The Bay State Banner: Boston nonprofits supporting women, girls of color are severely underfunded, report reveals

There is $112 billion in Greater Boston’s total nonprofit revenue, yet only $25 million went toward nonprofits explicitly serving BIPOC women and girls.

While this demographic comprises 20% of Greater Boston’s population, it is served by only 0.2% of the area’s nonprofits, according to a new report by UMass Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP) and the Boston Women’s Fund.

The “Carrying the Weight, Leading the Change” report issued March 26 exposed the chronic underfunding of Greater Boston’s nonprofits that serve women and girls of color compared to peer nonprofits.

“Underfunding has often felt like defeat. Year after year, we submit applications, receive denials, request feedback and are met with vague responses or silence,” said Ivanna Solano, executive director and founder of Love Your Magic, a Jamaica Plain-based nonprofit serving BIPOC girls. “We resubmit and begin that same cycle again.”

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Official Statement on the Supreme Court Ruling Revoking TPS for Haitian and Syrian People

The Boston Women’s Fund is furiously devastated by the Supreme Court’s ruling to revoke the Temporary Protected Status of Haitian and Syrian people in the U.S., jeopardizing the well-being, safety, and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.

Our state is home to over 15,000 Haitian people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Many fled the devastating earthquake in 2010 or violence that left them fearing for their lives and the safety of their families. For decades, Haitian TPS holders have started businesses, pursued flourishing careers, raised children who are American citizens, helped neighbors, supported friends, and been active community members. They have lived lives that reflect the best of what we hope the United States can be, a nation made strong by people who were not from this soil, built by people who left everything behind, and made stronger and more beautiful by the richness of a society collaged with many cultures.

But that picture is not what the Supreme Court has come to defend. This ruling is only the latest in a series of actions by the administration that disenfranchise and target people of color. Over the past year and a half, we have watched each veiled attack unfold, and each time, we wonder, who will be next?

This is not a story solely about Haitian people. We know that oppressors make their way through the most vulnerable communities first. History has shown us this time and again. Massachusetts has the second-largest Haitian population in the country. The ruling makes thousands vulnerable to deportation and invalidates their work permits. This cruelty will undeniably push many into hiding and tear families apart. Earlier this year, organizations serving the Haitian community reported that many Haitian workers had stopped clocking in for work, for fear of being deported. We can only anticipate that these numbers will grow.

Thousands will live each day wondering if it will be their last alongside their families and loved ones, in the place that they call home, in the place where they feel most safe. We don’t know what future awaits Haitian TPS holders or how many will be deported, but we do know they will have to live out every day until then with a fear many of us can not comprehend, and with access to their livelihoods threatened.

Somehow, philanthropic giving has become laced with fear. The numbers nationwide show a chilling effect on giving to vulnerable communities that can’t be separated from this administration’s discrimination and cruelty. But what about the families who aren’t allowed to earn a paycheck but still need a roof over their heads and a meal on the table? What about the mother whose spouse was deported and needs legal counsel? What about the girls who are left behind? Nonprofit organizations will be their lifeline. Community care and grassroots action save lives.

We at Boston Women’s Fund don’t claim to have all the answers. But we refuse to continue with business as usual in the midst of yet more terrifying, infuriating reminders that our government takes little pause in legalizing new pathways to terrorize people of color. When will we as a society put the humanity of all people before politics? What will the people of Massachusetts lose when our Haitian community and its brilliance are removed right before our eyes? We are connecting with local organizations to learn how we can best support Haitian TPS holders and their families in this moment. We invite you to consider how you can show up for Haitian people in your neighborhood, your workplace, your place of worship, and your community. Because there is nothing individual or isolated about racism or displacement. If left unchecked, this tide will rush us all.

In Solidarity,

Natanja Craig Oquendo

CEO, Boston Women's Fund

Another Look at From Insight to Impact: How Charitable Dollars Shape Equity in Boston

Boston Women’s Fund recently kicked off session one of our new webinar “From Insight to Impact: a Community Learning and Action Series.” Each of the five free community gatherings works toward building a shared understanding of how charitable giving shapes equity by pairing a mini-dive into data from our latest research report, Carrying the Weight, Leading the Change, with first-hand insights from women and gender-expansive grassroots leaders in Greater Boston.

In this session, “How Charitable Dollars Shape Equity in Boston: Income & Resource Inequities,” we examined how funding inequities impact access to resources, opportunity, and stability in the nonprofit sector.

Vanessa Ly (she/her), Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sisters Unchained, joined us to share her experience and insights as a grassroots leader in Greater Boston.

