In December of 2016, TWI allocated $250,000 in rapid response funds to protect and build power within communities most vulnerable to the rollback of civil and human rights promised by the then new administration. Rather than create a new system, we leaned into our trust based grantmaking process to expend the $250,000 by the…
The Trump effect, at The Whitman Institute (and elsewhere) By Marc Gunther The Trump administration is having an unmistakable impact on philanthropy. That was brought home to me at this month’s Skoll World Forum, notably with the Omidyar Network’s promise to commit $100 million to support independent journalism and combat hate. On a panel about philanthropy, Laleh Ispahani of…
We are proud to be a part of a group of over 50 foundations standing with immigrants and refugees. The joint statement, put forth by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrant and Refugee Rights, reads as follows: The United States stands at a historic crossroads. Founded as a refuge from religious persecution and built by generations of immigrants, our country…
Eyes Wide Shudder It is with an anguished heart and clear eyes that I write this. The difference in our historical context between Tuesday morning and today is stark and sobering. The real cost of this election outcome will fall disproportionately on the undocumented immigrants, muslims, blacks, women, queer, and poor people scapegoated in this campaign…
What if we as funders started with trust, instead of making potential partners “earn” it? Vu Le starts our sibling blog posts today by questioning the assumption that grant seekers need to prove their basic trustworthiness to funders. Indeed, up-ending this premise has been inherent in TWI’s approach since we started making grants. TWI’s 9 Practices…