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The Libra Foundation is excited to announce that we are hiring for a newly created Managing Director role. The Managing Director will serve as a key member of the leadership team, helping translate strategy into cohesive goals across programs, operations, and communications. This role will also support staff leadership, stakeholder engagement, and funder organizing while strengthening Libra’s organizational systems and culture.

Libra Foundation Begins Search For Managing Director - applications due 3/27 

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Reports To: President, Libra Foundation and Tao Rising
Location: The Presidio, San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)
Apply By: March 27, 2026

The Libra Foundation seeks a values‑aligned, collaborative, and strategic leader to serve as the first-ever Managing Director. In this newly created position reporting directly to the President of Libra Foundation and Tao Rising, the Managing Director will be a key member of the leadership team and a trusted advisor and thought partner who helps steward Libra’s organizational strategy, culture, and impact. This role will add expertise and capacity that will allow the President to attend more deeply to the family Board as they refine their larger vision; to stewardship of the full organization across Libra Foundation and Tao Rising; and to Libra Foundation’s external voice, advocacy, and partnerships. The Managing Director will play a central role in translating Board‑approved strategy into cohesive goals across programs, initiatives, and operations, while nurturing a healthy, inclusive, and high‑performing team culture. The Managing Director will take on critical roles for Libra Foundation including management of a leaderful team; annual and strategic planning; strategy integration across intersectional program areas; communications strategy; and in funder organizing and stakeholder engagement, in partnership with or in support of the President.

This is a pivotal moment for Libra as it continues to deepen its trust‑based, movement‑centered philanthropy and strengthen the organizational systems, people practices, and learning approaches that support its work. The ideal Managing Director will be a seasoned team leader, comfortable contributing in a shared leadership model, with a strong sense of self; deep commitment to equity and justice; and a leadership presence grounded in humility, integrity, curiosity, and care. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys and excels at managing, coaching, and developing a leaderful team of strong contributors and thinking at a macro, systems, and organizational level about culture, operations, communications, intersectional program areas, investments, and emerging strategies. Join Libra Foundation to guide a dynamic programs team as it partners with frontline, BIPOC‑led organizations working to transform the criminal justice system and advance environmental, climate, and gender justice.

The Managing Director will join a dynamic 10-person team inclusive of the Libra Foundation – the family foundation that prioritizes multi-year, unrestricted grants to frontline, BIPOC-led organizations that are working in deep community to bring change – and the family philanthropy office where individual family members hone their philanthropic vision, values, and learning goals. The Managing Director will focus on and help lead Libra Foundation (Libra), in partnership with the President and in alignment with Board-approved strategy.

Established in 2002, Libra began as a vehicle for social change with a mission dedicated to human rights and a focus on drug policy reform, women’s rights, and the right to a healthy environment. Libra’s focus evolved to center US-based human rights work bringing a strong racial justice lens. This shift spurred the foundation into the next evolution of funding and partnering with organizations led by those most impacted by systemic oppression – largely communities of color that have experienced chronic underinvestment. Libra is now known for its funding of BIPOC-led movements by working at the grassroots to build power in communities, support democratic rights, and to center those most impacted by racial, gender, and environmental injustices.

Libra believes that all people deserve to live free of systemic oppression, economic insecurity, and environmental harm. It is Libra’s desire to promote equity and level the playing field. To that end, trust is the cornerstone of Libra’s philanthropy efforts with 2026 grantmaking of $27 million across three core Program Areas: Community Safety & Justice, Environmental & Climate Justice, and Gender Justice. Libra has grown in its impact as evidenced by the more than $80 million Democracy Frontlines Fund (DFF) – a national aligned giving strategy to leverage millions of new dollars to fund Black organizing and disrupt traditional philanthropy. By trusting its grantees, who are closest to their communities and most equipped to build and implement solutions, Libra is able to be the most effective it can be in bringing real and systemic changes.

Libra is governed by a five-member family board, has assets of approximately $425 million, and has been led by dynamic social justice philanthropy leader Supriya Lopez Pillai since 2024. With Supriya’s broadening focus on Libra and Tao Rising’s unified commitment to spurring the continual evolution of philanthropy to move resources – at scale – in a way that centers the needs and expertise of grantee partners, there is excitement for what the Managing Director will bring to build off past successes in close partnership with the committed Board; skilled staff; and valued external partners.

The Managing Director will be responsible for the following key areas of work among others:

Participate fully as a leadership team member, ensuring staff leadership and the Board are adequately briefed about Libra’s programs and people to enable informed decision-making and accurate reporting across the organization.

Serve as a thought partner to leadership team members and colleagues across the organization, contributing programmatic insights and grantmaking expertise to help formulate and execute the organization’s objectives, develop contingency plans, and make critical decisions.

Partner with and advise the President and COO on organizational strategy, particularly as it relates to creating and implementing policies, processes, and procedures related to or that impact programs, grantmaking, and/or field building.

Promote and foster a culture of learning, having fun, and deepening relationships. Explore, establish, and nourish shared practice, language, and tools to achieve the mission at the highest level. Navigate any challenges within Libra and contribute to and support organization-wide learning and culture engagements.

Provide direct supervision of and leadership to key staff roles (as determined by organizational design – currently inclusive of two Senior Program Officers, an Initiative Officer, and a Consultant), fostering clarity, accountability, and growth.

Oversee Libra staff performance management, development, onboarding, and retention, with advisement from the COO who creates and manages HR programs and systems.

Ensure equitable, inclusive, and people-centered management practices within Libra in alignment with organization-wide values and policies.

Solicit guidance from the President, COO, and HR Consultant to manage any employee relations matters that arise consistent with Tao Rising’s legal requirements, business needs, and culture.

In consultation with the President and COO and with input from Libra’s team, assess Libra’s programmatic and people capacity on an ongoing basis to identify needs, recommend solutions, and implement any approved tools, resources, strategies, or staffing plans.

Develop actionable programmatic and people strategies that ensure alignment with short and long-term objectives.

Co-learn and shape the strategy and implementation of aligned special projects.

Make recommendations and provide insight to the President on strategic vision and translate Board-approved strategy into actionable goals, working with Libra’s team to ensure aligned work plans and timelines.

In partnership with the President, support Board engagement on programmatic work through Board Learning Sessions or other presentations, discussions, provision of insight, and more designed to support Board learning and decision-making.

With Libra’s team, in partnership with the President, and informed by grantee and community needs, facilitate and guide programmatic goal setting and monitoring of traction against approved goals.

