Philanthropy is rooted in unjust power structures and systemic inequities, but we can re-imagine a world that works for all of us and examine philanthropy’s role in helping to shape it. Rather than accumulating wealth and power, philanthropic resources must be used to fund the people and movements that fight the systems that oppress us, and support the development of stronger, local, resilient economies that build wealth in low-income communities, Black and Indigenous communities, and communities of color.

Justice Funders is a partner and guide for philanthropy in reimagining practices that advance a thriving and just world. The organization partners with movement and philanthropic leaders to provide progressive thought leadership, consulting services, and leadership programs to encourage philanthropy to adopt transformative practices that redistribute wealth, democratize power, and transfer economic control to communities.

Justice Funders is committed to building the political and economic power of historically marginalized communities to shift from our current extractive economy to a regenerative economy. To achieve this end, philanthropic institutions must do more than simply move their grant dollars to social justice issues. They must also undergo a deep, systems-level transformation of their practices – from grantmaking to internal operations to the management of their endowments – away from extraction towards regeneration, which requires fundamentally shifting our underlying assumptions about capital and our approach to philanthropy. By focusing on strategic areas of programming, Justice Funders is ushering a Just Transition within the field of philanthropy to take an active role in building the world we need.

Moving from Charity to Justice

Recognizing that philanthropic wealth has been, and continues to be, accumulated through harmful and extractive means, Justice Funders believes that philanthropy has a moral obligation to repair these harms and redistribute wealth and power to the communities who have been most harmed by extraction and exploitation. Resonance: A Framework for Philanthropic Transformation is a guide to support donors and philanthropic organizations in accelerating a Just Transition by reducing extractive practices and increasing regenerative practices.

In order to encourage the adoption of grantmaking approaches that achieve equity and justice, the Choir Book: A Framework for Social Justice Philanthropy was created, which curates best practices, identifies individual competencies that support values-aligned practice, and defines core values that are vital to social justice philanthropy.

Leadership Development

Grounded in the Resonance Framework, the Maestra Program provides executive-level programming for Vice Presidents, Presidents/CEOs/Executive Directors, and Trustees of philanthropic institutions to guide their organizations through a Just Transition in a peer learning environment. Maestra participants explore ways to unify their board, staff, investments and grantmaking in order to envision and practice a new approach to philanthropy.

The Harmony Initiative was created to support professional grantmakers in strengthening their philanthropic practice in learning cohorts of regional peers. The program provides cutting edge tools, training and knowledge to more equitably partner with grassroots communities, select impactful grantees, evaluate social change work, and collaborate in philanthropy. Designed by and for grantmakers, the program’s curriculum follows six common steps in the grantmaking cycle (strategy development; outreach and application; due diligence; making the case; award and implementation; and evaluation and learning) to improve the quality and quantity of resources flowing to social justice movements.

Resources to Decolonize Your Giving

Making a Just Transition toward a new vision of philanthropy requires that we first understand the laws and practices that have led the modern field of philanthropy to perpetuate the systemic inequalities it was established to combat. To do so, Justice Funders has compiled a brief outline and analysis of historical events in Stifled Generosity: How philanthropy has fueled the accumulation and privatization of wealth.

Liberate Philanthropy is a collection of stories contributed by some of the most forward thinking and transformational leaders, about how they are facilitating a Just Transition for philanthropy. What their stories reveal is that changes are already taking place, and it’s up to each of us to decide whether to uphold the status quo or create new liberatory ways to work.