A large part of philanthropic resources are committed to helping people from low-income and other marginalized communities by helping to alleviate the immediate crises they find themselves in. But the problems often remain. The impact of philanthropy is often constrained by concerns around the symptoms of poverty and injustice, missing in the process the factors that perpetuate them. ‘Social justice philanthropy’ looks at another approach: rather than focus on the effects of unjust treatment, good social justice grantmaking attempts to ultimately address the root causes and mechanisms that underlie it.
But what is social justice philanthropy really?
There is no one answer. We have found that the understanding of social justice philanthropy and grantmaking strategies used by practitioners are rooted in their local contexts and take on various forms. The answer to the question then lies in a family of practices and values, related by a series of similarities that set apart the philanthropic practice of social justice grantmakers from others.
Dr. Albert Ruesga, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation speaks at a webinar organised by WINGS about the philosophical traditions on which social justice philanthropy approaches are based and and Ms. Halima Mahomed, Philanthropy Program Advisor, TrustAfrica draws from the African context to explain that social justice philanthropy is about a ‘holistic’ and not an ‘either-or’ approach.
You can see the webinar recording here.