the face of oppression, a celebration of diversity, and a demand for liberation. Each pride parade is a reclaiming of public space, a rejection of shame, and a reclamation of power. It is a reminder that the personal is political and that our very existence is an act of resistance.

Pride is Political

At its core, pride is a protest against the criminalization of our identities. It is a refusal to be confined to the shadows, to be denied our humanity, and to be stripped of our rights. In countries where being LGBTQ+ is still illegal, pride takes on an even greater significance, serving as a beacon of hope for those living under the shadow of persecution.

But pride is not just a protest against external forces; it is also a call to action within our own communities. As we fight against the criminalization of dissent, we must also confront the ways in which oppression manifests within our own ranks. Pride must be inclusive, intersectional, and accessible to all members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially those who are most marginalized. We must all advance together and leave no part of us behind.

In recent years, we’ve seen a growing push to depoliticize pride, to turn it into a sanitized, corporate-sponsored spectacle devoid of its radical roots. But to do so is to betray the very essence of pride and the countless activists who risked everything to make it possible. Pride was born out of struggle, and it must remain a space for protest if it is to retain its power.

A Call to Action – This Pride Month and Beyond

As we navigate these turbulent times, it is more important than ever to remember the radical origins of pride and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights. We cannot allow ourselves to become complacent or apathetic in the face of injustice. We must continue to resist, to organize, and to demand change.

The bottom line is that philanthropy has a role and responsibility in the creation of this change. Funders for LGBTQ Issues continues to be a leader in this change. They are releasing the 2022 Resource Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations in the next two weeks. The 20th edition of the annual Resource Tracking Report not only provides a snapshot of funding for queer communities and issues across the country in 2022, it also reveals gaps in funding and highlights opportunities for US-based foundations to make strategic funding decisions that best support domestic LGBTQ communities and issues within the current philanthropic and political landscape.

If philanthropy hopes to become a place of refuge for LGBTQ+ people, they must include more LGBTQ+ staff. A 2022 survey from Change Philanthropy showed that while gay and transgendered people are protected against employment discrimination under the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964, nearly half of all LGBTQ people working in philanthropy are not open about their sexuality to most of their coworkers and trans people working in philanthropy account for a just 1.5% of board and staff in philanthropic institutions.

With wealthy right-wing extremists gearing up through Project 2025—for the elimination of LGBTQ+ civil rights law agencies and offices, it is clear that the attack on bodily autonomy is at dire risk. That is why philanthropy must take action now.

As Audre Lorde reminds us, “your silence will not protect you.” We must speak out against the criminalization of dissent, both within our communities and in the world at large. We must stand in solidarity with all those who are fighting for justice and equality, knowing that our struggles are interconnected.

Pride is more than just a parade; it is a symbol of hope, resilience, and resistance. It is a reminder that despite the forces arrayed against us, we will not be silenced. As long as injustice exists, pride will endure as a beacon of hope, lighting the way forward towards a more just and inclusive world.

 

Russell Roybal is the Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer at NCRP. As a Latinx, male-bodied, non-binary queer leader, their activism is rooted in a tradition of public service and the pursuit of social justice.

It’s easy to forget, in a sector where Gateses, Fords, Lillys and Hewletts dominate the discourse, that most institutional philanthropies are small, leanly staffed, little-known foundations.

In any given year, roughly a quarter of all U.S. grantmaking comes from the 90%+ of foundations whose annual giving is less than $10 million.

Recent research from Exponent Philanthropy suggests those small foundations believe racial equity is relevant to their work.

At the same time, the data also show that they are overwhelmingly staffed and led by white people.

Exponent’s 2019 Foundation Operations and Management Report survey, which is available to Exponent members and was generously shared with NCRP, found that:

  • 75% of respondent foundations have white-only boards of directors.
  • 78% have white-only staffs.
  • 89% have white CEOs.

These findings are striking in light of the fact that the U.S. as whole is about 40% people of color. The Census Bureau estimates that this year more than half of U.S. children will be non-white.

The contrast between the nation’s demographics and the demographics of small foundations, then, appear to reflect – or even amplify – the racialized nature of the inequitable distribution of wealth and power.

Exponent survey respondent foundations aren’t oblivious to the role that systemic racism plays in the challenges they seek to address through their funding.

Almost 75% of foundations answered that racial equity was at least somewhat relevant to their missions, and more than 33% said that it was very relevant.

Philanthropy lives in a bubble, but isn’t immune to culture change.

It seems likely that the embrace of racial equity is a result of the public awareness and discourse on the issue created by the Movement for Black Lives, the pro-immigrant movement and other movements that center people of color (alongside, of course, the ongoing work of philanthropic sector racial equity advocates like ABFE, Philanthropic Racial Equity and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations).

