Executive Director

Fellow funders, throw out the playbooks that say we have to meet in the middle and focus instead on bridging with people who are trying to move the middle toward justice. If you are in a room where surface agreement is more important than fighting against racism, standing up for women’s rights, insisting on fair wages for hard work, and demanding truth-telling about our leaders and elections, you need to get up and find another room. Click here to read the full article.

Many foundation leaders believe division and incivility are the biggest problems afflicting democracy. Libra’s Crystal Hayling makes the case that some bridges should not be built and that redressing injustice requires agitation. Read More.

Hey, Philanthropy: Division Isn’t Our Biggest Problem

Senior Program Officer

Over the last few months, we have experienced tragedy upon tragedy. A nesting doll of death at the hands of white supremacy and patriarchy. It’s been hard to keep track and appropriately process and respond to each heartbreaking event. And now we must add yet another tragedy – the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade resulting in the loss of a fundamental constitutional protection over our bodies. Following the leak of the Supreme Court opinion, hundreds of articles have been penned expressing justified outrage about what a post Roe country looks like. We want to add to the chorus and urge funders who have traditionally watched from the sidelines, to take heed of this moment and join the fight. 

Over the last few months, we have experienced tragedy upon tragedy. A nesting doll of death at the hands of white supremacy and patriarchy.

Reflecting on the SCOTUS Decision and What’s at Stake

News

Director of Programs

Movements for justice are inextricably linked. Some in philanthropy tend to put issues in boxes, but doing that can perpetuate false solutions and lift up some while hurting others. For generations, activists across issue areas have worked together in formal and informal networks and coalitions, in solidarity against structural oppression. The message funders are hearing from grantee partners is loud and clear: one, move money to groups led by and for people who are disproportionately harmed (mostly low-income communities of color), two, do so in trusting relationships, and three, cut all the unnecessary red tape, fast. 

The growing role of intermediaries to meet this moment might seem new to many funders, but at its core it’s not new to social movements. Communities in need have always worked together to redistribute resources, share power, and create opportunities for frontline organizations to collaborate. 

That’s why The Libra Foundation is funding an additional $10M to 14 community-accountable intermediaries with unrestricted and multiyear grants that are unsolicited and require no administrative burdens. 

Exactly what is an intermediary? Here’s our definition:

Public foundations that raise the funds they grant/spend;

Nonprofit organizations and formations that either exclusively regrant or regrant a majority of resources raised; and

Pooled funds, initiatives, and alliances that are multi-stakeholder, fiscally sponsored, community-accountable, and/or practice participatory grantmaking 

As funders, we must recognize that institutional philanthropy is too often out of touch with the reality of marginalized peoples’ lives. We need guidance from trusted partners to get money to where it needs to go in ways that work for frontline communities – not the way it works for us.

We are following the lead of allies, including movement-accountable public foundations and grassroots-centric intermediaries. Here’s our latest thinking on why Libra supports intermediaries and the criteria we prioritize:

Support for frontline communities, across issue areas & geographies

Libra prioritizes intermediaries that work in and alongside communities, have strong ties to organizations that lead local movements, and have the trust and experience to get money where it needs to go. These intermediaries reach people across issue areas and across geographies, building on deep partnership and collaboration. They center those disproportionately affected by oppression and are led by and for BIPOC communities facing adversities due to systemic and institutionalized racism.

Comprising more than 200 organizations across five states, the relationships that make up Gulf South for a Green New Deal (GS4GND) have existed for decades. These bonds were strengthened through community responses to catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill, and voter suppression. Members participated in a collective, bottom-up process to develop a shared platform rooted in the values and priorities of the most impacted, facilitated by Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy. The regional formation uplifts grassroots policies that actualize just transition, by instilling those values into every aspect of its work and prioritizing the frontlines. Reflecting its deep commitment to self-determination, GS4GND’s governance council, representing frontline organizations across all five Gulf South states, allocates resources through a participatory process.

Infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration

Intermediaries can provide necessary financial structures (such as fiscal sponsorship) or even make grants directly to individuals and organizations that don’t have their own nonprofit status. This allows them to be more nimble and responsive to the needs of their community partners. We’re inspired by the ways intermediaries have worked with one another to bring communities together, so that no one is left behind. 

Dedicated to Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination and the sovereignty of Native nations, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples is an example of moving resources into the hands of those who come from the community they serve. Through three different funds as well as fiscal sponsorship, Seventh Generation is funding critical projects that are preserving tradition, fostering healing, and fighting corporate power. This summer, the Fund teamed up with Grantmakers for Girls of Color, a Black-led philanthropic serving organization, to launch the New Songs Rising Initiative to support projects led by and for Black, Brown, and Indigenous girls.

