Dallas Fort Worth Nonprofit Business Journal

Category: Features

  • James L. West Center fosters culture of care with employee aid program

    James L. West Center fosters culture of care with employee aid program

    Since June, North Texas has experienced some of the hottest days on record. As the longstanding heat wave settled in, the James L. West Center for Dementia Care looked to not only meet the needs of its clients, turning concern to the agency’s employees as well. 

    Earlier this summer, the West Center’s leadership team asked each employee if they were living in an environment with adequate air conditioning to protect themselves and their families. Four employees immediately provided notification they were living without AC. Through an employee giving fund created three years ago to support the West Center’s staff in times of need or crisis, work began immediately to purchase cooling units and other necessities. 

    The West Center is a faith-inspired nonprofit serving those impacted by dementia. The agency provides personalized care and support for families, as well as specialized education for caregivers, healthcare professionals and the community. It was founded by Eunice P. West, who witnessed the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on her husband, Fort Worth business leader and philanthropist James L. West. A grand opening for the West Center was held in 1993. Major funding was provided by the James L. and Eunice P. West Charitable Trust through First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth.

    The West Center’s Employee Aid Fund was established as a “pay it forward” opportunity just prior to the pandemic. Through bi-weekly payroll deductions, more than $7,000 has been collected to date. 

    Post-pandemic, the fund’s existence took on greater meaning. The long-term care community has been considered “ground zero” for COVID-19 and among the least attractive places to work. Staffing shortages and attrition have intensified. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that long-term care facilities have lost more than 400,000 employees since the start of the pandemic. Long-term care workforce levels are at their lowest in 15 years.

    The issue is so significant that in January, industry advocates from LeadingAge, a nonprofit organization representing more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers, called on the Biden administration and Congress to deliver emergency relief for senior living and other long-term care providers. The group advocated one-time $2,000 relief payments to the nation’s 4.6 million direct care workers, among other measures.

    Leaders at the West Center view taking care of its ’employee family’ as a way to help buoy the agency during these times of staffing challenges.

    “The West Center’s greatest asset is its amazing healthcare workforce,” said Cheryl Harding, CEO of James L. West Center for Dementia Care. “Our employee family is the heart of the Center and through the Employee Aid Program, we can illustrate how the Center’s nonprofit status and culture of philanthropy is embraced from the inside out.”

    Recent response efforts through the Employee Aid Fund didn’t stop with air conditioning. As leadership continued to ask employees about their needs, other concerns were identified. Staff members needed assistance with medical bills, beds, secure housing for someone fleeing abuse and more.

    The West Center reports that the Employee Aid Fund has expended more than $4,800 in cash or merchandise grants to support employees so far. In addition to disbursing resources from the fund, an on-staff fund coordinator has worked to identify additional community resources for addressing long-term needs.

    Creating a culture of generosity, integrity and support is the goal.

    “We know that when we take care of the needs of our employees, our employees come to work with energy and a commitment to our residents,” said Harding. 

  • Funky Town Fridge launches campaign for mutual aid project

    Funky Town Fridge, a community solidarity fridge that offers free food 24/7 at 4 locations, has announced a crowd-source fundraising campaign to secure a new distribution center in the heart of Fort Worth’s historic Stop Six neighborhood.

    The organization seeks $500,000 to buy the property at 5037 E. Rosedale Street that was previously the last grocery store in the predominantly African American community. Most recently, the building housed Morning Supermarket. It was built in 1952 and operated under a series of grocers until closing and being placed for sale in 2021.

    Funky Town Fridge envisions repurposing the building as a space for mutual aid in Fort Worth to flourish and grow. Organizers view the building as a sanctuary that is the last thing residents in Stop Six have to hold onto, and say it should be a safe haven in the hands of community members rather than another business that could contribute to gentrification. Plans include using the space for gatherings, classes, day care, toy drives, celebrations, a free clothing store and other community needs.

    Community organizers also believe the building could be used to house larger fridges. Existing units are located in Southside Fort Worth, the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood, on Campus Drive and in Stop Six.

    Fort Worth’s Stop Six neighborhood, home to the former Morning Supermarket property, is designated as a food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It lacks grocery stores or farmers markets within a convenient distance. Residents travel a mile or more to purchase fresh produce. Food deserts typically rely heavily on convenience stores that sell mostly processed foods which are high in calories and low in nutrients.