Lead Libra’s annual planning process and longer-term strategic planning process creating and facilitating efficient, right-sized approaches that allow the team to build individual and team work plans, culminating in a shared, thoughtfully sequenced, organizational work plan and multi-year direction that enables the team to chart a shared course ahead.

With Libra’s team, develop, implement, and iterate trust-based approaches to learning around programs and initiatives and ensure those learnings are considered in future program and initiative planning.

With COO consultation, ensure programmatic matters and related activities are effective, legally compliant, and consistent with the organization’s culture, vision, and values.

Communications, Stakeholder Engagement, Field Building, and Funder Organizing

In partnership with the President and with consultant support, lead organizational communication strategy and ensure implementation of a communications plan aligned with Libra’s goals and values.

Represent Libra externally alongside or on behalf of the President, when needed and appropriate, reinforcing Libra’s values and commitments.

Support meaningful relationships with the Board, family, community partners, peer funders, and other collaborators through strong, values-aligned presence, thought partnership, and follow-through.

With the Libra team, ensure stories of grantee partner learning, success, and needs are uplifted and serve as an advocate and funder organizer building the field.

In collaboration with the President and team, ensure Libra remains responsive and accountable to the communities it serves.

Develop, track, and adhere to Libra’s annual operating budget in close coordination with the President, COO, and external partners.

With consultation from the COO, ensure Libra’s financial management and internal controls are sound and compliant with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

As needed and in close collaboration with the COO, support annual audits, reporting, and financial planning with accuracy and transparency.

Partner with the COO to manage the operational infrastructure that supports Libra’s trust-based grantmaking, ensuring efficiency, responsiveness, and alignment with values.

Partner with the COO, grants management, and Libra’s programs team to ensure smooth grant cycles, documentation, learning practices, and grantee experience.

Support the COO, as needed, in oversight of Libra’s financial and accounting functions, including but not limited to providing key inputs for financial planning, forecasting, reporting, analyses, consultant and vendor contracts, control and risk, and year-end audits.

Partner, where appropriate, with Libra’s President and COO on listening, learning, and providing endowment investment advice aligned with Libra’s values and programmatic aims.

In support of the President and COO, explore opportunities to share Libra investment learnings gained in this work with the field.

The Managing Director will build upon years of strategic, impactful work, alongside a powerhouse team and with innovative community partners. The ideal Managing Director will possess many of the following attributes, experiences, and expertise along with other transferable values and skills:

Meaningful senior leadership experience within philanthropy, nonprofit, or other mission-driven organizations having partnered closely on a leadership team and with a Board on strategic direction and organizational culture with the ability to inform and integrate organizational strategies across complex, interdependent programs and initiatives.

Commitment to and direct experience with designing and leading complex organizations, programs, grantmaking portfolios, and/or aligned giving strategies across multiple intersectional areas inclusive of Libra’s core program areas: Community Safety & Justice, Environmental & Climate Justice, Gender Justice, as well as the Democracy Frontlines Fund.

Experience serving on and partnering with leaderful teams and appreciation for working in spaces where leadership is shared, collaborative, and distributed among staff rather than centralized on one person.

Embodiment of inclusive, consensus-building, and resilient leadership that centers trust, listening, humility, and accountability – especially around power and privilege. Experience managing and developing people with care. The ability to excel in and get energized by people management and experience developing organizational workflow, internal communications, and processes.

A strong sense of self and personal practice that helps you understand and navigate your own and others’ emotions with ease, empathy, and a positive growth mindset.

Experience leading and/or partnering deeply with organizing or social change organizations and movements centering those most impacted by systemic oppression – largely communities of color that have experienced chronic underinvestment. Trusted movement relationships and a service mindset that anticipates, listens to, centers, and ensures Libra meets the changing needs of grantee partners and community stakeholders.

Alignment with Libra’s guiding principle that those closest to the problem understand those issues best and are most equipped to build and implement solutions and to Libra’s philanthropic approach to move money to groups building BIPOC power.

Experience disrupting “business as usual;” demonstrating commitment to the principles of transformative trust-based philanthropy; being open to ongoing experimentation and learning; and crafting and implementing forward-thinking and community-grounded organization- or sector-wide solutions promoting field-building for nonprofits and/or philanthropy.

Experience and comfort with funder organizing, having developed and implemented strategy to bring funder allies and social justice leaders together to learn and grow in partnership so more resources can flow to grassroots BIPOC-led movements.

Adeptness at collaborating to create innovative strategies that align to the mission and vision with experience recommending and shaping emerging strategy and integrating it across aligned new bodies of work.

Understanding of and ability to convey complex philanthropic, organizational, programmatic, and/or grantmaking insights, strategies, and ideas with clarity, confidence, and credibility. Communications that are principled, aligned with Libra’s values, impactful, and that resonate with and inspire diverse audiences. Adeptness at developing and informing organizational communications strategies that further the mission and goals. Experience with external communications that promote narratives of change and impact through storytelling.

Adeptness at engaging multiple perspectives and facilitating challenging conversations based on prior experience within coalitions; informing and inspiring nonprofit and funder allies; and/or engaging with stakeholders in dynamic organizations like a multigenerational family philanthropy.

Experience developing and managing complex operating budgets and commitment to deepening your knowledge and expertise around impact investments, integrated capital, and other emerging approaches.


POSITION DETAILS, COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This is a full-time position based at the vibrant, light, open and welcoming office home located on Ramaytush Ohlone land (The Presidio) in San Francisco, California. The space is filled with art that represents the culture and creativity of the diverse communities served. It is a space that brings people together, centering shared mission and values in hosted and curated gatherings. The team works in a flexible employee-driven hybrid model. The ideal Managing Director will currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area with local knowledge and roots. Candidates from other markets may apply but must be willing to relocate.

The anticipated competitive annual compensation range is $259,560 to $290,000, commensurate with experience. All candidates with the experience and skills to fulfill the role – regardless of compensation history or background – are encouraged to apply.

The comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision coverage (with 100% of the premium covered by the employer), a 401k retirement plan, paid time off, a transit subsidy, and professional development opportunities.

Libra is partnering with Walker and Associates Consulting – a Black- and woman-owned equity-centered strategic management consulting and search firm – to facilitate this search. To apply, email a cover letter, resume, and list of three references (references will not be contacted without your advanced notice) to libra@walkeraac.com by Friday, March 27, 2026 at 5:00 pm PT. Use the subject line: Managing Director Application. Please submit PDF or Microsoft Word files only, preferably with all materials in one combined file. Resume review begins immediately. Questions or Nominations? Contact Jeannine N. Walker at jwalker@walkeraac.com.

