What if Philanthropy Celebrated Black Abundance?

How would our world look if we truly loved Black people? Just as COVID-19 brought anti-Blackness into view for many across healthcare, education, finance, so too in philanthropy.  As many grassroots groups have pointed out over decades, philanthropy, as an institution, is complicit in anti-Blackness. Seeing anti-Blackness as a defining element of institutional philanthropic culture brought us to wonder: What would it look like if philanthropy celebrated Black Abundance instead? What would it look like to celebrate the richness of existing Black-led efforts and to support those efforts in a way that leads to freedom and joy for all?

As funders, we can begin to remedy philanthropy’s unjust practices, policies and outcomes through our explicit and intentional actions. Abundance is a movement in philanthropy to change practice, policy, mindsets, and ways of being to support Black people and communities. Stepping into Abundance in this time is an opportunity to acknowledge and learn. It is an opportunity for collaborative efforts, board engagement, reimagined funder practices—leading to impact for Black people and communities and structural shifts that are generative, generational, and far greater than the sum of their parts.

This session introduced attendees to Abundance, a movement in philanthropy to change practice, policy, mindsets, and ways of being to support Black people and communities.