August Update from Yamani Yansá Hernandez

As Black August and Black Philanthropy month come to a close, I’m grateful to be grounded in the knowledge and ways that my ancestors have always pooled resources and given to each other when no one else would, in order to survive and thrive. It is this reality that fuels my commitments within philanthropy. Now more than ever, when we wonder what people, systems and resources we can count on, we have to know that we can count on each other. That means person to person.

At a moment when so much is shifting in traditional philanthropy, we know our movements must be bold and experimental—and we must lean on and into our community of donor organizers to deepen solidarity investments in the grassroots. We are working to strengthen our own community of donors at Groundswell. But we are also busy at work strategizing on how to support grantee partners with grassroots fundraising strategies fueled by individuals and experiments that reduce reliance on institutional philanthropy and the government.

I saw a clip recently of Rep. Pramila Jayapal where she said, “Hopelessness and powerlessness are tools of the oppressor. Our love is greater than their cruelty, and our power will eclipse their greed.” We see folks standing up across the country for their families, neighborhoods, and cities to be safe and treated with dignity, not harassment and threats of unnecessary law enforcement to crack down on so-called crime. Issues like homelessness and undocumented immigration are being criminalized by this administration, rather than seen as evidence of a broken system in desperate need of reimagining. Our community knows that the solutions come from us – when we are organized, we can make new worlds possible.

We are determined at Groundswell to continue serving our movements in powerful and transformative ways. Our communities deserve more, so I will keep fighting for what we need, no matter what.

I was recently asked on the Human Side Up podcast about my switch from interim to the full CEO role at Groundswell and what’s different. The biggest thing is that I am shifting a lot of attention toward being out in the world, meeting people, connecting with our supporters and grantee partners. That said, I’m on the road a lot this fall. I’ll be at the Women’s Funding Network Conference in September, the Women Moving Millions summit and CHANGE Philanthropy Summit in October, where I’ll host a panel, Beyond the 501(c)(3): Resourcing Resistance in a Retrenching Philanthropic Landscape. If you’ll be at any of these events, I would love to connect with you in real life.

P.S. The photo above is of staff and board members at a small gathering of individual donors in San Francisco recently hosted by the Libra Foundation. If you’d like to host or partner on a conversation in your area, please let us know!