It’s not just what you fund, it’s how you do it. Libra is on an ongoing journey to be a better funder ally, and we’ve learned our practices from the nimble funders whose work we admire. The intermediaries we partner with practice trust-based grantmaking, which means fewer administrative burdens, multi-year funding, support beyond the check, mindfulness around power dynamics, and dedication to combating systemic racism and other forms of oppression. Our partners teach us about the importance of non-extractive organizational practices, like compensation, acknowledgement, and respect for movement experts’ wisdom. 

For example, Trans Justice Funding Project (TJFP) makes its grant decisions by convening a panel of trans justice activists who rely on their experiences with “racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, immigration, incarceration, and other intersecting oppressions” (see its 2020 annual report). TJFP requires no reporting, provides unrestricted funding, supports projects with budgets less than $250K, and does not take grantees’ time for site visits. Last year, it also instituted something new – the “ReUp” is a no-hassle way for grantees to annually reapply for funding without submitting new materials, leaving more time for grantees to focus on what’s most important – trans liberation. This is trust in action.

Intermediaries are reflecting back to us what’s possible when we come together and prioritize trusting, collaborative relationships. Historically, philanthropy has not made it easy for small organizations to work with one another. Often unconsciously, funders have put groups that ought to be in partnership in competition with each other because of the paternalistic nature of our grantmaking strategies. Thanks to intermediaries’ work to combat these regressive practices, we’re seeing more coordinated donor organizing efforts, accountability initiatives, space for tough conversations, and more loving organizational cultures.

At Libra, we regularly fund many different types of intermediaries whose work shines light on the cascading crises frontline communities are facing, and therefore the solutions put forth are inherently holistic. We’re excited to see a growing interest in intermediaries in social justice philanthropy.

Movements for justice are inextricably linked. Some in philanthropy tend to put issues in boxes, but doing that can perpetuate false solutions and lift up some while hurting others.

How Funding Intermediaries Fuels Social Change

With so many practices in philanthropy centered on “trying to make ourselves feel better about mitigating a tiny bit of risk,” Libra’s Director of Operations, Ashley Clark, calls on funders to build relationships, not create barriers.”

Originally posted March 22, 2022 With so many practices in philanthropy centered on “trying to make ourselves feel better about mitigating a tiny bit of risk,” Libra's Director of Operations,

We’re About Building Relationships, Not Creating Barriers

Abortion bans have always been a symptom, rather than the end goal of white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, and racism. It has been part of a larger fight to ultimately control the bodies of women, girls, trans, and gender non-conforming communities (TGNC) – with an intentional focus on keeping power away from communities of color. It is why Libra’s Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)-led reproductive justice grantees have told us that Roe was always the floor and never the ceiling– that abortion bans are inextricably linked to anti-trans legislation, voter suppression, lack of medicaid expansion, and economic insecurity. It is why Black, Brown, and Indigenous women, youth and TGNC leaders organize to fight not only for the right to have an abortion, but for the right to have access to abortions and the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare, accurate sex education in schools, voting rights in local, state, and federal elections. They have been a part of the racial justice and defund the police movement, fiercely connecting that the dismantling of Roe also means increased criminalization, surveillance and policing that will disproportionately impact poor communities of color.  

As we sit with the devastating news of Friday’s SCOTUS decision, we must reflect on how the philanthropic sector can move differently and meet the needs of this moment. Too often, the funding world has brushed off the reproductive justice movement as simply a women’s issue. Traditionally women’s rights funders have over prioritized abortion litigation strategies while under-investing in organizing efforts that grow the base and build long-term power. The consequences have been a grossly underfunded RJ movement, leaving leaders of color with intersectional strategies receiving little to no funding.

It’s time to think and fund differently and collectively for the world we want rather than defaulting to statements of solidarity followed by little action. It’s time to create accountability structures for ourselves and our colleagues that actually track where our funding dollars go. If funders begin to think more comprehensively about the variety of issue areas they support and recognize the interconnected nature of the systems of oppression we’re facing, we would move in alignment with affected communities and truly support their vision of liberation. 

Health funders treated abortion access restrictions as a public health crisis? 

Reproductive Rights funders saw that adopting a reproductive justice framework can repair the structural and systemic failures that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have endured under the majority white-led reproductive rights movement? 

