Inside Philanthropy reposted this
Executive Director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund & Senior Vice President, National Trust for Historic Preservation
As we see increasing attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, our work in partnership with social impact funders to preserve and empower sites of Black history has never been more important. It was a pleasure speaking with Ade A. at Inside Philanthropy about the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund's recent $3 million national grant announcement, which will benefit 30 Black historic sites across the country. We also discussed the innovation in preservation practice that we’re leading. This innovation includes endowment funding for the 16th Street Baptist Church to financially sustain its perpetual stewardship. Read more below. National Trust for Historic Preservation
For Inside Philanthropy, had a pleasure talking to National Trust for Historic Preservation's Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund about work preserving and empowering Black history sites around the country, including the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Here's a moment from the piece: The Action Fund also seeded a $200,000 investment to help 16th Street Baptist permanently sustain its preservation and management as a historic national asset. Having permanent resources on hand in the form of an endowment can be a game changer for struggling nonprofits — which includes many American churches, excepting outliers like D.C.’s National Cathedral and New York’s Trinity Church. With 16th Street Baptist’s congregation waning, Leggs reframed the conversation. “We also believe it’s an unfair stewardship responsibility for the church to have the sole financial responsibility for caring for our nation’s history. We wanted to ensure they had an endowment that would help cover the long-term costs of preserving the building.” The church is now actively fundraising to establish a $2 million endowment. #philanthropy #HBCUs #Morehouse #Howard #blackphilanthropy #nonprofits #dei #crt
Thank you for your leadership, Mr. Leggs, and to the National Trust for Historic Preservation for all that it does to help protect these sites of significance — especially here in Alabama.
Cequyna Moore Joel Ruffin, Sr. Cynthia Alston, MSIS, CPHIMS, RRT Gwendolyn Douglas
Thank you for posting this.
"And ever since that moment, I've dedicated my career to revealing to our nation the complex and beautiful stories imbued within African American historic places.” Thank you for this piece Brent Leggs and for your commitment to sharing our history and stories!
Founder, Slave Dwelling Project
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