Unfortunately, that embrace doesn’t appear to have shifted from words to action for many of the surveyed foundations.

Fully 75% said they had made no grants for advocacy or public policy work in the last year, despite NCRP research that shows that grantmaking for advocacy and other social justice strategies is a high-leverage strategy for affecting the kind of structural change necessary to achieve racial equity.

Funders may face operational barriers such as the fact that many small foundations have all-white boards because they have relied only on family to help lead.

But that’s not the only way to run an effective philanthropy. Some of the country’s leading family foundations have found great success adding non-family members to their boards of directors.

As the country and the philanthropic sector moves into a new decade, here are 3 first steps small foundations can take to turn racial equity rhetoric and resolutions into reality:

1. Create an equity baseline using the Power Moves assessment to evaluate your foundation through an equity lens.

NCRP has distilled years of social justice evaluation research into a thorough but easy-to-use self-evaluative framework.

Power Moves is a complete self-assessment toolkit to determine how well you are building, sharing and wielding power and identify ways to transform your programs and operations for lasting, equitable impact.

You may find opportunities for changes in your grantmaking such as funding more people-of-color led organizations, but also in your operations for example by adding non-family members to boards.

It’s especially well-suited to small foundations who may lack the in-house evaluative expertise many large funders possess.

2. Adopt the “Rooney Rule” to hire with racial equity in mind.

It may be time for a philanthropic version of the “Rooney Rule,” requiring that at least 1 person of color is interviewed for each open position, for recruiting new staff.

Organizational psychology research has shown that diverse staff leads to better business outcomes, and there’s every reason to think the same is true for philanthropic outcomes.

The pipelines for excellent Black, Hispanic, Native and other non-white philanthropic leaders exist. Consider the ways your current hiring practices may not be reaching those pipelines and knock down the barriers to better recruitment and more impact.

3. Use the opportunity this year to make an advocacy test grant.

This year is a pivotal year for the future of our communities and our country, with the census and elections from the top of the ballot down to the bottom.

There are plenty of ways that 501(c)3 organizations can engage in important issue advocacy around the policies and processes (such as the census) that will influence the health, wealth and general well-being of Americans for years to come.

More than perhaps anything else you could fund this year, advocacy is a high-leverage investment in our future.

Consider making a test grant for advocacy in your community around the issues you care about. If any of your current grantees already do advocacy work, speak with them to help guide you.

Small funders have an opportunity to impact their local communities in ways that large national funders simply can’t.

With an increased focus on turning racial equity intent into impact, America’s small foundations can create change from the ground up by making a New Year’s resolution to turn their rhetoric into reality.

Ryan Schlegel is NCRP’s director of research. Follow @r_j_schlegel and @NCRP on Twitter.

Babies being separated from their families and put in cages at the southern border. Small children tear-gassed as they seek refuge in the U.S.

Those of us who have been haunted by the images can feel the urgency to fix it. Yet it is imperative that we remind ourselves that the family separations crisis doesn’t stop at the border. The sight of children going to any airport to say goodbye to their father is no less painful.

Immigrant parents across the U.S. have been preparing their families for the possibility of deportations since President Trump took office – giving friends powers of attorneys over their children.

They prepare like they would for a natural disaster, with safety plans and emergency numbers in a secure place. Every neighborhood where immigrant families live feels the impact of these federal policies.

Advocates are witnessing the dramatic rise in detention and deportation rates across the country.

Immigration arrests aren’t limited to border states

We assume the issue is in border states, but New Jersey, where I live and work, has seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests increase by 42%, and houses the 9th highest immigrant detainee population in the U.S.

While the country is horrified by child detention along our Southern border, ICE is also taking parents from their homes and arresting people at immigration adjustment interviews.

Police officers have taken immigration law into their own hands, calling ICE when they interact with immigrants in their communities. Some families lose their loved ones to deportation before anyone is any the wiser.

The simple solution is Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), which would provide a pathway to citizenship to all undocumented immigrants in this country, a proposal that has been in the works for more than 2 decades.

I’ve been fighting for CIR for most of my life and have seen every possible solution at the federal level dwindle from a comprehensive plan to temporary piecemeal bargaining chips.

Action at the state and local levels

What happens in Congress has real consequences in the lives of people: Not having lawful immigration status means they can’t drive, can’t go to college, don’t have health insurance and are afraid of the police.

Let's Drive NJ Rally in Passaic, New Jersey, calling for expanding access to driver's licenses for more residents in February 2018.

Let’s Drive NJ Rally in Passaic, New Jersey, calling for expanding access to driver’s licenses for more residents in February 2018.

Many local and state governments have recognized the harm to our communities and stepped in to lessen the burden on our families.