Democracy funders realized that BIPOC-led RJ leaders have been fighting voter suppression laws and integrating civic engagement strategies throughout all of their base-building work? 

Criminal Justice & Safety funders saw that overturning Roe will lead to increased police violence and the criminalization of birthing people- disproportionately impacting poor communities of color? 

Economic security funders connected access to abortion as a critical factor for economic well-being? 

Education funders understood that supporting comprehensive sex education is not only supporting abortion rights, but also improving youth mental health? 

Youth development funders supported a robust young people’s movement that centers their leadership and vision on reproductive liberation and self-determination? 

Gender Equity and Justice funders saw that the fight for reproductive liberation is also the fight for LGBTQ rights and trans liberation? 

Immigrant Rights funders explored how abortion restrictions and the threat of criminalization further isolates undocumented folks? 

National funders remembered that the fight for abortion access has always started at the state and local level and that power-building organizations closest to the ground are the ones to fund to lead this work?

If you’re wondering where to begin, read Women’s Funding Network’s letter that outlines five immediate actions as a start. While this is in no way an exhaustive list of the many organizations working at the forefront of this movement, these are some of Libra’s cross-cutting partners in this work: 

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective 

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity 

In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda 

Join us in breaking down the self-imposed silos of philanthropy. If your foundation operates in service of disenfranchised and historically marginalized communities in this country; if you care about the wellbeing of BIPOC communities – then this is an issue you must respond to, because it is ultimately the most economically vulnerable and politically disempowered communities in this country who are most intensely effected by abortion restrictions. 

Make no mistake –overturning Roe is part of the backlash against the racial reckoning and the multiracial, feminist democracy so many of us in philanthropy are supporting through our grantmaking, partnerships, and trust in our movement leaders.

When I think of all of the organizers in the movement that got up this morning to continue the fight, I am struck by their courage, resilience and enduring commitment to our collective liberation. As funders, we too must rise to meet this latest challenge and commit to funding this movement like our freedom depends on it, because that is exactly what’s at stake.   

“First, foster authentic relationships with leaders and organizations closest to the challenges we aim to address. Such relationships build trust on both sides. They shift the funder-grantee relationship from a transactional one to a mutually supportive one, grounded in learning and shared commitment to action. As Crystal Hayling at The Libra Foundation, a philanthropy that embraces practices that reflect social justice, recently wrote: “If you want to create systemic change, step out of the driver’s seat and strap in as a passenger . . . funders need to give up the wheel and foot the bill for the fuel.”

Originally posted on March 8, 2022 "First, foster authentic relationships with leaders and organizations closest to the challenges we aim to address. Such relationships build trust on both sides.

Reimagining philanthropy’s commitment to racial equity

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

Thank you Inside Philanthropy for naming Crystal Hayling, the Libra Foundation’s executive director, Foundation Leader of the Year! We are so honored to be on this list with so many of our brilliant colleagues. Read about the winners here.

Thank you Inside Philanthropy for naming Crystal Hayling, the Libra Foundation's executive director, Foundation Leader of the Year! We are so honored to be on this list with so many

Philanthropy Awards, 2021

The Libra Foundation has approved and disbursed $300,000 in grants to two organizations addressing the devastation caused by the Camp Fire in Butte County and the Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties in November 2018.

Informed by philanthropic partners, including Northern California Grantmakers, Philanthropy California, and Latino Community Foundation, Libra Foundation staff recommended providing immediate support to families and individuals who are directly impacted by the Camp and Woolsey fires.

“Climate change continues to produce fiercer and more catastrophic fires. These fires have destroyed neighborhoods and communities – it’s critical that we act now to protect those that have experienced unimaginable loss, especially folks who have nowhere else to go,” said The Libra Foundation’s Executive Director, Crystal Hayling.

Grants in response to the California fires directly address Libra’s human rights and environmental justice mission and provide critical support for impacted communities.

The Libra Foundation has approved and disbursed the following grants totaling $300,000:

$150,000 to United Way of Northern California, to provide emergency cash grants to those who have lost their homes, assist local direct service nonprofits, and provide long-term recovery support to survivors of the Camp Fire.

$150,000 to 805 UndocuFund, to assist immigrant families and individuals who have lost their homes or wages in the Woolsey fire. Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for public assistance from FEMA, disaster unemployment benefits, or some other public safety net programs. 805 UndocuFund is sponsored by the Ventura County Community Foundation.

The Libra Foundation has invested more than $7 million since 2011 in environmental justice organizations. In its environmental justice portfolio, The Foundation prioritizes support to low income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately affected by climate change and corporate decisions that prioritize profit over the health and wellbeing of communities.

