Social Justice and a Relevant Philanthropic Sector (Part 1)

Miles Wilson is a philanthropic professional with nearly 30 years of experience supporting the U.S. social sector as well as past efforts in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, and South Africa. Miles’ work has covered a broad spectrum of core social sector activities, and he currently serves as the Deputy Director of Education Grantmaking at Ascendium Education Group. Miles was most recently a Senior Fellow with the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions. This feature,

Social Justice and a Relevant Philanthropic Sector, is the first in a six-part series of blog posts about his experiences in philanthropy. A version of this blog series is running on the Center for Effective Philanthropy website. Access the entire six-part series here. When I entered the philanthropic sector just over 25 years ago, I expected foundations to be on the forefront of social justice, and practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within their organizations as well as being fierce advocates in the broader society. Unfortunately I was largely wrong and the evidence played out as an insider and in my own career, and for far too many others like me in organized philanthropy. Consequently, it has also impacted nonprofit organizations, but particularly those seeking to advance meaningful change among disenfranchised populations, people of color, and underserved communities across the nation. The philanthropic sector is stuck in old paradigms. Several critical issues, common throughout the sector, prevent philanthropy from making real and sustainable progress. I encourage the sector to more fully embrace its trusted role as social conscience, using its collective resources and influence to advance social justice both within the sector and across American society. Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to lift up disenfranchised populations, people of color, and underserved communities and help transform our nation into a stronger, more just and equitable society. Yet it must undergo serious self-examination and advance substantive change for this goal to be achieved. The number of people of color working at grantmaking foundations in professional and management roles remains very small. This is disturbing because so many foundations have focused their work in communities of color. The voices of people in those communities, their wisdom, contextual knowledge and relationships are yet to be fully lifted up, and consequently do not contribute to making the work of these foundations more impactful. Furthermore, the constraints placed on most nonprofits such as project support funding, lack of support for overhead costs, mismatched evaluation requirements, and low levels of support for social justice efforts too often undermine meaningful change.