Sisters Unchained is a nonprofit creating a refuge space of healing and connection for girls, young women, and non-binary youth directly impacted by incarceration, whether their own or that of a family member. Rooted in abolition, they address parental incarceration and the violence of family separation by breaking the isolation between young women with incarcerated parents and fostering community through organizing, education, and radical love. 

But before chatting with Vanessa, we unpacked highlights from Carrying The Weight, Leading the Change, detailing resource inequities in Greater Boston, their impact on grassroots organizations and women and gender-expansive leaders of color, and how funders can better support these leaders.

How is Boston’s philanthropic system shaping where resources flow?

About $112 billion flow through Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector every year. From that, only $1.1 billion goes to organizations serving women and girls. More than 60% of the money going to organizations serving women and girls flows to just five organizations, leaving $360 million to be shared by everyone else. As a result, hundreds of organizations are underfunded, especially grassroots organizations supporting women and gender-expansive individuals in communities of color. Just .02% of philanthropic dollars in Greater Boston go to organizations explicitly serving women and gender-expansive individuals of color.

Grassroots organizations often have the least resources yet undertake the most critical work in our communities. As those closest to the challenges, they are also closest to the solutions. However, those brilliant solutions aren’t often funded as such. Women and gender-expansive nonprofit leaders of color are paid the least compared to all other nonprofit leaders and often overextend themselves to compensate for support gaps when their organizations are under-resourced. 

Chronic underfunding causes these leaders to “wear all the hats,” and as a result, many face persistent overwork, which affects their physical, emotional, and economic well-being, leading to burnout.

“The expectation is…that nonprofit leadership should do all the work, wear all the hats. But they need work-life balance.” — Study Participant, Carrying The Weight, Leading the Change

The current system has created and perpetuates these resource inequities, as it was designed to do. Resources in Greater Boston are abundant, but we need to shift how they flow.

Why focus on grassroots leaders? Introducing Sisters Unchained.

Women and gender-expansive grassroots leaders of color are often addressing needs that the larger nonprofit sector is not. In our conversation with Vanessa, we discussed the mission, challenges, and values that shaped Sisters Unchained’s development. Sisters Unchained was not created by a moment but instead as a response rooted in abolition to establish an intergenerational sisterhood where young people can feel heard and seen.

Young people directly impacted by incarceration are often excluded from the conversations that shape their development. Sisters Unchained allows these young people to build collective power and better understand the systems that affect their present and future. It provides a place where these girls, young women, and non-binary youth can find their voices, be heard, and feel seen in a space they can always come back to.

“I think that one of the things that was needed was consistency, was a place that they can land and see some familiar faces.” — Vanessa Ly, Founder & Executive Director of Sisters Unchained

What’s a grassroots perspective on how funders can better support grassroots leaders in Boston?

Vanessa shared insights on how funders can better support the needs and mission of grassroots organizations.

1.   Support stability through trust-based relationships. Vanessa shared that funders can contribute to stability by creating trust-based relationships with the organizations they support. She emphasized that getting to know the organizations by learning their needs through conversations and attending events, instead of requiring a report, is more effective and efficient for organizations.

   
   

“I think any conversation is helpful for us,” Vanessa said. “We are always open to conversations, and I think any organization is definitely or would be open to conversation because that’s how you get to know each other. That’s how you build trust. You can’t build that over a report; it’s really hard to.”

In contrast, funders can create instability through funding cuts, especially when organizations receive little to no warning. This year alone, Sisters Unchained has lost $56,400 due to funding cuts. Vanessa shared that for grassroots organizations, these unexpected cuts can be traumatizing, affecting not only the stability of the organization but the lives of the people it serves.

2. Support the organization’s mission and values as they are. Vanessa also shared the importance of supporting organizations’ values and mission by not asking organizations to change to what’s “comfortable.” Although Sisters Unchained is an abolitionist organization, some funders are uncomfortable with the term “abolition” and have asked Sisters Unchained to remove abolitionist language from applications. The organization has had to endure difficult conversations on what it means to be an abolitionist organization and why it is important. Sisters Unchained chooses to keep their mission rooted in abolition, remaining true to their core values, and has withdrawn funding applications in response to some funders. Remaining true to their mission has allowed Sisters Unchained to stay hopeful even through instability and uncertainty. 

The Takeaway

Under-resourced grassroots organizations continue to drive solutions to the challenges communities of color face. By directing more resources to women and gender-expansive grassroots leaders of color and reshaping how leaders are supported, funders can reduce systemic philanthropic inequities and support the organizations that need it most.

Join us for our next session of “From Insight to Impact,” featuring Ellice Patterson of Abilities Dance, on June 26! Learn more and RSVP here today!