The Libra Foundation is a family foundation with an endowment of $320 million invested for impact. The Foundation is committed to social justice work in the United States in the areas of criminal justice and drug policy, environmental justice, and gender justice. Over the past decade, the foundation has granted approximately $42 million to more than 100 grantee partners.

Contact: Laurie Kappe, i.e. communications.

The Libra Foundation has approved and disbursed $300,000 in grants to two organizations addressing the devastation caused by the Camp Fire in Butte County and the Woolsey Fire in Los

$300,000 in grants approved to support communities devastated by California fires

How well philanthropy responded to the events of the past 14 months—a period of so much trauma and suffering—is a topic sure to be debated for many years to come. And, of course, there will never be a single clear answer. Some foundations and top philanthropists rose heroically to the moment, dramatically changing how they operate. Others largely continued business as usual as millions of people struggled and hundreds of thousands died. Many other funders did their best to navigate through a complex and trying time. Click here to read more.

How well philanthropy responded to the events of the past 14 months—a period of so much trauma and suffering—is a topic sure to be debated for many years to come. And, of course, there will never be a single clear answer. Some foundations and top philanthropists rose heroically to the moment, dramatically changing how they operate. Others largely continued business as usual as millions of people struggled and hundreds of thousands died. Many other funders did their best to navigate through a complex and trying time.

After a Year Like No Other, Three Foundation Leaders Talk About What Changed and What Comes Next

A steady drip of grant makers has signaled a commitment in recent years to funding organizations that are led by people of color and that serve them. This month, that drip became a deluge, as the Covid-19 crisis and racial-justice uprisings led many foundation leaders to acknowledge the central importance of addressing inequity. Click here to read more.

A steady drip of grant makers has signaled a commitment in recent years to funding organizations that are led by people of color and that serve them. This month, that drip became a deluge, as the Covid-19 crisis and racial-justice uprisings led many foundation leaders to acknowledge the central importance of addressing inequity.

How to Avoid Excuses That Prevent Grant Makers from Aiding Black-Led Organizations

Climate change is a notoriously underfunded issue. But climate philanthropy has also been narrowly focused, both in terms of strategy and grantees. We’ve seen some diversification, but grassroots organizations and climate justice work, in particular, still receive a small share of the funding pie. Click here to read more.

Climate change is a notoriously underfunded issue. But climate philanthropy has also been narrowly focused, both in terms of strategy and grantees. We’ve seen some diversification, but grassroots organizations and climate justice work, in particular, still receive a small share of the funding pie.

Green Intermediaries: The Pooled Funds Connecting Donors to the Frontlines of Climate Change

“We are all connected. This is our reality. We are in solidarity, in unity as global citizens for a common cause. We are in solidarity because we are on the brink of disaster.” – It Takes Roots

It Takes Roots (ITR), a 2018 grantee of the Libra Foundation, is a powerful alliance bringing together urban and rural communities from all around the world to build equitable and transformational solutions for climate change. ITR is a multiracial, multicultural and multi-generational coalition of several organizations, including Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Indigenous Environmental Network, Right to the City Alliance, Center for Story-based Strategy, and over 200 organizations and affiliates.

The coalition joined forces in the Bay Area September 8-14 for Solidarity to Solutions – a week of action opposing the Global Climate Action Summit with a holistic approach. Through a series of workshops, convenings, and actions, the coalition explored “place-based solutions that serve to simultaneously decarbonize, detoxify, demilitarize and democratize our economy through critical strategies such as Indigenous land rights, food sovereignty, zero waste, public transportation, ecosystem restoration, universal healthcare, worker rights, housing rights, racial and gender justice, and economic re-localization.” To further explore the goals of the Solidarity to Solutions events, watch the short film below.

Solidarity to Solutions – It Takes Roots to Cultivate Solutions from Climate Justice Alliance.

The week of action might be over in San Francisco, but the fight continues to support a Just Transition. We encourage you to donate to ITR, volunteer with coalition members (see their interactive map for an organization near you!), and boost awareness on social media.

“We are all connected. This is our reality. We are in solidarity, in unity as global citizens for a common cause. We are in solidarity because we are on the

Grantee Spotlight: Frontline Communities in Solidarity for Climate Change

Our small-but-mighty staff team at The Libra Foundation has grown to three! Meet Angie Chen & Ashley Clark and check out their responses to a few casual questions.

