George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. We speak their names, honoring their humanity and mourning their untimely and unjust deaths.

To those who are hurting, who are raising your voices, and who are actively fighting back against oppression, we see and support you. Black Lives Matter. Today and every day. And Black people deserve more than what this country has historically given them. 

Right now, I am feeling a multitude of emotions. Sadness. Anger. Frustration. Devastation. Exhaustion. These names - these people whose lives were stolen - are but the latest in a long list of Black lives taken unjustly. It is a list going back as long as this country’s history, when Black and Indigenous people were dehumanized, their bodies considered capital as their labor was extracted and their families separated, all to build the country we live in today. 

It is a list lengthened by the insidious systems of oppression, injustice, and racism that manifest time and time again into illness, poverty, lack of opportunity, and violence. It is a list that has seen the country through slavery and segregation, forced migration and redlining, the Trail of Tears, the Tulsa Massacre, and the school-to-prison pipeline. 

This is America. 

And while nothing we do can erase a single name from that list, we can and must honor their lives by working to destroy systematized racism and injustice. Below there are some things that you as philanthropic professionals can do. If ever there has been a time for philanthropy to wake up, it is now.

A Note: After May's What We've Been Reading was compiled, EPIP released a statement - Black Lives Matter - which includes resources, reading, and action steps for those looking to stand up against racial injustice and police brutality.

That message is available here: Black Lives Matter. Please read, reflect, and act.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we continue to add to our COVID-19 resources page. This month, our newest resources include looks at ways that philanthropy could potentially evolve to address long-term big-picture issues…

• In Nonprofit Quarterly, Kururama Masomere calls for philanthropy to redefine its definition of urgency to include the racial inequities and systemic issues that Black and brown communities face daily.
• In Inside Philanthropy, Dimple Abichandani asks philanthropy to move from relief to power, with a “long-term, large-scale philanthropic response to shift who has power in our democracy and our economy.”
• Carmen Rojas, PhD, asks “What are we going to do to shift the balance of power and resources” in her essay on philanthropy during COVID-19 in Medium.
• Trista Harris argues that now is the perfect time to dwell on the future in a LinkedIn post (and will be speaking more about how looking forward can help us now in her upcoming EPIP webinar).

...and a continued focus on the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color

As we all learn to connect in new ways, EPIP chapters around the country have been holding virtual programming to help build community, share knowledge, and model self-care. Over the last few months, chapters from LA to Philly have held virtual book club meetings and screenings, hosted coffee chats and happy hours, and created check-ins and webinars. And there's more to come! Click to learn more about each event - we hope to see you there.

Coming up in late May and early June (all times local as noted):

• Wednesday, May 20th, 5 PM Pacific: a Wellness Wednesday session with EPIP Bay Area
• Thursday, May 21st: lunch with EPIP Minnesota (12 PM Central) and a virtual happy hour with EPIP Colorado (4 PM Mountain Time)
• Friday, May 22nd (and May 29th), 5 PM Eastern: a weekly virtual happy hour with EPIP Philly
• Thursday, May 28th, 8 AM Eastern: Morning Yoga with EPIP New York
• Tuesday, June 9th, 2 PM Eastern: the first session of a virtual webinar series from EPIP DC on understanding and reclaiming philanthropy

Also, for our members of color, please join EPIP on Thursday, May 21st at 7 PM Eastern for our People of Color Network Happy Hour.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we continue to add to our COVID-19 resources page. Some new highlights include new looks at how COVID-19 (and philanthropy’s response to it) impact communities of color...

• Colorlines explores why COVID-19 is so dangerous for people of color
• A coalition of Washington, DC funders names the COVID-19 crisis as a racial justice issue that calls for prioritizing the power of POC (The Weissberg Blog)
• Inside Philanthropy takes a closer look at who in philanthropy is supporting communities of color
• A reminder from Frontline Solutions that capacity-building partners, especially those that are Black, Indigenous, and people of color-owned, remain crucial to the sector

...what the philanthropic sector can learn from this crisis for the long-term…

We are living in unprecedented times. To claim anything else would be to naively dismiss our new reality; however, to believe that we cannot come out of this pandemic stronger than before would be to allow fear and anxiety to shroud the great opportunity before us.

We are being exposed. The ugly truths that our nation has tried to hide are coming to light and, in the light, we can diagnose problems by name and collectively work towards their cure. We now see that our healthcare system is inadequate, that our country is too slow to respond to disasters, that we undervalue the workers who keep our country running, and that racial minorities have to inequitably deal with the consequences. 

We often say that EPIP is a leaderful organization, but that would not be possible without the leadership of our Board of Advisors. As we prepare to welcome a new slate of board officers and members, we wish to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the leaders who have served as stewards of our organization, bringing us to where we are today. Thank you to outgoing Board Chair Nakisha M. Lewis, Vice-Chair Janet I. Sandoval, and Secretary Morgan Shannon for your passion, dedication, and extraordinary service and to Caitlin Wagner Fisher and Bianca Alston, whose board terms ended late last year, for your guidance, support, and wisdom.

Under their leadership, the outgoing Board of Advisors was able to shepherd EPIP through organizational transitions and growth, all while maintaining a commitment to our strategic vision and values. And it must be noted that each of these leaders has contributed to our EPIP community well beyond their service as members of the Board of Advisors. Because of them, EPIP is well-positioned to continue its work to center equity and justice in all of our efforts.

As we now build upon the foundation that previous board members and officers have helped us to establish, it is our honor and privilege to announce EPIP’s new board officers for 2020. These changemakers have stepped into their roles without hesitation during a time of great uncertainty for the world as a whole. We are grateful to them and to the entire Board of Advisors for their leadership and support.

Migration, Perspective, and the Power of Art

While much of what we have been reading and gathering this month relates to COVID-19 (and can be found on our special COVID-19 resources page here), including the following highlights...

• The recent reminder from Lori Villarosa of the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity that we can bring an equity lens to our philanthropic work even during this time of crisis 
• A look at three funder commitments to emulate from Aaron Dorfman at NCRP
• The growing list of local response funds and initiatives working to help those most in need
• A reminder that this can be a time to reflect and care for self in the midst of helping others

...other newly-released reports from around the sector offer a picture of the existing philanthropic landscape...