Libra and Tao Rising are committed to creating a dynamic, diverse working environment welcoming applicants from all backgrounds and strongly encouraging women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQ people to apply.


The Libra Foundation/Tao Rising LLC is an “at-will” and equal opportunity employer committed to human rights and supporting a peaceful, just, and equitable society for all. Individuals of all races, religions, national origins, ethnicities, ages, mental or physical disabilities, sexual orientation, gender (including pregnancy and gender expression) identities, marital status, veteran status, medical conditions, formerly incarcerated people, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance, are welcome to apply.

San Francisco, CA - Libra announced today that Director of Programs, Angie Chen, will be leaving the foundation for a new and exciting opportunity as Executive Director of Yellow Chair Foundation!

“It is a fantastic opportunity for Angie to continue to demonstrate her leadership in our field and help shape an evolving philanthropic institution,” said Libra’s Executive Director, Crystal Hayling. “Angie’s extensive philanthropic experience and her deep knowledge of climate justice will be particularly powerful as she moves into this new role.”

During her five years at Libra, Angie has made immeasurable contributions to the foundation, initially spearheading environmental and climate justice work for the Foundation, and most recently helping to grow and develop the team in her role as Director of Programs. Angie has been an inspiring leader, bringing great knowledge and strategy, but also care and commitment to building Libra’s current values and approach to grantmaking.

“It has been the opportunity of a lifetime to help grow Libra alongside this amazing team and community of partners,” Angie said. “I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned at Libra to continue shifting philanthropy toward trust-based practices and community leadership.”

Angie’s presence will be greatly missed, but all at Libra wish her nothing but the best, knowing that she will continue to lead, innovate, and organize in our sector. 

Angie Chen Leaves Libra For Exciting New Role

The Libra Foundation is guided by a trust-based approach that centers relationships, shares power, removes barriers, and eliminates unnecessary requirements. We can learn if we are meeting these aims by receiving and reflecting on honest grantee feedback.

In 2021, we turned to the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) Grantee Perception Report (GPR) to help us with this task. We sought feedback from 171 grantee organizations and received 105 responses, attaining a 61% response rate. The results are compared to Libra’s 2018 findings, as well as results from other foundations in the CEP dataset. To read the full report, click here.

Here’s what we heard, and the ways we plan to remain accountable to this feedback.

Grantees told us that Libra has had a positive impact on their organization and field. Based on open-ended comments shared by grantees, Libra’s general operating support has been instrumental for building and facilitating grassroots leadership. The board’s decision to push greater decision making to staff in our grantmaking process has expedited resourcing grantees, which have allowed grantees to “directly influence the landscape.” As one grantee put it, “the support from the foundation has allowed us to lead and power the movement and has been critical and influential…which translates to influence in the field and community.” Our findings were much lower for local community impact, which may be attributed to our focus on aspects of movement ecosystems that are less localized, such as network infrastructure and movement sustainability.

The survey results confirmed we are deepening our relationships. Relationships are at the heart of social movements and are guided by honest dialogues. A key marker of trust is feeling comfortable talking about difficult situations. In philanthropy, this can be particularly challenging given the unequal power dynamics. The GPR results showed trust-based relationship building is one of Libra’s core strengths. Grantees said they felt comfortable reaching out when an issue arises and that Libra staff is aware of the challenges their organizations face. They also noted Libra staff exhibit high levels of transparency, openness to ideas about program strategy, compassion, and trust. For example, one grantee shared: “[our program officer] is so well connected in this space and really understands our ecosystem. [They are] willing to take risks on new ideas and fosters an honest, trust-based relationship with me and our team.” While another voiced that there is “care and collaboration” from the Libra team. Grantees also reported feeling no pressure to change their organizations’ priorities to receive funding.

Grantees praised Libra’s renewal and reporting process, and told us that the lack of bureaucracy allowed them to focus on their work. The Libra Foundation has come a long way. In 2018, the Foundation’s grantmaking processes were typical: lengthy applications comprised of questions that could be answered by visiting the grantee’s website or public platforms, such as Guidestar. Since then, with the support of the board, Libra staff has worked to eliminate these onerous requirements. For example, instead of written reports, program officers periodically connect with grantees through phone calls. These calls also allow the opportunity for program officers to provide an update on the foundation’s activities, so there is reciprocal sharing. According to a grantee partner, this process “lends itself to a much richer conversation about the work and feels more collaborative and like a partnership.” Speaking to our process, a grantee expressed:“Libra’s process is straightforward and non-bureaucratic. They seem to focus on getting the funds to us rather than focusing on applications and reporting” which therefore, “allows us as a smaller grassroots organization to focus on the work we are doing rather than the grant process.”

While we are encouraged by this positive feedback, grantees also told us about areas in which we can improve.

For example, grantees voiced wanting more consistent communication from the Libra Foundation and more touchpoints with program officers. Although survey results showed improved ratings for how Libra communicates its goals and strategies, grantees still mentioned they were unfamiliar with Libra’s work and impact. We received feedback that described Libra’s communication as clear and responsive, yet other comments asked for more touchpoints. This tension is best stated by one respondent who said, “We appreciate that there are not a lot of demands for communication from the funder. But we also want to have relationships with our funders and leverage their knowledge to grow relationships in philanthropy. I say this knowing that we are all pressed for time and are still in a pandemic.” 

Grantees voiced appreciation for our two-year funding, but challenged us to go further.  Besides the GPR, Libra Foundation gathers anonymous feedback after each cycle through a short, online survey and we have heard a consistent request: extend grant terms beyond two-year commitments. This feedback was echoed again by a grantee who shared the following: “One of the greatest things about Libra is that you understand the importance of unrestricted, multi-year funding. We’d love to see you take this even further, increasing average grant periods to 3-5 years. This is especially important as many nonprofits are still reeling from loss of income and need stability and certainty.”

This feedback identified areas of our grantmaking process that we could improve, and solidified the changes we were already beginning to implement. Here’s how we’re addressing these areas for improvement and deepening our commitment.  

 To improve communications and increase touchpoints, we’ve expanded our communications team and program officers have implemented office hours.  From the GPR, we learned that Libra program officer portfolios are almost twice the size of portfolios at other foundations in the dataset. We recognize it’s been a challenge to simultaneously provide updates from the Libra Foundation, learn about grantees’ work, and deepen relationships. By implementing office hours, grantees have the opportunity to connect on an ongoing basis if they choose to. With the expansion of our communications team, we have increased capacity to strategize and deliver additional ways to engage our grantee partners. 