Q: What is your role at The Libra Foundation?
A: My primary role is to build relationships with our existing grantee partners to understand how we can better support their work to build community power and advance social justice. I also apply the learnings from our grantee partners to work with our team in refining the Foundation’s grant-making approach. And, I explore new organizations and coalitions in the Foundation’s program areas.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at The Libra Foundation?
A: I *really* enjoy my conversations with our grantee partners. There is so much going on in our world right now that is disheartening and disturbing. When I walk out of a meeting or get off the phone after chatting with one of our grantee partners (and I’m doing a lot of those right now!), I feel so energized and hopeful. It’s an honor to support their work and learn from them.

Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: I love being outside! My childhood dream was to be a park ranger, and I spent one summer working with the National Park Service in Yosemite. Closer to home, you can find me most days on Bernal Hill with my big, enthusiastic dog.

Q: What is your role at The Libra Foundation?
A: I manage the operations of the Foundation with a focus on refining our processes to be as clear, respectful, and streamlined as possible for our grantee partners. I manage our grants database and knowledge management efforts, and I am the captain of our emerging communications efforts.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at The Libra Foundation?
A: The Libra Foundation has been making grants for 15 years, but in so many ways we’re also a startup. We’re a brand new team figuring out new processes and making decisions about which systems to use. We’re designing a new team culture, and there’s a great appetite for testing new approaches and eliminating practices in philanthropy that don’t serve anyone well. That’s such a breath of fresh air! Being a part of a small, nimble team also means that we have the opportunity to work on a range of diverse projects, which I really enjoy.

Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: Two things: I am in my happy place when I am on my yoga mat. I try to practice as much vinyasa flow as I possibly can! The other thing I love to do is go for walks or hikes near the ocean with my family.

You can find a press release announcing Ashley & Angie as new hires here.

Inside the Foundation: Meet Angie & Ashley

I am excited to be working with a family that is committed to fighting for liberty and justice for all. That final phrase of the pledge reminds us that our nation was founded on our allegiance to one another. To the neighbors who speak our language and the neighbors newly arrived. To the communities thriving through innovation and communities still recovering from recession. To control of our own bodies, as well as support and care for one another.

The daily attacks on our civil liberties remind us that freedom is not free. Complacency has a high cost. And it is times like these when we need to join together to counter the crisis but also to celebrate our community.

As I step into the role as the Executive Director of the Libra Foundation, I am delighted and honored to be joining a community of more than 100 active grantees who are boldly fighting for a nation that demands diversity, embraces equity and recognizes our role as stewards of the planet’s bounty.

The Libra Foundation believes society’s systems and structures should foster the human rights innate in every person. That is our mission. Our goal is to deploy all of our resources—knowledge, access, philanthropic resources and investment capital—to build a more just and free society.

Join us. Hold us to it. Help us get better at it.

Together, we can make this vision reality.

I am excited to be working with a family that is committed to fighting for liberty and justice for all. That final phrase of the pledge reminds us that our

Welcome Letter from Crystal Hayling

The Libra Foundation is a proud member of the California Criminal Justice Funders Group. maisha quint, Senior Program Officer of Criminal Justice, was interviewed about Libra’s priorities, why we’re involved in CCJFG, and the importance of brilliant grassroots movements that redefine and reimagine safety. Read the interview in full here.

Originally posted on February 5, 2021 The Libra Foundation is a proud member of the California Criminal Justice Funders Group. maisha quint, Senior Program Officer of Criminal Justice, was interviewed

CCJFG Member Spotlight: The Libra Foundation

A group of grantmakers led by the Libra Foundation has pledged a total of $36 million to 10 Black-led organizing groups, adding to the billions of dollars private and corporate foundations have committed to racial-justice efforts since George Floyd was killed in May.

Read the full article by clicking on the “PDF Download” button below, or view it on The Chronicle of Philanthropy website.

A group of grantmakers led by the Libra Foundation has pledged a total of $36 million to 10 Black-led organizing groups, adding to the billions of dollars private and corporate

Foundations Pool $36 Million for Black-Led Organizing Groups

What’s the best way to talk about how philanthropy has evolved—or not—on racial justice over the past year? For some, this time of reckoning has produced tangible changes within organizations and across the sector. For others, new and existing commitments still fall far short of the promise that seemed palpable last summer. For many, it’s a bit of both.

Read the full article by clicking on the “PDF Download” button below, or view it on the Inside Philanthropy website.

