The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The CIVIL RIGHTS MONITOR is a quarterly publication that reports on civil rights issues pending before the three branches of government. The Monitor also provides a historical context within which to assess current civil rights issues. Back issues of the Monitor are available through this site. Browse or search the archives

Summer 2003

LCCREF Undertakes New Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) has launched a three-year initiative intended to increase the amount and effectiveness of resources aimed at combating institutional and structural racism in communities. Components of the program included capacity building, education, and convening of grantmakers and grantseekers.   With multiyear support from the C.S. Mott Foundation, the new Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE) plans to employ the following strategies:

Increasing grantmakers' understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of various race relations or anti-racist efforts, and providing opportunities for grantmakers to learn and strategize about cutting edge racial equity issues;
Engaging in internal assessments of foundations' institutional needs around racial equity and diversity; and assisting anti-racist training organizations to tailor their programs for use by grantmakers;
Consulting with nonprofits that explicitly address issues of institutional and structural racism (or, "lead with race") to strengthen their capacity, including developing and maintaining healthy relationships with funding organizations; and
Working at the local level in a variety of settings to assist community leaders and local funders in coordinating the most effective race relations or racial equity programs, including identifying appropriate indicators of success in order to document and advance the level of impact.

PRE is designed to address factors that have contributed to a recent decline in foundation support for work that explicitly addresses issues of race. Other problems include the fact that competition for limited resources has been increasing, and that organizations have increasingly challenged the efficacy of each other's approach, demonstrating a lack of shared understanding of one another's work.

PRE thus represents an effort to bridge this nascent area of work on race relations, anti-racist organizing, and the evolving efforts of the traditional national civil rights organizations. At the same time, PRE will endeavor to raise awareness among grantmakers of the danger of erosion of attention to issues of race.

An advisory committee of nationally respected experts in racial justice, civil rights and philanthropy, including community-based practitioners, researchers, intermediaries and grantmakers, will guide criteria for project selection.  The emphasis will be on those institutions that have significant resources or the greatest leadership potential to increase philanthropy's comfort level with issues of racism within different realms.  

The Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity is directed by Lori Villarosa, former program officer for the C.S. Mott Foundation's grantmaking on U.S. Race and Ethnic Relations.  In her role at the Mott Foundation, Villarosa worked with hundreds of nonprofit organizations and identified and managed more than $24 million in grants that directly supported work combating institutional racism.  The initiative is intended to build on many of the lessons from these grantee organizations about most effective practices.  It will also be sensitive to many of the challenges currently facing philanthropy, drawing from Villarosa's more than a decade of experience from within the foundation world.