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We are a family foundation rooted in Virginia. We believe building the power of those most negatively impacted by racism is the central path to transforming systems and dismantling structural racism.
As a foundation we actively seek to uphold these values:
We envision a future where Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are thriving, safe, and free.
Racial identity remains the number one predictor of life outcomes across almost every dimension throughout the United States and in the Commonwealth of Virginia. These inequities exist because of structural racism. Unfortunately, for every dollar awarded by foundations for work in the U.S., only 6 cents went to racial equity and only 1 cent went to racial justice.
Structural racism refers to the ways in which public policies, institutional practices, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways, to perpetuate racial group inequality. It involves the cumulative and compounding of an array of societal factors including the history, culture, ideology and interactions of institutions and policies that systematically privilege white people and disadvantage People of Color.
The National Center for Responsive Philanthropy’s Power Moves curriculum was instrumental in helping the Foundation articulate its commitment to building the power of those most negatively impacted by racism.
Power Building is the process by which marginalized communities impacted by structural racism:
We support organizations and communities building power by advancing the ability of Communities of Color to exert economic, political, and cultural influence to change the rules that disproportionately impact them.
We acknowledge that we live on stolen land and the Commonwealth was built by the stolen labor of enslaved peoples.
As the birthplace of Indigenous forced land removal and genocide and chattel slavery, Virginia played a central role in the codification of racial hierarchies and implementation of racist policies that have compounded to produce the racial inequities so prevalent today. It is important for us to reconcile this history and the Commonwealth’s central role.
We invest in Virginia because of the genesis of the Foundation, and its assets, in Virginia, and we invest in the promise of a racially just Virginia.
Individual/Personal
Private beliefs, prejudices, and ideas that individuals have about the superiority of whites and the inferiority of People of Color. Among People of Color, it manifests as internalized oppression. Among white people, it manifests as internalized racial superiority.
Interpersonal
The expression of racism between individuals. It occurs when individuals interact, and their private beliefs impact their interactions.
Institutional
Discriminatory treatment, unfair policies and practices, inequitable opportunities within institutions and organizations, based on race that consistently produce inequitable outcomes for People of Color and advantages white people. Individuals within institutions take on the power of institutions when they reinforce racial inequities.
(she/her)
Chair, Independent Trustee