Philanthropy Awards, 2019

In an election year, as with other current event flashpoints, philanthropy can get swept up in the changing winds of strategies and issue areas, instead of intentionally building out infrastructures to serve grantees holistically and for the long haul. As the Libra grants management team, it is our duty to implement systems and processes that support our grantee partners amid the fluctuations in the political climate. As grantees both resist oppressive forces and build towards a more liberated future for all of us, we must create grantmaking practices that can be used both during and beyond election years.

The Libra Foundation proudly announced today that social justice philanthropy leader Supriya Lopez Pillai will shepherd their organization forward as the next President. Supriya brings 30 years of deep movement experience to the role, including two decades focused on gender, racial, and environmental justice philanthropy.

With democracy under threat here and around the world, this election year poses the question: what are the requirements of a multi-racial democracy? What must be in place to ensure that our right to participate survives for all of our children? There are many elements, of course, and at the Democracy Frontlines Fund we support power building organizations that protect and enhance our right to vote, as well as groups that are creating community-led strategies to keep us all safe and designing solutions to the climate crisis.

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

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

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