We will also be piloting extending grant terms. We know that multi-year funding allows for movement sustainability, flexibility, and financial resilience. We also know that the uncertainty of the pandemic has made it challenging to plan ahead, especially with only two-year commitments. This year, we will be piloting extended multi-year funding grant terms for grantees that most closely align with the strategy of each program area. 

The results provided us with clear and useful information to better serve grantees. We aim to create an environment where grantees can set the tone of their engagement with the Libra Foundation. The engagement can range from a close collaboration where Libra connects grantees to other funders or movement leaders, resources, provides references, or serves as spokesperson to uplift their work. If a grantee prefers, receiving funds can be the extent of the engagement. 

That being said, we recognize that the GPR is very long and time consuming. While it is conducted every three years, we know it is a heavy lift for smaller grassroots organizations that already have limited capacity. Many grantees could not participate because of this barrier. We also know that many grantees are filling out multiple surveys from different funders using this tool, among several others. Through the GPR and the time invested in filling out the survey, we heard grantees’ priorities and needs, and how we better meet them.

We are grateful for respondents’ time, expertise, and thoughtfulness. We acknowledge this was yet another request for their time and we are deeply grateful for the appreciation, candor, and reflections. We are listening, and we are committed to being responsive to their needs. It is an honor to fund grantees’ work, as we all bear witness to the heightened attacks on our sacred earth, freedoms, bodily autonomy, and human rights.

Why Grantee Feedback is so Important  The Libra Foundation is guided by a trust-based approach that centers relationships, shares power, removes barriers, and eliminates unnecessary requirements. We can learn if

Feedback Powers Trust: Learnings from the Grantee Perception Report

San Francisco, CA - Three years after its founding in 2020, the Democracy Frontlines Fund (DFF) announced that the initiative’s urgently needed support for racial justice organizing will be extended by three more years. $35.5 million in additional funding has been committed by a group of 14 funders. The $35.5 fund will be disbursed to 11 organizations focused on power-building at the grassroots. DFF continues to be guided by its Brain Trust, which is seven experts in grantmaking who are women of color and trusted allies of the movement. Read the Inside Philanthropy coverage.

“In the face of anti-Black backlash, and a curtailing of racial justice funding by philanthropy in general, DFF is determined to be a beacon of hope,” said Crystal Hayling, Founder of DFF and Libra Foundation Executive Director. “George Floyd was murdered because he was a Black man. We cannot fight racism without addressing race.”

The mission of DFF to fund organizing remains consistent, and DFF’s core support to each grantee will be $1.1 million a year. Returning slate members are: Black Futures Lab, Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, Black Youth Project 100, Communities Transforming Policing Fund, Movement for Black Lives, National Black Food & Justice Alliance, Southern Power Fund, and State Voices. DFF also welcomes a new grantee to the core funding slate: Taproot Earth, an organization focused on advancing climate justice and democracy from Appalachia to the Gulf Coast.  Vision Change Win will be awarded $1.5M over three years for strategy and security support, essential in this environment of rising hate crimes.

“DFF’s commitment to empowering Black voters and advancing social justice is truly commendable,” noted Cliff Albright. His co-founder LaTosha Brown, added, “We are honored to be a DFF grantee and are inspired by the impact we have collectively made. Together, we will continue to fight for a more equitable and inclusive society for all."

While many foundations are retreating from racial justice funding, thirteen foundations have recommitted to funding Black organizing: Crankstart, Hewlett, JPB, Kataly, Libra, MacArthur, Schmidt, Sobrato, Someland, Stardust, Tao Rising, Tides, and an anonymous donor. One new foundation, Heising-Simons, is joining the community.

“We at the MacArthur Foundation have learned so much by being a part of the Democracy Frontlines Fund and are excited to renew our financial commitment,” said John Palfrey, President of the MacArthur Foundation. “Our democracy is in crisis, and DFF provides a powerful way forward, grounded in racial equity, justice, shared learning, and trust."

“These funding amounts are a floor and not a ceiling,” Hayling said. “We don’t all agree on everything but DFF allows us to mobilize resources for critical democracy-strengthening work in our communities.” 

One of the innovative aspects of Democracy Frontlines Fund is the learning journey funders have taken over the past three years, engaging in deep discussion of the historical anti-Black roots of racism, police brutality and voter suppression. Speakers have included Heinz Award winner Colette Pichon Battle, TransLash founder Imara Jones, authors Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates, and civil rights leader Bryan Stevenson. Sessions have addressed wedge issues like intersectionality and Critical Race Theory. Learning journey convenings take place virtually and in-person. The in-person convenings have been multiday learning experiences in Montgomery and Minneapolis, with visits to the sites of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Legacy Museum, and George Floyd Global Memorial, respectively. 

“Their approach of organizing inside of philanthropy mirrors our approach of organizing in our communities – bringing us together inside of one movement that is building power for social and political change," said Alicia Garza, Principal at Black Futures Lab. "DFF is a trailblazer in our movement – providing flexible funds for organizations that are building power at a time when our rights are being eroded,” 

“The support of the Democracy Frontlines Fund has been vital to our work, and DFF’s use of trust-based philanthropic practices has made the process truly collaborative instead of extractive,” said Jeree Thomas, Program Director for the Communities Transforming Policing Fund. “The political backlash following the 2020 racial justice uprisings makes DFF all the more critical to the strength, safety, and sustainability of movements for democracy, safety, and justice for all.” 

Launched after George Floyd’s murder in solidarity with the historic civil rights uprising, DFF was originally designed as a three-year initiative to quickly move resources and coalesce funders around supporting Black organizing. At that time, the expectation was that DFF would sunset this year. Beginning last year, DFF stakeholders initiated a discussion around continuing the grantmaking and DFF’s unique learning journey to understand and confront the roots of racism.

Democracy Frontlines Fund is an initiative of the Libra Foundation.

Three years after its founding in 2020, the Democracy Frontlines Fund (DFF) announced that the initiative’s urgently needed support for racial justice organizing will be extended by three more years. $35.5 million in additional funding has been committed by a group of 14 funders.

