From Venture Capital to Philanthropy, from small business loans to home mortgages, the systems and mechanisms that move dollars around our economy preference the rich, white, and well-connected. As the pandemic and murder of George Floyd and others exposed more than caused the pain and travail of 2020, we need to reject the idea that we really want to recover anything. Instead, it’s the solutions sprung up in the midst of the pandemic and racial reckoning that should finally replace old systems – and that need our support!
This session will be an interactive opportunity for the audience to face a situation in which philanthropy is both part of the problem and can be part of the solution. We will explore various types of capital access problems that exist for BIPOC and poor communities and be dazzled by some of the sector’s most innovative problem-solvers, whom themselves have been supported by many of our peers during 2020 and early 2021. In order to act as trusted partner, philanthropy needs knowledge, channels, and examples. This session provides all three. We will use a “reverse panel” format, which allows panelists to first mingle and brainstorm with small groups, then come back to share their own thoughts, further informed by the facilitated discussion that just occurred.
Virtual “shark tanks” for Black Founders, grant requests submitted via voicemail in Spanish, $400 cash cards for push-cart vendors, alternative credit-scoring models – this session lifts up ideas from the BIPOC social sector CEOs who are building a new economy. They’re not fixing a broken system, they’re building a new one. That’s because the current one is actually working exactly as intended – leaving out huge swaths of our diverse and dynamic community.
Data shows that the diversion of capital away from BIPOC people and communities applies to all types of money. Philanthropy: the Latinx population has grown to nearly 20% of the nation’s total, but philanthropy directed to this group stands at less than 2% of all giving; Family Wealth: Black families have an average net worth about one-tenth of White families; Venture Capital: Black and Latinx entrepreneurs receive less than 2% of venture funding; Opportunity: BIPOC make up 39% of the U.S. population, but receive access to less than 5% of Fortune 100 contracts, and less than 2% of government contracts; Working Capital: Blacks and Latinx founders experience less favorable business loan application outcomes; and Earnings: Black women earn 62 cents for every dollar that white men make.
