A Nonprofit Path to Racial Justice

Fibonacci Blue | Nonprofit Quarterly

"The nonprofit sector is uniquely qualified to fight racism due to its vast economic and academic resources. Our institutions of higher education can serve as centers of truth, reconciliation, and justice where our citizens can be educated, enlightened, and empowered regarding the legacy of racism and how it can be dismantled. I also challenge the nonprofit philanthropic and foundation community to allocate three percent of its wealth to engage in works of justice in communities of color to include education as well as social and human services."

-- Dr. Nicholas Harvey

We encourage you to take a few minutes to read the full article from Nonprofit Quarterly from the which the excerpted quote above can be found entitled - A Nonprofit Path to Racial Justice: Linking Policy to Moral Leadership. This article is the first in a series of community voices that NPQ is running in response to how nonprofits can help to build solidarity and achieve racial justice.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

At this very moment, we are reminded of the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who taught "It may be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the appalling silence of the so-called good people.”

At the Center for Nonprofit Studies we are focusing on providing opportunities for communication, empathy and understanding across racial lines. We are committed to exploring and educating ourselves and others about the particular experience of Black people in our community and country and helping to create and lay the foundations for a society that acknowledges and seriously addresses its inequities and injustice.

We will announce at least two new initiatives soon – as we use our assets and influence to end the silence.

Why – despite an increased number of training programs for developing leaders of color and the number of groups working on issues of race/race equity – are there not more leaders of color in the nonprofit sector?

More than a year ago, our Civil Society television program (produced by ACC TV), addressed this question with Sean Thomas-Breitfeld and Frances Kunreuther, co-directors of the Building Movement Project, who conducted a survey of nonprofit leaders that resulted in their provocative report, Race to Lead: Confronting the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap.

VIEW THE EPISODE

The Center for Nonprofit Studies values the wellbeing of our community, and to that end, our weekly Self-Care and Humor sessions (led by Lacy Alana, LCSW, MSSW, RSW) are once again being offered free of charge. You can register for these sessions here. We hope you can join each week for an hour of connection and comfort.

This June, we are proud to present an array of classes, workshops, and webinars that will cover a variety of topical and timely topics currently faced by and within the nonprofit sector. Take a look at the classes listed below and make plans to attend the learning opportunity that resonates with you.

Hard Conversations in the Workplace
June 8th | 12 - 1:30 PM | Lacy Alana

An Introduction to Intercultural Communications
June 11th | 12 - 1:30 PM | Alessandra Zielinski

Mind Those Minutes
June 18th | 12 - 1:30 PM | Reagan Pugh

Virtual Teamwork
June 19th | 1 - 2 PM | Lacy Alana

Effective Grant Writing Strategies:
Using Your Compass to Gain Treasures
June 22nd | 9 - 10:30 AM | Susannah Erler

Fundraising Conversations with
Fayruz Benyousef
June 22nd | 12 - 1:30 PM | Fayruz Benyousef & Constance Dykhuizen

Finding Yourself at the Virtual Table
June 24th | 12 - 1 PM | Lacy Alana

Interviewing with Impact (Part 1 of 2)
June 24th | 12 - 2 PM | Hannah W Wong &
Kristin Glunt

Telling Your Story: Evolving Past the Elevator Pitch
June 25th | 12 - 1:30 PM | Reagan Pugh

Grant Writers' Roundtable
June 29th | 9 - 10:30 AM | Susannah Erler

As a reminder, many of our online learning opportunities have begun transitioning into a Pay What You Can (PWYC) sliding scale. You can learn more about this pricing system here, which will allow us to continue to offer quality programming while also addressing the financials challenges many are faced with at this present time.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The Travis County Health and Human Services, Research & Planning Division recently completed the Travis County Poverty Brief using the 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The report provides a broad look at a few key poverty indicators in Travis County. The report includes maps to explore trends over time by Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs), in addition to a new series of maps which provides more context into poverty rate changes and population rate changes by ZCTA, and a data set exploring poverty rates among renters and homeowners.

We hope that you find the Travis County Poverty Brief to be both helpful and informative.

Please note that this is a report and analysis of data focused on the 2014-2018 5-Year period and was drafted prior to the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic is current and ongoing, no predictions or considerations of the impact of the pandemic on future poverty estimates were made in this report.

VIEW THE REPORT

One of the Just Men came to Sodom, determined to save its inhabitants from sin and punishment. Night and day he walked the streets and markets preaching against greed and theft, falsehood and indifference. In the beginning, people listened and smiled ironically. They stopped listening: he no longer even amused them. Killers went on killing, the wise kept silent, as if there were no Just Man in their midst.

One day a child, moved by compassion for the unfortunate preacher, approached him with these words: "Poor stranger. You shout, you expend yourself body and soul; don't you see that it is hopeless?"
"Yes, I see," answered the Just Man.
"Then why do you go on?"

"I'll tell you why. In the beginning, I thought I could change man. Today I know I cannot. If I still shout today, if I still scream, it is to prevent man from ultimately changing me."

-- Elie Wiesel

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