DFF Announces Recommitment to Racial Justice Groups and $35.5 Million More in Funding

If the phrase ‘civil rights’ brings to mind 1960’s black-and-white photos, you, like many Americans, are ignoring the present even as you selectively remember the past. Today’s battles – over community safety and policing, over voting rights (which incredibly are again under siege), and over LGBTQ rights, are led by new Black voices speaking out on TikTok and Substacks, more than sermons and pulpits. When it comes to civil rights, we can’t only look back, we need to look around. 

Today, on this anniversary of the March on Washington, I remember the determination of my father, a Florida civil rights activist, and his contemporaries, who led groundbreaking 1960s marches and swim-ins. That history fortifies and informs us which is why authoritarians seek to erase it. That same deep-rooted commitment to freedom I see echoed among extraordinary leaders all around us who bring a fresh approach to pushing justice forward now. We must remember our history and celebrate new faces making history today.

When I think of current civil rights leaders, I’m struck by the brilliant, unstoppable LaTosha Brown, one of those most responsible for the survival of our multi-racial democracy through her voting rights work. LaTosha co-founded Black Voters Matter and is the driving force behind community organizing efforts criss-crossing the South. She challenges us with her passion and moral clarity. Long before the nation paid attention to the South, Brown proclaimed that the path to the multiracial democracy we’re building must be rooted in the Southern states, “We know a thing or two about outwitting authoritarian racists.”

Another powerful Black woman challenging the status quo is Alicia Garza, principal of Black Futures Lab and author of The Purpose of Power. And the originator of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Undaunted by death threats and online doxxing, she reminds us that protesting and Black voting is not enough – we must put policy-making power in Black hands to drive real change. Her Black to the Future Public Policy Institute is training cadres of Black leaders to help create positive change in our communities – whether the issue is community safety and policing, civil rights, health care or economic rights. She has taught us that, “Organizing isn’t just about protesting injustice. It’s about organizing a coalition of the people who believe in a world where we all have freedom and joy.” And she is doing exactly that. 

Sent to law school by her southern bayou community Colette Pichon Battle, founder of the Gulf Coast Center on Law and Poverty and partner at Taproot Earth returned to her community to fight big oil and gas companies’ devastating impacts on the very survival of her coastal community. Rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina she witnessed the trauma that comes from loss as well as the economic losses experienced by already depressed and disenfranchised communities. “Climate change isn’t the problem,” she’s been known to say, “the problem is a system that has systematically extracted wealth and agency from the many for the benefit of a few.” Taproot Earth is laying out a strategy for coal mining country in Appalachia to organize alongside gas refining communities in Louisiana. They have laid out a plan for collectively addressing the worst impacts of climate by building a more equitable economy. 

Facing down the twin scourges of racism and transphobia is the brave, brilliant Imara Jones, a Black trans leader on Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023 whose work “loudly and proudly” asserts the civil rights of trans Americans to thrive. At a time when anti-trans attacks are well-funded and increasing, her TransLash media platform provides a powerful explainer. Scrupulous research uncovers the overlap between far-right Christian nationalist funders of anti-trans screeds and legislation turning back women’s rights, curtailing abortion health care, and suppressing voting rights.

The Libra Foundation's work spearheading philanthropic support for today’s civil rights leaders gives me an up-close look at their struggles and their strengths. They are every bit the measure of their own moment, and their vision has profoundly inspired me and the dozen other funders teaming up to make multi-year investments to resource their work.  As Dr. King said, “A true leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” The civil rights leaders of today are standing on the shoulders of greats, while they bring our generation’s dreams to technicolor life.

If the phrase ‘civil rights’ brings to mind 1960’s black-and-white photos, you, like many Americans, are ignoring the present even as you selectively remember the past.

Don’t Just Look Back for Civil Rights Leaders – Look Around

We are living through cataclysmic shifts: a global pandemic causing more than six million deaths; fires, famines, freezes, and floods; far-right gangs threatening poll workers and public-health officials; and threats to democracy everywhere. The world order appears to be unraveling. Click here to read the full article.

The Future of Social Innovation: SSIR's Special 20th Anniversary Series

A Vision for the Future of Philanthropy

NDN Collective and Libra believe in the power of people and community to create a world that is prosperous, safe, equitable, and just for all people and the planet.

In their article in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Angie Chen, senior program officer and community engagement director at Libra, joins Michael Johnson, director of advancement at NDN Collective, and lays out opportunities to transform philanthropy for the better, be in solidarity with Indigenous social and climate justice movements, and be in right relationship with ourselves and each other in the process.

Originally posted on March 11, 2021 NDN Collective and Libra believe in the power of people and community to create a world that is prosperous, safe, equitable, and just for

A Call-In to Grow Indigenous Power: Telling the truth about philanthropy is the first step to transforming it for generations to come.

Originally posted on November 8, 2021 as a part of Trust-Based Philanthropy Project’s series on Mapping The Movement to Redistribute Power.

“We’re still deepening our understanding about what trust feels like on both sides of the equation and how to keep building it with each and every interaction.  We see ourselves as on a learning journey with our grantee partners, and it’s unfolding as we go.” – Ashley Clark, Director of Operations, The Libra Foundation

In We’re About Building Relationships, Not Creating Barriers, Ashley Clark shares how Libra’s focus on centering relationships impacts everything we do, from hiring to the way we approach grantmaking.

Thank you Trust-Based Philanthropy Project for including us in your critical work.

Originally posted on November 8, 2021 as a part of Trust-Based Philanthropy Project's series on Mapping The Movement to Redistribute Power.

Mapping the Movement to Redistribute Power

On January 31st in Oakland, I joined a remarkable lineup of social justice leaders at Justice Funders’ State of the Movement. The event convened philanthropic and movement leaders who are committed to reimagining communities and building economies focused on care, cooperation, regeneration, and social well-being.

Crystal speaking at Justice Funders’ State of the Movement

In my brief address, I shared my vision for The Libra Foundation and the many ways we are attempting to redefine the way we do philanthropy. I’d like to share some of those thoughts here on where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The Libra Foundation was founded in 2002 with an endowment of $33 million by a progressive, Chicago-based family.  In 2017, the family decided to build an in-house team to help bring forth the next chapter of The Libra Foundation.