What’s the best way to talk about how philanthropy has evolved—or not—on racial justice over the past year? For some, this time of reckoning has produced tangible changes within organizations

From Talk to Action? Assessing Philanthropy’s Racial Justice Response

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

Crystal Hayling didn’t set out to manage a family philanthropy. But in the founders of the Libra Foundation, where she currently serves as executive director, she found a family with “a really important progressive vision about the work they’re doing”—a family that shared Hayling’s ideas about how the mechanisms of philanthropic power need to grow more inclusive, and actually put underrepresented groups in the driver’s seat.

Libra is the foundation of Nicholas and Susan Pritzker and several of their children. The sprawling Pritzker clan is well known for its philanthropy, much of it centered in Chicago, but it’s not a name that immediately evokes social justice movement building. But through the Libra Foundation (which is not to be confused with a funder of the same name headquartered in Maine), one branch of this expansive, billionaire-laden family has quietly bankrolled a very progressive set of grantees since 2002.

For the bulk of that time, Libra’s operations were quite low-key, conducted through a consulting firm rather than full-time staff. Women’s rights formed the basis of the foundation’s initial grantmaking, a focus that soon broadened to a general human rights lens. But unlike the majority of funders who use that terminology, Libra’s sense of human rights is far more domestic than international. It’s also intersectional, engaging organizations working on social justice, women’s rights, environmental justice, and drug policy.

Prior to Hayling’s selection as Libra’s executive director in late 2017, the family made the decision to move the foundation’s center of gravity to the Bay Area, where Nicholas and Susan Pritzker reside.

Libra’s total assets are sizable—around $200 million—and as of this month, it boasts three full-time staff—a step up from where it previously stood, but still very lean for the number of grantees it supports.

Like so many of the social justice funders we cover, the Libra Foundation is trying to come to terms with the current moment. It’s a stalwart supporter of national players like the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights. But with Hayling at the helm, the board is “excited to work more closely with grantees doing movement building and power building,” she said. “We’re focused on organizations led by and coming up from the communities most impacted.”

Libra is part of a larger shift in philanthropy that aims to disrupt traditional power relationships in the nonprofit world, elevate the voices of grantees, and channel new resources to diverse grassroots groups. Its approach parallels that of other progressive funders and affinity groups: the Marguerite Casey Foundation, for instance, or the Neighborhood Funders Group, both of which have ties to Libra. Racial justice is a key component here. “Let’s be clear that in the U.S. you have to bring a racial justice lens to the work,” Hayling told me. “Race is one of the primary ways in which we provide or deprive people of their human rights in this country.”

But moving beyond well-established grantees to fund the grassroots can be tricky. Even as the Libra Foundation grows, Hayling said, it’s still going to be modestly staffed, and that can make funder-grantee relationships feel “transactional,” despite best intentions on both sides. To tackle that problem, Libra keeps three principles in mind: (1) fund networks as opposed to individual organizations, (2) build relationships with grantees, and (3) decrease the effort nonprofits have to expend on those relationships.

Recently, the question of staff size has prompted plenty of conversation among Libra’s trustees. It also led to a series of “getting to know you” sessions last year, where the foundation invited current grantees to talk about their networks and identify organizations and leaders they’re excited about. That led to several new, unsolicited grants. Although the foundation does its due diligence on organizations identified this way, the process lets the field define its strong points and areas of greatest need, lessening the need for an extensive administrative infrastructure on Libra’s end.

Libra is a strong believer in providing general operating support, much of it multi-year. That fits well with what most nonprofits say they need, as opposed to one-off grants with strings attached. Unrestricted support is especially important for advocacy and grassroots groups, which often need to pivot their work quickly in the face of new developments.

An illustrative example of the Libra Foundation’s funding approach took place at last month’s Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. Or, more accurately, on the streets outside the summit.

As we’ve reported, Libra joined funders like Chorus, Surdna, Kendeda, the 11th Hour Project and Hewlett in supporting Solidarity to Solutions Week, a series of demonstrations and satellite events that critiqued the summit for what activists characterized as an elite-driven, corporate-backed approach. The coalition included several organizations Libra supports, like the Climate Justice Alliance, the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, and the Center for Story-Based Strategy.

The events surrounding the summit reflected rifts in the liberal funding world that essentially pitted funders against one another. The proceedings also made for some awkward moments for Michael Bloomberg, who made a comment comparing the protesters to Trump supporters who want to “build the wall.”

Libra’s focus on movement building is sharply different from more technocratic approaches to change that tackle specific problems with well-researched, targeted strategies. Such approaches are popular among wealthy donors who want to make the world a better place, but aren’t keen to challenge inequities in ways that might threaten their own position in society. Libra is unusual in that it’s underwritten by living donors and yet is focused on empowering movements that may take issue with how philanthropic fortunes were amassed in the first place.

