Tides at Harambee 2024

In April, a delegation of Tidesters traveled to the 2024 Harambee Conference, hosted by the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) in St. Louis, Missouri. The annual conference is a crucial platform for Black liberation, reflection, celebration, and strategic action, and the Tides team looks forward to attending every year to reconnect with Black leaders in philanthropy. This year’s location in St. Louis was a nod to significant historical moments, including the Dred Scott case, the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s murder, and the Ferguson Uprising.

The Tides team kicked off the conference by hosting an intimate Shifting Power Cocktail Hour, where attendees had the opportunity to hear from Tides CEO Janiece Evans-Page, our senior director of strategic partnerships Sha-Kim Wilson, our senior advisor of corporate and strategic initiatives Tareya Palmer, our program officer for the Advancing Girls Fund Siobhan Davenport, and leaders from our Advancing Girls Fund grantee partner the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative, an economic and social justice network of more than 2,500 girls, young women, and gender-expansive youth in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.

At the conference, Tides Chief Impact Officer Anucha Browne, Sha-Kim, and Tareya led a panel called “Empowering Black Women Leaders as We Shift and Strengthen Power.” They shared their perspectives and experiences as Black women navigating the philanthropic space, reflected on the collective power of Black women, and strategized on how to create real change for a more just and equitable world. It was a candid, vulnerable, and affirming session by and for Black women.

“Black women’s leadership is under attack — it’s strategic and direct,” Anucha shared. “I only want to be involved in work that disrupts systems that marginalize people.” Sha-Kim emphasized the deep-rooted inequities within our society, noting that “these are calcified systems that need to be transformed.” Tareya reflected on the contributions of Black women throughout history, making the point that “Black women have always done philanthropy; we just haven’t always called it that,” and spoke about the need to shift power from the inside out: “When we say center Black women’s leadership, we don’t just mean outside the walls of Tides.”  

Janiece joined the plenary session “Affirmative Action Meets Transformative Philanthropy: A Call to Action” alongside other prominent Black philanthropic leaders including Susan Taylor Batten, ABFE president and CEO; Sharon Bush, president of the Grand Victoria Foundation and ABFE board member; Dr. George Askew, president and CEO of the Meyer Foundation; and Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, executive general minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries. They delved into effective strategies for advancing justice and civil rights while sharing their perspectives on philanthropy’s role in building agency in Black communities.

Janiece highlighted the urgency of the moment, underscoring that “this is not a feel-good moment in philanthropy, but a time for ‘must-do.’ In the face of these increasing attacks on DEI, we cannot retreat, give in, or be intimidated. The law as it stands is clear: Funding and supporting Black-led, Black-serving organizations is not illegal. Our communities can’t wait.”

Finally, Siobhan and Alia Stevenson, Tides development manager for fiscally sponsored projects, led a session entitled “Intergenerational Leadership to Transform Democracy” in partnership with leaders from the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative, including Amanda Furdge, director of Young Women’s Leadership, board member and Alabama State Lead Sheryl Threadgill-Matthews, and youth leader Kristin Robinson. They shared the successes and challenges of an intersectional and intergenerational approach to advancing democracy and highlighted the stories of Black women and girls on the frontlines of transforming democracy in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Sheryl, whose parents fought for civil rights alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shared that she could never have imagined that “we would be fighting more complex, more structured attacks on our democracy today.” Nineteen-year-old Kristin reminded us of what’s at stake in the November election and emphasized that young Black girls are asking us to “listen, support, and show up!” She also paid tribute to the elders and ancestors on whose shoulders she stands, recognizing that “that same power, their hope, endurance, perseverance, resilience — I have that flowing within me.”

Harambee 2024 was an enriching and inspiring conference that highlighted the essential role of Black leaders, and specifically Black women leaders, in advancing racial and social justice as our movement faces ongoing attacks. “A sense of place matters,” Tareya shared with us after the conference. “I’ve worked in philanthropy for over a decade, and this was the first time I felt a real sense of belonging.” We look forward to seeing you at the ABFE conference next year!