From left to right: Angie Chen (Senior Program Officer), Crystal Hayling (Executive Director), Ashley Clark (Knowledge & Grants Manager), Jennifer Agmi (Senior Program Officer)

Fast forward to today. This is the founding team of Libra 2.0. When I was hired in 2017 as their first in-house Executive Director, I knew we had to boldly support movement strategies that build collective power, hire brilliant, heart-driven humans with a longing to do philanthropy differently, and be brave enough to show up as our authentic selves with wealthy people. Here’s how we’re turning our principles into practice:

The Libra team’s guiding principle is that those who are closest to the issues understand those issues the best. They are not only the most equipped to build solutions, they are the most effective at implementing those solutions. This means low-income communities of color building power from the ground up, inspiring big local change that creates influence on the national level and national/transnational coalitions that are working with partners around the country and globe. This means focusing on key areas where human rights are ignored – criminal justice reform, gender justice, and environmental justice. We fund, when possible, at the intersections of these issue areas. No one issue solely affects a human being. We are not single-issue people; we are whole beings.

This also means funding people like Gina Clayton who founded Essie Justice Group, a network of women who have incarcerated family members. Each woman in the network is nominated by her incarcerated family member. Together, as Black and Latinx women, formerly and currently incarcerated women, transwomen, and gender non-conforming people, as sisters, they are driving fierce change to fight the injustices created by mass incarceration.

That means funding groups like Southerners On New Ground (SONG), which has been organizing LGBTQ communities across the South for 25 years. In their annual report, they write:

“How, with the boot of the state on our necks, do we build with a base of badasses in these grim political times? How do we embody the vision we hold while dealing with the stark reality of our context and conditions? We have one answer: US. Together we have been able to not just do more, but to leverage the capacity of our Kinship Network to tackle these questions.”

SONG pushes us to more deeply understand that supporting racial, economic, and environmental justice means a greater investment in Queer Liberation, especially in the South.

Photo Credit: http://southernersonnewground.org/2018/12/freedom-birthright-songs-2018-end-year-report/

At the end of 2018, we moved millions to new projects with greater mission alignment to each other than ever before, such as Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Project South, Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE), and We Got Us Now.

If we don’t know by now, then we really haven’t been listening – it’s not only about what you fund, it’s how you fund. We’re saying goodbye to stale bureaucratic habits – never-ending paperwork, low trust, and restricted funding (to name just a few). Hello general operating support grants, multi-year support, real conversations, and streamlined proposals and reports. If we want to make philanthropy more equitable, effective, and empathetic, these shifts are imperative first steps.

Privilege feels great, but privilege narrows our vision. It is actually impossible, when one has abundance, to completely remember what deprivation feels like. If one has never felt systemic oppression, it can be difficult to even see it, much less support work that addresses it. Our staff team includes two children of immigrants and two African Americans with deep personal Warmth of Other Suns family histories. Yet even those of us who grew up low-income, but now work in philanthropy, can’t claim to see these issues entirely from the perspective of those most impacted.

This is even more true for people who have grown up in wealth and privilege. The family behind the foundation is delving deeply into the question of what it means to be an ally. They are learning how to de-center their privilege and practices around not always being the deciders. They are learning how to organize and activate other people of wealth to support movements and progressive solutions. Our board chair, Regan Pritzker, recently hosted a book club for a group of her white friends to discuss Robin DiAngelo’s White Privilege. This gives us some common language from which to excavate the divides and build trust.

If we’re really committed to the potential of using wealth for good, philanthropic endowments also must align with our mission. The Libra Foundation’s endowment now stands at $420 million, all of which is invested for impact. The vast majority of the endowment is invested in screened funds and equities, with a minimum of 10% allocated for direct investing in companies with non-extractive practices committed to building just and equitable businesses.

When I first proposed to the family that Libra should be close to but not inside of the family office, they thought it was a terrible idea. But they listened. When I started talking about being on the ground floor, not in a hermetically sealed and secure high-rise, they furrowed their brows. I described a place with simple beauty and art. A warm, welcoming space that grantees could use for staff and board retreats, free of charge. A place that does not do what most foundation offices do: demand that those who enter stiffen their spines, switch their language, and chuckle instead of belly laugh.

Small meeting room / Wall of Resistance Posters in Community Conference Room

This is the new Libra Foundation office. We moved in two weeks ago. It is a house and it feels like a home. It has couches and kitchens and creaky doors and lots of color. More loud than hushed. A joyful place for discussing, debating, dreaming, and not just strategic planning. We are planning events that uplift a new vision for philanthropy. A few grantees are already planning on giving it a test run for their own small group gatherings in the coming weeks.

“If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle.”

Our role in philanthropy is to fund the struggle. This is how we will build a shared practice for philanthropic transformation, and that’s our goal for The Libra Foundation.

Crystal Hayling is Executive Director of The Libra Foundation, based in San Francisco, funding organizations working to advance human rights and racial, economic, and social justice.

On January 31st in Oakland, I joined a remarkable lineup of social justice leaders at Justice Funders’ State of the Movement. The event convened philanthropic and movement leaders who are

The Libra Foundation: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

My husband is out of town. My son is at practice. I have a rare moment completely alone.

This catches me off guard. I’m not a crier. I’m a doer. I take action. I’m an activist. I run a California-based national philanthropy, where I try to be a changemaker. 

But truth be told, four years of Trump, an insurrection and two years of a pandemic and I’m not the woman I used to be.  Are any of us? I am shedding tears and losing patience. 

Just as I began to dread the two-year anniversary of the police officer Chauvin’s murder of an unarmed Black man named George Floyd, there was a terrible echo. A white police officer in Grand Rapids turned off his body camera before he shot Patrick Lyoya, a quiet eldest son, another unarmed Black man, in the back of the head. And now the escalation. The unthinkable Buffalo rampage fueled by a massive hate-stoking misinformation media.

As with George Floyd’s video, I have not watched these videos. Never will. At the ripe age of 57, I have been traumatized enough by white people murdering Black people. There are no words.

Patrick will not go home tonight. His family will not hear his voice down the hall, as he announces he’s arrived home from the front doorway. His friends will no longer smile in anticipation when he’s about to deliver the punchline to his joke.

He has been taken. Snatched by the lying white supremacy that convinced that cop that he was owed nothing less than total submission. And even then, stop resisting = stop insisting that you have a right to be.

Pearl Young, a substitute teacher and grandmother of 10 who was murdered while shopping, won’t log on to Zoom to work with her special ed class. They won’t hear her laughter or receive her support and care.

Two years ago, all my friends in philanthropy insisted, this is not who we are. Our country can be better than this. Millions of Americans of all colors crowded into the streets to say Black Lives Matter. Perhaps the pandemic made us feel more similar than different. For a brief time, we were all in the same boat. We all suffered similar consequences for our actions, we all shared the same fears.

