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 within Libra Foundation.

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.

Grant Makers Join Together to Learn About - and Fund - Racial Justice

Senior Program Officer

March 8th is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate and support the global struggle for women’s rights, which are now under attack everywhere we look. We feel these  threats deeply, because we have both worked alongside our sisters in this movement. And we believe that it is now time to broaden this fight to gender justice. This wider path will lead to victory for all of us – all races, all genders, all communities. 

March 8th is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate and support the global struggle for women’s rights, which are now under attack everywhere we look.

A Wider Path to Victory: Centering Gender Justice

News

“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. 

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

Knowledge & Grants Manager

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

Executive Director

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

How did we get here? We have been on a long and deep learning journey in what was initially labeled our “women’s rights” work at the Libra Foundation. Over the past few years, we have listened to grantee partners tell us about their work and their funding struggles. 

We heard from reproductive justice leaders about how the erosion of reproductive rights is a symptom of other forms of oppression – racism, sexism, classism, transphobia, ableism, and others. We listened as they told us that even when we had Roe, it was never enough for Black, Brown, undocumented, and poor communities that never had access in the first place. We spoke with trans leaders who connected the tactics used to ban abortion rights over the last five decades to the anti-trans bills that are rapidly sweeping this country now. Black and Indigenous women and queer folks of color told us that the movement to end gendered violence was inextricably linked to the movement for racial, economic, reproductive, queer, and trans justice. 

As we listened, the connections became impossible to unsee, and we realized that we needed to chart a new path towards funding that allows movements to bring their full selves to the issues we care about.

That journey has now taken us to an exciting new place. We invite other funders to join us in refocusing their women’s rights work on the broader fight for gender justice. As we have learned, taking this path will bring you many beautiful new opportunities and gifts, removing artificial barriers and inviting in fresh synergies. No, it does not mean losing focus on women’s rights. Instead it widens the frame for our work, enabling us to effectively address overlapping crises that include the fall of Roe, the struggle for racial justice, and escalating attacks on trans people.

If our mid-sized family foundation can make this bold evolution, your organization can too. We are lucky to have a board that is curious about the field and open to change that will advance the foundation’s mission. We had a strong starting point, as the Libra Foundation was grounded in years of funding for women’s rights organizations. Our evolution was a product of authentic listening to communities we serve – not a sudden or top-down decision. Our new approach is intersectional – because we know that gender justice needs a racial, queer, and trans justice lens to reach the most marginalized and oppressed.  

So, what exactly do we mean when we talk about Gender Justice? What does this kind of philanthropy look like? We invite you to check out our whole funding portfolio. But we want to highlight a few examples of the grantee partners who inspire us:

Spark Reproductive Justice builds leaders to engage and educate communities in shifting power, shifting culture, and uplifting Black Women and Queer and Trans Young People of Color.

Third Wave Fund  resources youth-led, intersectional, gender justice movements to advance the community power, well-being, and self-determination of young Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color.

Trans Justice Funding Project is a community-led funding initiative that supports grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people organizing around their experiences with racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, immigration, incarceration, and other intersecting oppressions.

Black Trans Fund seeks to address the lack of funding for Black trans communities in the U.S. through direct grantmaking, capacity building support, and funder organizing to transform philanthropy.

Justice for Migrant Women aims to ensure that all migrant women are guaranteed human and civil rights, including the freedom of mobility, the ability to live and work with dignity, and the right to be free of threats of violence against them and their families.

With grantee partners like these shining lights as our teachers, we continue to learn, question our own thinking, and evolve our strategy.  We absorb ideas from others in the field doing visionary work, like Aldita Gallardo of the Fund for Trans Generations, who outlined how funders can build authentic relationships with trans and nonbinary communities in a recent article in Stanford Social Innovation Review. We are constantly learning and expanding our field of vision. We read, we discuss, and we adjust as events in our communities challenge us to grow and as new issues arise. 

And we welcome company. If you currently fund in the women’s space, or in reproductive rights, we invite you to join us on this wider, more inclusive path to justice. We realize that the default position of philanthropy is to be siloed. The fear is that if you shift, you lose. Our message is: if you shift, all of us gain. Because our communities, and our struggles, are and will always be interconnected.

Jennie Agmi is Senior Program Officer for Gender Justice at the Libra Foundation. Susan Pritzker is Co-President of the foundation’s Board of Directors. Artwork by Amir Khadar.

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.

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. 

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.   

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

Director of Operations

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

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

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

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

“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

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.