Good philanthropy is not charity. And in the wake of 2020’s national reckoning on racism in America, interest in philanthropy as a tool for social impact waxed and, in some ways, has waned.
At the “Does Philanthropy Need a Course Correction?” Aspen Ideas panel discussion on Thursday, corporate and nonprofit leaders discussed the trajectory of the relationship between philanthropy and social progress, moderated by Sharon Epperson, senior personal finance correspondent at CNBC.
“Philanthropy is one of many financial vehicles by which we can all support a thriving economy and wealth-building activities,” said Melissa Bradley, co-founder and managing partner of 1863 Ventures, a business development program.
Jay Bailey, president and CEO of H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, an entrepreneurial hub dedicated to empowering Black businesses, said that when he started the center, funders told him that his target demographic was too niche and it would never take off.
Then George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. It sparked an international conversation and effort to empower Black businesses and success, leading to $70 million overseen at the center.
“We were Black before George Floyd. That knee has been on our neck since we got here,” Bailey said.
Corporations emerged as major players in the philanthropy-social impact scene, as well, with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion departments either forming or receiving much more attention and funding as before.
Dalila Wilson-Scott is executive vice president and chief diversity officer of Comcast Corporation and president of Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. She said that corporate philanthropy must be connected to the mission of a company for it to be most effective.
“It has to be intrinsically connected to what that company was built for,” she said. “What are you willing to put on the table beyond financial resources or philanthropy? Philanthropy does not work well alone.”
The recent suspension of Atlanta-based venture capital firm Fearless Fund’s grant program for Black women business owners by a U.S. federal court of appeals panel scared the industry, citing fear over legal culpability for focusing money and programs to specific demographics — like Black women.
The original suit was filed by conservative activist Edward Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights — the same group behind the case that ended affirmative action, according to the Associated Press.
Bradley said making contributions with explicit conditions — like ticking the proverbial black box in a form — is what might be a problem. But to not invest is far more dangerous.
Even a legal defense fund for these organizations is a misuse of funding, she said.
“I think what’s happened with this lawsuit is that it’s become an intellectual discussion, as if everything is well. Everything else is not well. And so now we want to
mobilize money away from the core problem that Black-led organizations are not supported. That’s the problem,” Bradley said.
“I would rather, instead of giving it to lawyers, say, ‘How do I support the infrastructure so that organizations … do not have to think about (changing their mission statement or letting staff go)?’”