Two years ago, I called on forward-thinking colleagues in philanthropy to join me in setting up a fund for frontline racial justice groups – and many responded.  A dozen foundations strong, we launched the Democracy Frontlines Fund quickly, and I felt that things might be shifting at last. The response was fast and heartening, as we aimed to confront anti-Blackness in philanthropy. Together, we felt a great gust of hope.  

But now? Our good work goes on, but the world is changing all around us.  The shortest way to put it is that we are no longer us.  For people who are healthy, employed, immunized, with income and insurance, reality is vastly different than for people with dark skin, frontline or gig jobs, who pay the doctor out of pocket, whose rent just went up, who must produce papers if stopped.

These divisions of race, money and fear are being stoked by the far right in an election year.  On the left, we are seeing a racial backlash, an acrid tide of pre-blame for anticipated losses in the fall election.  Everywhere, we are seeing a national attack on voting rights and the intentional undermining of the pillars of our democratic system. And, there continues the relentless drumbeat of Black deaths by police.

This anniversary, like the moment sparked two years ago, calls for us to stand up. To push for real anti-racism, not corporate sloganeering about “diversity and inclusion” or empty efforts at tokenism.  And most importantly, we must declare that we have been changed and commit ourselves to that change. This means that we will no longer turn a blind eye to unconscionable injustice. That we will not allow more murders of Black men and women to be hushed up and forgotten.

What is important is to break out of the habit of blindness and to declare that what is happening now is not alright. That your comfort is not more important than Black life. And to speak up and bear witness. To accelerate the efforts we all promised two years ago to be advocates for racial justice.  To keep uprooting white supremacy wherever we work or live.  For me, that means the day-to-day work of chipping away at philanthropy’s racist past and building a future that is truly inclusive.

Patrick Lyoya is a young man we will never know. He is a Black man whose murder at the hands of the police was caught on video.  One more person not allowed to be.

So, I ask, two years after George Floyd’s murder: what has changed? The circumstances – or you?  What are we doing for justice now?  

Crystal Hayling is Executive Director of the Libra Foundation and Founder of the Democracy Frontlines Fund.

My husband is out of town. My son is at practice. I have a rare moment completely alone. So I sink down on my couch and sob. This catches me

Who Are We Now? A Black Woman’s Meditation on the Second Anniversary

San Francisco, CA – The Libra Foundation announced today that Executive Director Crystal Hayling will be stepping down in 2024, wrapping up a six-year tenure marked by extraordinary accomplishments, including the founding of the Democracy Frontlines Fund in 2020. This transition will also mark the end of her extraordinary 32-year career in philanthropy.

“In hindsight it seems almost unbelievably fortuitous that Crystal came to the Libra Foundation when she did. Her unique skill set, leadership ability, vision, and courage transformed Libra’s giving strategies,” said Libra Foundation Board Co-President Susan Pritzker. “As a result of Crystal’s leadership and vision, she thoughtfully and strategically pushed the progressive edges of philanthropy, making Libra Foundation an example of the best philanthropy can aspire to.” 

Hayling led the foundation – and urged the philanthropic sector – toward a new vision of giving that is trust-based, and invests in power-building at the grassroots.  When COVID hit, she worked with the Board to double down on grantmaking to meet the moment. When George Floyd was murdered, Crystal spearheaded the creation of the Democracy Frontlines Fund to further the cause of multi-racial democracy, an initiative which has just renewed its commitment.

“It has been my honor to serve the Libra Foundation at the cutting edge of change in philanthropy,” said Hayling.  “I am filled with gratitude that I could make a difference for the frontline communities that are doing the hard work of realizing our dreams of justice and equity.  I am proud of the terrific team we’ve built at Libra, and confident that they will carry this urgent work forward.”

Hayling was named as Executive Director of the Libra Foundation in September of 2017.  Under her leadership, a total of nearly $200 million in grants  was awarded, primarily to BIPOC organizations working to build power at the grassroots in three program areas:  Community Safety and Justice, Environmental and Climate Justice, and Gender Justice.  “The frontline communities Libra supports will continue to guide Libra’s work,” Hayling says.  “We have built a strong tradition that honors interdependence, disrupts philanthropic patterns that prioritize productivity over humanity, and supports a new culture that centers justice and liberation.”

In addition to working closely with the Pritzker family at Libra, Hayling has gathered support from other funders to advance shared strategic goals, most notably the $74.5 million Democracy Frontlines Fund.  Hayling will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to the Fund after stepping down from the Executive Director role in 2024.

Hayling’s 30-plus years in philanthropy are marked by start-up energy. She was part of the founding teams of The Los Angeles Women’s Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, The California HealthCare Foundation, the Blue Shield of California Foundation, and finally, The Libra Foundation. At the Blue Shield of California Foundation, she spearheaded groundbreaking work to achieve universal health coverage and domestic violence prevention. At The California Wellness Foundation, she launched an initiative to shift youth violence prevention from a criminal justice issue to a public health effort. She helped found and lead the Medi-Cal Policy Institute during her time at the California HealthCare Foundation, providing key policy support for major Medicaid expansion and the launch of Health-e-App, the state’s first online Medi-Cal application. Along with her family, Crystal lived in Singapore for 6 years where she served on the boards of the Lien Center for Social Innovation and Asian Venture Philanthropy Network. 

Crystal currently serves on the boards of Community Change, the Essie Justice Group, Democracy Fund and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. She frequently writes and publishes on leading edge topics in philanthropy. In 2010, ABFE awarded her the James Joseph Award and Lecture, Five Things We Know but Keep Forgetting. Recently in Stanford Social Innovation Review, her article “A Vision for the Future of Philanthropy,” also captures wisdom gleaned from her years of experience in the field. Inside Philanthropy named Crystal “2021 Foundation Leader of the Year" and "One of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Philanthropy" in 2023.

In retirement, Crystal is looking forward to more being and less doing. That will include working in her gardens—physical and spiritual. And more writing. “I have loved this work in philanthropy. Looking back, I feel graced by the extraordinary people I’ve had the honor of partnering with over the years. And I’m looking forward to the next chapter,” she says.

The Libra Foundation announced today that Executive Director Crystal Hayling will be stepping down in 2024, wrapping up a six-year tenure marked by extraordinary accomplishments, including the founding of the Democracy Frontlines Fund in 2020.  This transition will also mark the end of her extraordinary 32-year career in philanthropy.