Immigrant communities across the nation are advocating for several policies to help lessen the impact of Congress’s inability to pass CIR:

  • Expanding access to driver’s licenses, including in New Jersey through our Let’s Drive NJ campaign, to allow all who can be tested and insured, to drive safely regardless of immigration status.
  • Ensuring that local and state law enforcement stop using resources to do ICE’s work. In New Jersey, we are seeing the impacts of our advocacy efforts following the announcement of Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust Directive. This directive is 1 step towards ensuring that law enforcement prioritize community policing that builds trust with immigrant communities.
  • Expanding health care access to all, including immigrants.

This is the real-life impact of advocacy work: Families are less scared, and fewer families are separated and deported with the help of state and local law enforcement.

Providing services won’t change the fact that without these policies, immigrant families will still live in the shadows.

Yet despite the human impact of advocacy, New Jersey still has a culture of philanthropy that focuses on service provision.

Service providers often see the limits to their work and are facing challenges in their ability to serve communities because immigration laws are broken and leave many people out of the systems that would protect them.

Area funders who seek to benefit immigrants and refugees also largely focus on neighboring communities and Southern states, leaving New Jersey’s advocates sorely under-resourced.

According to NCRP, per immigrant capita, Texas received double the philanthropic funding for immigrant rights as New Jersey from 2014-2016.

In more stark contrast, Arizona received 13 times more in grant dollars, though New Jersey’s immigrant population was more than double that of the border state.

And compared to New York and Pennsylvania, New Jersey received 2% of funding for immigrant rights in the tristate area, despite being home to more than a quarter of the region’s immigrant population.

Johanna Calle speaks at a petition delivery at New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin's office in Woodbridge in February of this year. Advocates delivered over 15,000 petition signatures to Speaker Coughlin, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Governor Phil Murphy's offices urging them to expand access to driver's licenses to all residents regardless of immigration status.

Johanna Calle speaks at a petition delivery at New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s office in Woodbridge in February of this year. Advocates delivered over 15,000 petition signatures to Speaker Coughlin, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Gov. Phil Murphy’s offices urging them to expand access to driver’s licenses to all residents regardless of immigration status.

Funders should support advocacy at all levels of government

Many still believe that immigration is a federal issue that should be addressed by Congress; that advocacy is a political tool that should be left to political action committees.

However, fighting for immigrants’ rights isn’t a choice of one or the other, and New Jersey is seeing exciting progress.

That is why we are a part of the Winning in the States Campaign with the National Immigration Law Center.

The level of support from new advocates has increased greatly, and many have realized that sitting out the legislative process isn’t an option.

The way to change what is happening in our country is through advocacy. Funders should make this adjustment.

To combat those who want to hurt immigrant communities, take away health care or limit access to education, we need to invest in our communities’ power to organize and advocate at every level of government. Immigrant families can’t afford to not do the same.

We must follow the lead of those impacted. If immigrants can organize, rally, protest, advocate and fight for their rights in this environment, then funders can leave hesitation aside and fight alongside of them.

Funders and donors can learn more about how to best support the pro-immigrant movement with new data, stories and best practice recommendations from NCRP’s Movement Investment Project.

Johanna Calle is the director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ). Follow @NJAIJ on Twitter and visit www.njimmigrantjustice.org to learn more.

Between 2011 and 2015, foundations invested 56 cents in the South – per person – for every $1 they invested per person nationally. 

In the two plus years NCRP and GSP have embarked on As the South Grows, we’ve met countless people across the South who have dedicated their lives to deep, lasting change. These courageous leaders confront hard truths, build power strategically, and make sure no one gets left behind.

Despite proven leadership, Southern communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, women and girls, justice-involved people, and low-income folks cannot count on the philanthropic sector’s support.

This doesn’t have to be the case. There’s a different path foundations can take: one that will require honesty, and open-ness, and a willingness to question assumptions. It’s one that will be incredibly rewarding, not only for Southern communities, but for the nation.

So Grows the Nation, the fifth and final capstone report in the As the South Grows series, offers that path, with concrete tips for foundation practice, funding comparisons for every Southern state, and tools for foundations to examine the untapped power they have to create change.

Whether you’re a national funder looking to deepen your investment, or a Southern foundation ready to tackle injustice at its roots, this report is for you. We believe, as we note in the report, that “the soil for growing exciting solutions to national problems is deep and fertile in the South; the seeds are present, and foundation staff haven’t turned on the water. It’s time to open the spigot.”

For As the South Grows, So Grows the Nation.  

Ben Barge is senior associate for learning and engagement and Ryan Schlegel is director of research at NCRP. Follow @NCRP on Twitter.

Photo by praline3001. Used under Creative Commons license.