One way Libra challenges the power of business and capital is by supporting labor movement organizations like the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Working World. It also funds left-leaning media and journalism through outlets like Mother Jones, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and New Media Ventures.

While Libra has committed to a greater focus on small grassroots organizations, bigger groups have still commanded the largest funding streams, lately. Some examples across Libra’s funding categories include the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Drug Policy Alliance, and Human Rights First.

Like a lot of foundations lately, Libra has engaged in a fair amount of rapid-response grantmaking—for example, to address family separation along the border. As news of human rights abuses emerged, Libra’s board moved $350,000 in rapid response grants to organizations on the ground over a period of three weeks.

In short order, that grantmaking let Libra exercise its network-informed process for finding the best grantees. “We wanted to be able to understand how our current grantees see these emerging issues in relation to what they’re already dealing with,” Hayling told me. In addition to bigger names like the Emergent Fund, the NDWA, and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Libra funded local and Latino-led organizations like Mijente, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Neta.

That last grantee, Neta, is an excellent example of the kind of grassroots effort Libra wants to fund. It’s intersectional: a bilingual journalism and media organization led by women reporting on the lives of people along the border. And as such, it’s keyed into rising movements and rising movement leaders.

“Many funders are realizing that just having an expert-to-expert policy strategy has not worked,” Hayling said. “We need to be setting people in the community up to lead, and that’s tough for foundations. It’s a new muscle.”

Crystal Hayling didn’t set out to manage a family philanthropy. But in the founders of the Libra Foundation, where she currently serves as executive director, she found a family with

Inside the Libra Foundation: How a Branch of the Pritzker Family Backs Movement Building

This article was originally published on July 22, 2020 in Inside Philanthropy by Crystal Hayling, Executive Director of The Libra Foundation. Available as a PDF below.

“I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping our nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes…”

— John Lewis, March on Washington, 1963

Sometimes it takes a shared loss to remind us of what is right and what we must do right now.

Today, I am feeling our losses heavily. There is no bigger loss than civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis. Even in death, his impact is profound, serving as a clarion call to stay in the long and hard fight for racial justice, a fight that left scars on his body.

When Americans poured into the streets in June in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, many in philanthropy made bold statements of outrage and concern—and some even promised action. I read so many emails from colleagues attesting to their passion for change and a commitment to fight racial injustice. But are they getting in and staying in this great revolution with us? Some are... and some aren’t, at least not yet.

When George Floyd was murdered, I wrote “On the Precipice” to exhort my colleagues in philanthropy to meet this moment by moving money to Black-led organizers on the front lines working to save our democracy. I was heartened that in addition to writing statements, some of my colleagues called to ask, “Well, what, exactly, should we be doing?”

I can share some advice based on the experiences of the Libra Foundation’s staff and board:

Find guides. Listen to movement leaders and other funders who work closely with them.

Acknowledge that you do not currently possess the expertise to understand the problem, much less determine the solution. If you were shocked by George Floyd’s murder, recognize that a combination of privilege and white supremacist bias blinded you to the state of the world as it is and narrowed your vision of the world as it could be.

Know that shedding the blinders that racism creates will not happen quickly, nor can you do it alone. Find a community within which you can grapple, honestly, about what we give up and what we gain in fighting for equality and justice.

Commit to staying in this fight for years, not months.

We’ve been walking that walk for some time now at the Libra Foundation. We began years ago to focus our grantmaking on communities of color on the front lines of change. We developed relationships with Black-led organizations, and we listened to their needs. We give them unrestricted dollars because we believe they know their communities best. We doubled our grantmaking this year to help our grantees meet the multiple challenges of 2020—in public health, the economy, and in our democracy.

But I want to say to those who are continuing to sit on the sidelines: Think long and hard about what you owe our country in this moment. Is your discomfort in funding outside your program areas or taking this issue to your board anything like that of John Lewis’ when he faced bullwhips and beatings? Can you please join us in making a bold stand, now, for what you know is right? If you do not act now, your words of concern of a few weeks back will ring hollow.

It’s like John Lewis said: Get in, and stay in.