Libra Foundation Board Lauds the Leadership of ED Crystal Hayling As She Announces Retirement in 2024

Published December 12, 2023 by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Retiring Philanthropy Leader Was Always ‘A Step or Two Ahead of the Pack’ recounts the storied career of Libra Executive Director, Crystal Hayling, as she announces her retirement.

“Crystal Hayling continually challenged conventional wisdom, practicing trust-based philanthropy before it was fashionable.” Read the full article.

Published December 12, 2023 by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Retiring Philanthropy Leader Was Always ‘A Step or Two Ahead of the Pack’ recounts the storied career of Libra Executive Director, Crystal Hayling, as she announces her retirement.  

“Crystal Hayling continually challenged conventional wisdom, practicing trust-based philanthropy before it was fashionable.” 

Thank you to the Chronicle of Philanthropy for their detailed reporting on this breaking news.

Retiring Philanthropy Leader Was Always ‘A Step or Two Ahead of the Pack’

Looking at the injustices that are engulfing marginalized communities, a clear pattern emerges: how deeply gender is woven throughout all of these struggles. Our carceral punishment system, so clearly weighted against people of color, also comes down heavily on women and LGBTQIA+ people. This discrimination and its harsh consequences are both historical, and very much in the present moment, unfolding around us in real time.

Taking a look at the carceral system through a gender lens is more than illuminating – it highlights often overlooked connections that justice funders must see and act upon. This isn’t one issue, with a one-off solution, it’s a web of interconnected issues that have gender as the common denominator. It all adds up to tremendous trauma and hardship for the 173,000 women and girls who are locked up in America today, and the thousands more who are trans. They face daily risks and hardships – which ripple out to their families, as they are often economically marginal, and the sole caregiver. 

Most recently, the Dobbs v. Jackson decision last year has brought in its wake the widespread criminalization of health providers and people seeking reproductive care. Within our current culture of mass incarceration, says researcher Hayley McMahon, "we're gonna see more people being criminalized, more people being arrested and more people being incarcerated." It’s not a matter of back-alley abortions anymore – it’s people seeking reproductive health care and ending up behind prison bars.

While providers in states banning abortion are clearly under threat, most people don’t realize that pregnant individuals themselves are also at risk of criminalization. In Idaho, a statute from 1973 remains a potential danger: a woman “who purposely terminates her own pregnancy otherwise than by a live birth” can be found guilty of a felony.  Similarly, some states have begun to explore criminalization approaches based on “fetal personhood,” aiming to increase prosecutions targeting pregnant people by classifying abortion as homicide.  

Even prior to Dobbs, prosecutors sometimes charged pregnant individuals in situations where their actions during pregnancy had allegedly harmed the fetus – including using drugs (even where prescribed by a doctor), drinking alcohol, and even falling down stairs. These seeds of criminalization have been sown for a long time, but Dobbs has allowed them to take root and grow in more communities – creating a culture of fear.

There is also nothing new about the criminalization of LGBTQ people, but now it is a trend that has gathered momentum.  Data from Interrupting Criminalization show that people incarcerated in women’s prisons (currently the fastest growing prison population) are disproportionately LGBTQ. A stunning forty-two percent of this population either identifies as lesbian or bisexual, or has had a same-sex experience. 

Behind these numbers are a larger and very frightening trend.  Arrests for women, the overall number driving this increase, are dropping much more slowly than those of men and are actually rising in several categories, including drug offenses and “broken window” offenses like vagrancy. Overall, the number of women incarcerated in the U.S. has skyrocketed, increasing 475 percent in the last four decades.

Adding to the harms, a large proportion of the women behind bars have already experienced some form of interpersonal violence. According to a recent study, 86 percent of women who have spent time in jail report that they had been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. As well, while women represented just 13 percent of the jail population between 2009 and 2011, they represented 67 percent of the victims of staff-on-inmate sexual victimization. Sexual violence is so pronounced among jailed and incarcerated women that Sen. Cory Booker, (D-NJ,) labeled the overarching phenomenon as "a survivor-of-sexual-trauma to prisoner pipeline." 

Disrupting the criminalization of women, trans and gender non-conforming people demands looking at these patterns, according to Interrupting Criminalization: “Movements focused on police and prosecutorial reform should focus on where, how and why women are arrested.”  For example, behind arrests for weapons charges or even violent offenses you will often find a woman or trans person defending themselves against interpersonal violence or sexual assault.

When we fail to use a gender justice lens in our work to promote community safety and justice, we fail to fund critical interventions that support the full spectrum of people and experiences behind and across prison walls.  Conversely, when more holistic solutions are created by those most marginalized in our society, all of us benefit together from this broader approach. The data today compel us to both see differently and act differently.  Including gender in the picture is essential in getting community safety and justice right for all of our communities.

______________________________________________________

maisha quint is a senior program officer at the Libra Foundation. 

Artwork by Jessica Jiang, commissioned by CCWP for their 25th Anniversary Celebration, originally published on the cover of The Fire Inside, Issue #65, November 2021.

Looking at the injustices that are engulfing marginalized communities, a clear pattern emerges: how deeply gender is woven throughout all of these struggles. Our carceral punishment system, so clearly weighted against people of color, also comes down heavily on women and LGBTQIA+ people. This discrimination and its harsh consequences are both historical, and very much in the present moment, unfolding around us in real time.

Gender Behind Bars: A Deeper Look

Looking at the injustices that are engulfing marginalized communities, a clear pattern emerges: how deeply gender is woven throughout all of these struggles. Our carceral punishment system, so clearly weighted against people of color, also comes down heavily on women and LGBTQIA+ people.

Originally published on May 31, 2023 by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Grant Makers Join Together to Learn About - and Fund - Racial Justice, tells the story of Libra Executive Director Crystal Hayling’s deep roots in the movement for racial justice and creation of the Democracy Frontlines Fund, a nationally aligned giving strategy founded by Hayling.

“When the murder of George Floyd in 2020 set off a national outpouring of grief, anger, and demands for change, Hayling saw an opportunity. She created an entity called the Democracy Frontlines Fund and persuaded a dozen grant makers, most of them family foundations, to donate $3 million each for a minimum of three years. The donors gave up not just money but control over how it would be spent, part of an approach sometimes called trust-based philanthropy,” writes Marc Gunther, author of the piece. Read the full article here. 

Thank you to the Chronicle of Philanthropy for their critical reporting on racial justice funding. 

Grant Makers Join Together to Learn About - and Fund - Racial Justice tells the story of Libra Executive Director Crystal Hayling’s deep roots in the movement for racial justice and creation of the Democracy Frontlines Fund.