Pursuing Justice on All Fronts: Stories of Hope and Inspiration in 2021

As we bid farewell to 2021 and welcome 2022, we’d like to take a moment to reflect upon the past year: the issues we explored, the stories we heard, and the impact our partners made in pursuing justice on all fronts. We are continually inspired by the hard work of those who are on the frontlines every day fighting for justice in the critical issues of our time. As evidenced by the stories below, it’s obvious that our shared goals cannot be accomplished in silos. We hope that these highlights of stories from 2021 inform and inspire you as they have us. With a warm wish for renewed inspiration, purpose, and hope, we look forward to building upon this momentum in 2022 and beyond.

4 Ambitious Partners Lifting Vital Voices

1. A Path to High-Skilled Engineering Jobs in Tech

   Kenyatta Leal, executive director of Next Chapter, is living proof that having a secure job after being incarcerated can be a defining lifeline.

2. An Advocate to End Homelessness In Alameda

   Aiming to end homelessness in Alameda County, Calif., EveryOne Home, led by Chelsea Andrews, is centering racial equity in its practices, and amplifying the decision-making power of people with lived experience.

3. On Funding a Trans Movement

   Using a groundbreaking funding model, which convenes trans activists to make funding decisions, the Trans Justice Funding Project (TJFP) awarded $1.3 million to 308 trans-led grassroots groups in 2021.

4. Reimagining Indigenous Education

   Kara Bobroff, a Dine’/Lakota woman and citizen of the Navajo Nation, is uplifting and sustaining Indigenous culture and language in her home state of New Mexico and across the nation by weaving culture, history, and stories into the fabric of an education curriculum.

5 Priority Issues We Helped Advance

1. Defending Voting Rights

   To help close the voter turnout gap and defend the voting rights of communities of color, young voters, and the economically disadvantaged, Tides continued to develop the Healthy Democracy Fund (HDF), in collaboration with more than 50 organizations across national and local levels.

2. How Companies Can Champion Equity and Justice

   This year’s Corporate Impact Leaders Forum convened our network of corporate partners and changemakers to discuss three timely topics: how companies can champion equity and justice, strategies to bridge the digital divide, and centering equity in data design.

3. Lifting Up Women of Color Fighting for Climate Justice

   Climate justice demands a shift in power and resources to those making a tangible impact, namely Black women, women of color, and indigenous women. Tides’ Women’s Environmental Leadership Fund (WE LEAD) has been working to elevate, center, and provide resources to BIWOC women grassroots leaders on the frontlines of climate justice in the U.S.

4. Inspiring Donors to Get Off Their Assets

   Tides continued to push the philanthropic community to Get Off Your Assets in order to fund the social change leaders who most urgently need resources.

5. Creating Resilient Communities Through Collective Response to COVID-19

   To address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on low-income populations and communities of color, Tides initially pledged $500,000 in matching funds to galvanize support through the Stronger Together Fund. As the pandemic continues, Tides has pledged another $500,000 in matching funds as we launch our next round of the Stronger Together Fund this month.

6 Stories You Loved

1. Lifting Tides’ Leaders to Advance Black Collective Power and Equity

   Four transformational leaders speak to how they’re advancing racial justice and healing during a panel discussion on Advancing Black Collective Power and Equity.

2. Corporations Can Prevent Another Attack On Our Democracy: Here’s How

   How serious are corporations about playing a part to ensure a functioning democracy when the heat is off and the cameras are gone?

3. Five Facts to Know About Black Philanthropy

   Black households give 25 percent more of their income annually than white households, and nearly two-thirds of African-American households donate to organizations and causes, totaling $11 billion each year.

4. Confronting Environmental Racism in Texas Communities

   Under the leadership of Bridgette Murray, Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS), is providing educational resources to underserved communities.

5. Tides’ Chief People Officer Gwen Tillman Shares How to Attract and Nurture Black Talent

   How to design and implement people strategies and solutions to attract Black talent.

6. Climate Change is at “Code Red”: We Must Act Now

   Tides partners dedicated to fighting climate change injustice and protecting our planet.

7 Quotes That Inspired Us

1. “Structural racism lives in the data, and the data show us that where we are today is, unfortunately, writ large, not remarkably different from where we were 50 years ago, or 100 years ago.” — Jason McGill, founder & principal at Justice Associates
2. “Success, for us, looks like everyone knowing their place in the movement. Whether starting a conversation at dinner, holding a film screening in a church, starting a local food movement, or blocking a pipeline, everyone has a pathway to be involved in this movement, to save our planet and save our communities.” — Jacqueline Patterson, founder and executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project
3. “The reasons why BIPOC women-led climate justice organizations are underfunded, no matter how innovative, no matter how effective, are the usual reasons. The leaders are not where the funders are looking. Our goal is to shift the center of gravity in climate funding toward equity.”  — Elizabeth Wang, a technology attorney and member of the Donors of Color Network


Kenyatta Leal, executive director of Next Chapter

4. “For issues like justice reform, it’s important to have people who are formerly incarcerated helping lead the efforts to change this trend that we see.” — Kenyatta Leal, executive director of Next Chapter
5. “If there’s a place where there’s a gap, we need to build a stronger organization. The more that we are disconnected, the more that people are marginalized, the less we’re going to be able to actually activate.” — Marisa Franco, director, Not1More Deportation Campaign & Mijente
6. “Philanthropic entities should assess their own funding practices by ensuring that Indigenous-led organizations are included and supported as the starting point of any initiative or program area and build further inclusivity from there.” — Kara Bobroff, executive director of NACA
7. “Our goal is to foster a united front, uplift legislation, and mobilize Latinxs to be decision-makers of our democracy.” — Yadira “Yadi” Sanchez, co-executive director of Poder Latinx

8 Social Media Posts That Got Your Attention

1. Environmental Activist Nicole Horseherder, executive director of @tonizhoniani, fights to reclaim and restore lands and protect precious water sources. Learn more about her work. (Twitter) 
2. Learn about @TransJusticeFP, a BIPOC-led, community-driven funding initiative to support grassroots trans justice groups, in this Q&A with ED Gabriel Foster. (Twitter)
3. Corey Yribarren, EVP, chief people officer, details SEPHORA’s fearless and inspiring #socialimpact journey as a longstanding champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment. (LinkedIn)
4. @CrystalEchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, is organizing to fight misconceptions and counter discrimination of Native communities. Read more about her powerful work. (Twitter)
5. Philanthropy has dramatically under-invested in the work to protect and uplift girls and young women of color. Let’s change that. Join other pioneering donors to support the Advancing Girls portfolio. #GenderLensInvesting #ImpactInvesting (LinkedIn)
6. Reading list: In “On Juneteenth,” Pulitzer Prize–winning historian @agordonreed interweaves her trailblazing history with that of her home state to pierce the false narratives we learn about the country’s treatment of African Americans. (Twitter) 
7. We can only solve the big issues of our time—economic inequality, racial justice, and climate change—if we have a democracy that is responsive to all of its people. Download our 2021 Priorities for the Tides Healthy Democracy Fund and get involved! (LinkedIn)
8. Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) joined Tides Center in 2010 and is celebrating 20 years in 2021. Read this interview with Executive Director Storme Gray. (LinkedIn)