A Newly Hot Approach on Loans Seeks to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
By Marc Gunther
Philanthropists and companies are pouring money and fresh ideas into community-development financial institutions. Read HERE.
The philanthropy started by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will pour $500 million into racial equity over the next five years. In an annual update on the charity’s work, the couple said they would assemble “a broad set of partners” to help ensure that grant-making across all of the philanthropy’s focus areas takes racial justice and equity into account. A month ago, a former CZI employee filed an equal-opportunity complaint in California alleging that Black employees at the organization were paid and promoted less than their white colleagues. (CNet)
A $4.5 billion federal food-assistance program is running out of money a month early, forcing some food banks to cut distributions and leaving others with no food at all. The Farmers to Families Food Box program bought meat, dairy, and fresh produce from farmers who had lost their restaurant buyers in the pandemic and gave it to food banks, which have seen record-breaking need this year. But in four successive allocations for the program, outlays have shrunk from $1.2 billion in the spring to $500 million to cover November and December. The program expires at the end of December unless Congress can agree on a new aid bill that includes food assistance. For now, some regions, including New York’s Adirondacks, received no help in the last round, and even organizations that got funding will likely run out of money before the holidays. (Washington Post)
Asian American Nonprofits Hope to See More Anti-Racism Money Directed Their Way
By Alex Daniels December 4, 2020
As philanthropy has boosted funding to address the nation’s legacy of anti-Black racism, advocates for Asian Americans hope the recent interest in social justice broadens to include their communities, which have also been the victims of hate. Read HERE.