Philanthropy, Racial Justice & Funding Grassroots Organizing, with Lori Bezahler

<p>In this episode we're joined by Lori Bezahler, President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, to discuss the role of philanthropy in supporting racial justice and funding grassroots organizing or social movements. Including:</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Racial Justice</strong></p> <ul> <li>Is racial injustice such a big/cross-cutting issues that it should not be seen as a cause area, but rather as something that is the responsibility of ALL philanthropic funders and nonprofits?</li> <li>What does this mean in practice re racial justice issues? (E.g. supporting more grantees led by BIPOC leaders, promoting more BIPOC employees into positions of authority within foundations, acknowledging where philanthropic assets have been created in ways that exacerbated racial injustice, paying reparations etc?)</li> <li>Should we be optimistic that the current recognition of the need to apply a racial justice lens across philanthropy will be maintained?</li> </ul> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>The “Movement Moment”</strong></p> <ul> <li>Is the current enthusiasm for social movements reflective of a frustration people have that traditional nonprofits have failed to move the needle on issues such as the climate crisis or racial justice?</li> <li>Is the fact that participation is inherent to the approach of social movements part of their appeal, as it gives people a greater sense of agency over problems that can seem insurmountable?</li> <li>Are traditional nonprofits and funders too often a reflection of existing systems and power structures to push for the kind of radical solutions we need to deal with huge global, structural challenges?</li> <li>Does the ability of social movements to be more overtly political, or to employ more challenging tactics (e.g. protest, direct action), give them an advantage over civil society organisations (CSOs) that might be more constrained by legal/regulatory requirements?</li> <li>Can movements that have grown to huge scale very quickly find that they are lacking some of the elements of orga