This article was originally published on July 22, 2020 in Inside Philanthropy by Crystal Hayling, Executive Director of The Libra Foundation. Available as a PDF below. “I appeal to all

An Open Letter to Funders on the Fight for Racial Justice: “Get In and Stay In”

Photo credit: Franceska Gámez (Trust Your Struggle Collective) & Nathanial Baysa

Nonviolent protests sparked by the murder of Black people (George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others) are filling the streets of more than 400 cities, all to proclaim a simple truth: Black Lives Matter. Remember the police response to far-right armed militia who stormed state capitals demanding the right to bad haircuts during COVID? That’s right, you don’t, because it was totally peaceful. Contrast that with the violent, aggressive, and instigating response of police to the Black Lives Matter protesters. They have been met by batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, flash-bangs, and beatings.

Worse still, officials paint the protestors as the cause of the problem. The vast majority of these protests have been peaceful, but nonviolent protest has never equated to peaceful protest. Nonviolence is a powerful practice when these amazing Black, Brown, Native, Asian, White, cis, gay, trans, people with disabilities, young and old protestors solemnly assert their right to be, to breathe, to live free of humiliation, abject poverty, and domination. And in refusing to bow down, they so infuriate the police that those forces who claim to protect and serve us publicly show the world the violence they usually reserve only for those oppressed communities. Nonviolence is a strategy of making this state-sponsored violence visible. 

That is what we are watching in real time: the violence of the police being unleashed. If the police can choose to be peaceful in response to White people who are armed and aggressive, why do they never choose to use the same de-escalating responses to protests by Black people? The bald fact that police treat people entirely differently based on skin color is unacceptable to the values of our democracy. That fact must change or there will be no justice, and there will be no peace.

And make no mistake, state violence against its own citizens means the unravelling of the republic. If people protesting systemic oppression are labeled thugs or terrorists for demanding their human rights, then all of philanthropy’s elaborate theories of change and program areas are bullshit with a bow. We will have fiddled while the Constitution burned. Please, please do not talk to me now about the importance of future funding for that after-school tutoring program you love. That is an insult to the gravity of this moment. It is a breach of the values your foundation says it upholds. It is an insult to the ideal of the person you say you are.

My father, a civil rights leader in Florida, understood what real allies said and did. He had an odd affection for a white woman, a wealthy northerner named Mrs. Peabody who was the mother of the then-Governor of Massachusetts. A religious woman, she was horrified by the racial injustices she saw on television, but she didn’t just talk about her principles. She sent cash for the cause to my father to use as he saw fit—for bail, for signs, for food to feed volunteers during late night strategy meetings. And when push came to shove— literally—Mrs. Peabody showed up to confront the KKK and face the violent hatred of the police force. She put her body on the line for her principles, to be the person she believed her faith called her to be.

For those of us working in the privileged world of philanthropy, this is our Mrs. Peabody moment. 

Do we do what Mrs. Peabody did? Do we stand as allies to the movement? Do we stand for human rights in this country or just in other countries? Do we put our privilege between the protestors and the police? 

Our resources pale in comparison to government’s, but we can do our part to change the course of this country’s future by funding Black-led organizations right now. This means making more grants to people who are literally defending the ideals of our democracy with their bodies. We can and must support them now. A flood of grants to these groups from individual donors, corporations, and foundations will send a signal that no matter how uncomfortable it might make our boards feel, we stand beside the people our foundations were created to help.

As the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “a riot is the voice of the unheard.” We cannot allow those voices to be silenced without redress. Just as we cannot unsee the murder of George Floyd, we cannot stand on the sidelines while our neighbors are pushed to the edge by indifference to COVID’s spread among poor people, unemployment rates never seen in our lifetime, and gleeful calls for more violence from our leaders. Protestors are people who have no easy choices, but despite the risks have made a brave choice. 

I know, I know. Your foundation doesn’t fund this. Literally EVERYTHING in this country has changed in the last six months and so must your foundation. 

The moment after one goes over the precipice feels like you are flying. Right up until you hit the bottom. Our country is on the precipice. We must stand with the people who are preventing our democracy from going over the edge.

The Libra Foundation believes funders must show up for justice and democracy in every way we can — especially this year. Over the past few years, Libra has initiated a transition toward funding Black and POC-led organizing groups resulting in profound shifts at the local and state levels. But these organizers simply do not have the resources they need, and we are inviting philanthropy to step up and join us in giving more money, right now, directly to Black and POC-led movement groups. Our goal is to leverage millions of new dollars in funder contributions for organizations on the frontlines of this struggle that fit these crucial criteria:

Black-led organizations. Black leaders uniquely understand the pain their community is experiencing, what the needs are, and how to address them. Funders need to get out of the way and let them lead in this crisis.

We’re getting near the edge. Nonviolent protests sparked by the murder of Black people (George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others) are filling the streets of more than