Justice Oregon for Black Lives: A five-year, $25 million commitment

Michelle J. DePass, President & CEO of Meyer Memorial Trust, describes how the foundation is supporting Black resilience in Oregon with their largest initiative yet — funding Black-led and Black-centered organizations working toward justice and systemic change. This post was originally published here on the foundation’s website. Michelle is part of the 2019-2020 Philanthropy Forward: Leadership for Change Fellowship cohort,…

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A Multiracial Rural Equity Summit: Why Now

As part of Neighborhood Funders Group’s virtual convening series, NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group (IRSG) will host its first ever Multiracial Rural Equity Summit on July 1. As Americans across the country rise up in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, IRSG calls on philanthropy to: Uplift the voices of rural communities demanding economic and…

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Black Lives Matter: We Say Their Names

We at NFG say their names. George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN. Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY. Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, GA. Tony McDade in Tallahassee, FL. Dion Johnson in Phoenix, AZ. Black Lives Matter, today and every day. NFG stands in solidarity with Black communities as we again find ourselves anguished, angered, and compelled…

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Lifting up Philanthropy Forward Fellows’ Response to Coronavirus

NFG’s Philanthropy Forward fellowship provides dedicated space for CEOs of progressive philanthropic institutions to organize together, a critical effort especially in this profound health and economic crisis due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Check out these timely articles and calls to action from our Fellows that urge philanthropy to pivot, adapt, and transform the sector…

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Strike Watch: From Food to Fashion, Workers are Countering Corporate Talking Points with Organizing for Economic Security and Protection

Updates from the Front Lines & How Funders can Support Growing Movements As mostly-conservative state governors and the federal government enforce rapid re-opening and block closures in some sectors like meatpacking, workers continue to put their livelihood on the line to protect themselves through strikes and other actions. Employees are coalescing under the banners of…

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NFG Announces New President: Adriana Rocha

For Immediate Release May 21, 2020 OAKLAND, CA —  Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG), a national affinity group that organizes philanthropy to support grassroots power building so that communities of color and low-income communities thrive, is excited to name Adriana Rocha as its next leader.  After a nationwide search, Rocha will become the 6th President in…

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2020 National Convening update & more: NFG’s April 2020 Newsletter

We hope that you are safe, supported, and healthy in this unprecedented public health and economic crisis. The NFG team has spent the last several weeks adjusting to this altered way of life — providing time off for staff, calling for social solidarity, urging funders to scale up and move money to communities of color…

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Amplify Fund’s Response to COVID-19

In the face of COVID-19, Amplify is stretching from our core! We maintain our central belief that community power drives just and equitable development, and feel strongly that all funders should: Give more than you ever thought possible. As a time-limited pooled fund, we are reallocating budget items so we can distribute as much in direct support as…

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COVID-19 Strike Wave

By Rob Chlala, Program Manager of Funders for a Just Economy The last few weeks have seen an unprecedented wave of labor organizing, coast to coast. Payday Report has offered a map of these strikes; Labor Notes is offering both updates and guides for workers; and the American Prospect has nearly daily news via its…

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A Call for Social Solidarity: COVID-19 Response from NFG’s Programs

In the midst of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, NFG stands with our communities and workers who are in crisis. As we help organize with frontline leaders and philanthropy to meet the immediate needs of our communities at this time, NFG also remains committed to long-term transformation towards a just and equitable society. Funders must listen…

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Lifting up how Black communities are reclaiming land ownership & addressing the racial wealth gap: NFG’s February 2020 Newsletter

February is Black History Month and, in this newsletter, NFG honors Black resistance. Given the persistence of structural racism and the legacies of segregation, NFG has mobilized philanthropy to support POC-led organizing for equitable development since our start 40 years ago. Through our member-led and local advisor-led programming, we are lifting up how Black communities are…

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NFG celebrates 40 years! NFG’s January 2020 Newsletter

This year marks NFG’s 40th anniversary. During our early years, NFG was one of the few spaces in philanthropy specifically focused on people of color-led, grassroots organizing, and power building as the key to effective social change strategies. Today, NFG continues to be many funders’ political home at a time when moving resources to struggles for…

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NFG Member Spotlight: The Libra Foundation

(L-R): Angie Chen (Senior Program Officer), Crystal Hayling (Executive Director), Ashley Clark (Knowledge & Grants Manager), Jennifer Agmi (Senior Program Officer) NFG’s network is composed of 120+ members that work in every part of the nation, in both urban and rural settings, and includes private and public foundations, community foundations, family foundations, corporate foundations, faith-based funders, and other…

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Racial Capitalism, Power & Resistance: Keynote Videos & Highlights for 2020

In October 2019, NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy (FJE) held a breakthrough Racial Capitalism, Power and Resistance Convening, an unprecedented conversation with more than 70 funder participants on the racial and gendered inequality defining US and global capitalism — and the role of philanthropy within these structures. FJE is moving this conversation into action in…

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