In times of plenty, the work we do can seem easy. Resources abound. Apathy seems at bay. The promise of a better future feels just within reach. Those times do not invite introspection about our choices or external pressure to test our movements. 2020 was one of those times. The racial justice uprisings that succeeded the murder of several Black Americans that year were unifying, swift, and seemingly abundant.
In 2022, I wrote, “In the work we do today, we lay the foundation for our future. We are deciding if we will enjoy democracy, whether or not we will have agency over our own lives, and if Black children in this country will indeed be born free… In philanthropy, it means that funding for communities of color cannot be seen as a novel response to moments of social unrest. It means creating space for audacious and uncomfortable conversations…. It means supporting change by any means within our means.”
Our work is being tested.
The strength of prior strategies, coalitions, and movements will wither or solidify in these times. With the additive pressure of external forces stoking fear, intimidating allies, and creating a disorienting environment of chaos, it can be difficult to remember that the audacious work we have been doing led to this moment. Those efforts, our toil, cannot be abandoned but must be redoubled.
As a lawyer, former public servant, and former head of one of this country’s largest juvenile justice agencies, and now as a foundation president, I am intimately aware of the potential challenges we face. In these times, we must refocus on our principles to ensure our strategies deliver the world we hope to create, not undercut it. Bullies need only pick on the vulnerable and allow the chilling effect to intimidate the rest. If we refuse to stand up to and resist those tactics, then all is indeed already lost.
Public Welfare Foundation remains unwavering in our commitment to promote efforts that are community-led, restorative, and racially just. We will not mince words, scrub websites, or capitulate from ushering in a world that demands justice that is truly just. This Foundation was created to provide for the public welfare, founded with a “wide pair of words” to adapt to the changing times, and we will not shrink from the justice, race, and equity crises of these times.
I am hopeful that others in Philanthropy will stand with us. Philanthropy should be a lighthouse guiding ships into safe harbor, providing its nonprofit partners with consistency, safety, and support amid the storm. Martin Luther King, Jr. once famously stated, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
The season ahead may require that philanthropic institutions:
- Endure baseless and unprecedented attacks. In these moments, we can remind ourselves that Philanthropy is better equipped to weather those attacks than many of our partners and the human beings those partners serve.
- Exceed the IRS minimum spending requirements. While it will force many of us to endure short-term impacts on our corpus, who among us can protect perpetuity endowments at the expense of the future world we presume to work on behalf of?
- Engage in courageous conversations. In addition to statements to partners that reinforce principles, we should engage in larger dialogue with the public about the role of Philanthropy in the face of an eroding public sector and all the protections it is designed to provide. Philanthropy should be finding the will to face attacks with consistency and truth. After all, how much money do we need to buy principles?
To our partners: Public Welfare Foundation is staying the course. Our mission is unwavering. We will remain in this work with you and aim to serve you as a safe harbor, a community, and a sounding board.
The current attacks are an attempt to rewrite history and to silence us all. They are an attempt to poison progress and eradicate growth.
It is time to go to ground, get strategic, and outline long term objectives.
It is time to clarify the world we want to see and better understand what we are willing to sacrifice to ensure it will exist.
The progress we currently enjoy has been paid for in generations of toil, but there is tending left to do. I hope we will not stand silent as it is washed away.
Candice C. Jones
President & CEO
Public Welfare Foundation
