October 2016 - Solidaire

Philanthropy in Solidarity: Solidaire Fall Kick-Off

Dear Friends,

We had an incredible event on Oct 13th in San Francisco. It was our first public facing event on the West Coast, and it was a hit!

We had over 100 people attend, and we heard from an amazing set of organizers, including Malkia Cyril from the Center for Media Justice, Thenjiwe McHarris from Blackbird, and Michael Gast who talked about allyship from his perspectives as former Co-ED of Resource Generation. Lateefah Simon moderated the panel and pretty much blew us all out of the water!

The panel discussed the ecosystem within the Movement for Black Lives, including the organizations on the front lines, intermediary organizations, and the role of allies. We talked about the role of philanthropy and the need to trust organizations who are on the ground, and take the risk of sharing power as a donor. Mike made the case that few of us are giving at capacity and challenged us to think about how we can do more.

We also unveiled our Aligned Giving Strategy and our commitment to supporting the M4BL over the next five years. We are so excited about the opportunity we have to work together, to partner with others, and to be in long term relationship with the social movements of our time.

Thank you all for making this possible. We look forward to seeing more of you in person soon!

In solidarity,
Leah and the Team

Leah Hunt-Hendrix on Taking a Page from Occupy Wall Street with Solidaire

“What can a member of the elite 1 percent do to bring about more economic equality and social justice? That is one of the animating questions of Leah Hunt-Hendrix’s young life, and it is one the 33-year-old has answered by taking a creative approach with philanthropy.”

The snippet above comes from an article in Avenue Magazine, which featured Leah on their cover this month! We’re so very proud and inspired.

Click to read the full article: