Donors of Color Network

Join us this weekend as we gather to check-in on progress after the 2023 Maui fires with our local partners and beyond. The event program will include local projects, organizations and, most importantly, stories. ✍️ rsvp below!

We are excited to kick off New York Climate Week with the Climate Justice Summit in collaboration with HBCU Green Fund, Columbia Climate School, Columbia World Projects, ACEObservatory, and Open Government Partnership. This summit is a powerful convening of climate justice leaders from around the world, focusing on global collaboration and knowledge exchange. Join us as we talk about the impact of our Climate Funders Justice Pledge and the work that faces us ahead! ✍ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eeCaa8ct

Last month, we hosted Connect + Reflect 2024, our annual retreat in Tacoma, WA. For four days of collaboration, we brought members together to build power and strategize on advancing racial justice. A big thank you to all attendees and a special shout-out to all of our featured speakers including Isabel Wilkerson and Imara Jones. Over the course of our gathering, we delved into the unjust realities of our society and celebrated the transformative impact of donors of color. The insightful conversations we shared have planted the seeds of powerbuilding that will grow beyond the retreat 🌱✨ Look out for some follow-ups from the retreat and we look forward to seeing you all again next year!

We’re excited to see our Climate Funders Justice Pledge mentioned in Reuters today! It’s important to see not only our nation’s climate foundations, but also brands stepping up to connect with grassroot organizations to power effective climate justice strategies. The company’s locally led approach to saving the Cochamo valley relies on the expertise of the community on the ground who deeply understand the needs of the immediate environment best. To see these strategies being adopted by global brands supports our belief that no winning climate strategy exists without BIPOC-led, environmental justice climate groups having a seat at the table! Read more here: https://reut.rs/4e9kIYv

Connect + Reflect is in 🔟 DAYS! Get ready for an amazing 3.5 days together. We are humbled to be joined by Imara Jones, an award-winning journalist and creator behind TransLash Media, aiming to reshape attitudes towards transgender people. Our conversation with Imara explores the power that divides us and how we can curb divisive structures, language and strategies to build solidarity. Donors of Color Network is the first ever cross-racial donor network meaning solidarity across identities is inherent to our community and key to our strategy. Named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2023, Imara hosts TransLash Podcast and produces The Anti-Trans Hate Machine. She made history as the first trans recipient of the National Black Journalists Association’s Journalist of Distinction Award in 2022 and in 2019, she chaired the first-ever UN High Level Meeting on Gender Diversity. Catch her and other amazing speakers at Connect + Reflect✨

This is a great opportunity for #HBCU students! Please share with your networks. Donors of Color Network HBCU Green Fund Abdul Dosunmu Dr. Akudo A. Chidi Achebe MD, MPH, MBA Dr. Mary Wise, SPHR Keely Petty, CPsy.D. Rachell Hathaway, MPA

Connect + Reflect 2024 welcomes you to Tacoma, Washington! The Pacific Northwest is also home to a number of pioneers, culturists, and local community leaders, some of whom we have the privilege of joining us at this year’s retreat. We will be joined by leaders native to the Tacoma lands, including Connie McCloud, Puyallup Tribal Elder and Heritage Division Manager of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. She has spent decades preserving the legacy of her people in the South Sound and connects the spirit of her ancestors with visiting communities through performing the traditions connected to the land. As we embrace the natural beauty of the land and its stewards, we will also connect with local artists that make Washington so rich with culture today. This includes C Davida Ingram, an award-winning interdisciplinary artist and civic leader based in Seattle. Seattle Magazine has voted Ingram both one of the 20 most talented people in Seattle (2016) and one of Seattle’s most influential people (2017) and she is part of the leadership for the Seattle/ King County African American Reparations Committee. And lastly, we will be joined by the community leaders that continue to steward progress in Washington state such as Kirsten Harris-Talley, Co-Founder of In The Works. She served as a Seattle City Councilmember and a Washington State Representative, and is an activist and political strategist championing reproductive justice and the movement for abolition. We are excited for this opportunity to connect with the land, its native peoples, its cultural architects, and its pioneers of progress. Stay tuned for more speaker announcements! Connect with Isabel Wilkerson, Connie McCloud, C. Davida Ingram, Kirsten Harris-Talley and others in Tacoma. Register here: https://lnkd.in/g-huz3T7

🗣️Calling all HBCU students and graduates! The world changing Climate Funders Justice Pledge (CFJP) challenges the nation’s top climate funders to give at least 30% of their U.S. climate funding to BIPOC-led groups and its launching a first of its kind fellowship in partnership with HBCU Green Fund. After three years, the CFJP established a $135 million funding baseline for BIPOC-led climate justice groups. Now, the question is what has been the impact of the shift in resources? The six-month fellowship will track the funding shifts in private and public sectors by tracing the dollars moved by the CFJP and through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Justice40 initiative. The full findings of this fellowship will be published in an early 2025 report. Want to be the fellow spearheading the work? To Apply: email a cover letter, resume/CV, and 3 references (name, email, phone) to info@hbcugreenfund.org.

We are honored to be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Caste: Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson, who will be our keynote speaker at this year's Connect + Reflect Retreat! Wilkerson is a bestselling author who has been recognized as one of the premiere narrative non-fiction writers in the world. Caste explores a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Wilkerson’s debut work, The Warmth of Other Suns, is one of the most comprehensive and powerful narrative-driven accounts of the Great Migration ever published. Join us for an extensive conversation with Isabel Wilkerson about race, interlocking systems of oppression, and the effects of a caste system that was designed to divide our power. You can register here: https://lnkd.in/gsw6tdHB

Three years ago, our Climate Funders Justice Pledge (CFJP) launched with a mission to shift the center of gravity in climate philanthropy towards justice, and to amplify and back the work of BIPOC-led groups. Today, we're thrilled to announce that the CFJP has identified and created a new funding baseline of nearly $135 million for BIPOC-led climate groups! We applaud the The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment joining our cause by committing to the transparency portion of the pledge and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for its substantial increase in funding to BIPOC-led climate justice groups. We also want to thank and highlight all of the funders who submitted their new funding data as part of their commitment to the CFJP. We encourage other funders to follow their leadership and join our efforts to build a winning climate movement. Lastly, we are proud to announce the launch of a first-of-its-kind fellowship in collaboration with HBCU Green Fund to track the impact and shifts in public and private giving to BIPOC-led groups since the launch of the pledge. This will mark a new phase of the CFJP and expand HBCU climate justice capacity. A more equitable, effective climate movement isn't just a dream – it's a reality that we’re building ✊ Read more about the latest CFJP developments in Axios: https://tr.ee/MCusI61Z1h