    Funky Town Fridge was founded as a mutual aid endeavor in 2020 by Kendra Richardson, who was born and raised in Stop Six. Mutual aid is a form of solidarity-based support. Members of the community unite to collectively address a common struggle and care for each other. Rather than recruit volunteers, organizers of Funky Town Fridge have decentralized the process by providing a resource that enables individuals to self-direct which kind of involvement suits them.

    As part of its fundraising campaign, Funky Town Fridge has begun sharing a series of videos on social media that provide the history behind the store and context for why the purchase means so much to the community.

    Organizers point out that Stop Six is known for its vibrant culture and significant achievements in athletics and music. They believe the stories are important to share because the people of Stop Six are usually spoken for by individuals who don’t live or work there. The videos feature people who grew-up in and around the Cavile Place public housing community, which was home to generations of residents in the neighborhood before it was demolished in 2020.

    Giving options for the campaign include subscribing to Funky Town Fridge’s Patreon at patreon.com/FridgeTalkTV for $1 monthly. Online donations are also accepted in any amount via Cash App ($FunkyTownFridge), Venmo (@FunkyTownFridge), Zelle and Paypal (FunkyTownFridge@gmail.com).

  • BRIDGE Fort Worth commemorates 10 years of community impact

    BRIDGE Fort Worth (Black Resourceful Innovators Developing Generations of Excellence) was developed to create a centralized group for Black professionals to develop strong networks and to bridge the gap of Black leaders in the local community. The organization marked a decade of providing educational, professional, and charitable support in Tarrant County with an anniversary event on Feb. 26.

    BRIDGE fosters relationships between members, employers and other special interest groups to promote increased community participation. The organization’s members, which are emerging professionals between 23-45 years of age, also serve the community by addressing gaps that exist within its target demographic, including literacy, civic engagement, health and wellness.

    The organization’s recent impact includes more than 90% of its proceeds targeting charitable causes, and 50% of its members continuing service through other organizations and boards.

    BRIDGE membership is $50. It provides access to influential business leaders and elected officials, business networking opportunities, professional development programs, social events and board opportunities that are filtered exclusively to BRIDGE members. More information is available online.

  • Museum finds success engaging historically marginalized stakeholders

    Thanks to a $30K grant, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (FWMSH) has developed new programming reflective of the city’s diverse population – and it is showing early signs of success.

    “The Museum is located in a majority-minority region, so we want to be sure what we are offering as a community institution is consistent with what and who the community is,” said Dr. Morgan Rehnberg, Chief Scientist at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

    To that end, FWMSH opened Fort Worth and the Green Book on Feb 11. The exhibition explores the numerous challenges Black travelers in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ’50s faced both on and off the road as car ownership exploded, and how they navigated racism in mid-century Texas. Through their desire to enjoy safe travel and community, Black populations created the “Negro Motorist Green Book,” an annual guide featuring restaurants, hotels, and many other businesses deemed safe for Black travelers and road trippers.

    “What helped make this happen was connecting with North Texas Community Foundation and the Fund to Advance Racial Equity,” said Dr. Rehnberg. “The fact that there was a community organization in North Texas funding these kinds of things was what allowed us to take this from something that would be great, to something that’s actually open.”

    Once FWMSH leaders conceived of the idea and connected with the Community Foundation, they knew it was a topic that needed nuance. The Museum didn’t have anyone on staff who had expertise in that area, and looked for someone who did. They ultimately developed the exhibit in-house through a partnership with Dr. Frederick Gooding, the Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professor in Humanities in the John V. Roach Honors College at Texas Christian University. The exhibition’s guest curator is also a leader of TCU’s race and reconciliation work.

    The fact that Dr. Gooding does this kind of work specifically in the context of Fort Worth convinced FWMSH leaders the institution could do a good job with the exhibition. Artifacts from the Museum’s own collection were supplied with content developed in partnership with Dr. Gooding to make the story more concrete for people.

    “As a historian, this honestly is a DREAM come true – to go from visiting museum exhibits as a younger child to curating museum exhibits as an older child is an absolute treat,” said Dr. Gooding.

    An important motivating factor why FWMSH felt this story was important to tell was the organization’s own history. When the museum was founded in the 1940’s, it was established as a segregated institution. Black travelers of the time who came to Fort Worth knew it wasn’t possible to visit and enjoy the Museum. FWMSH leadership felt that given the institution’s role in the community, it was important to bring that story to the community on their behalf.

    “The fact that we contributed to that environment as an institution told us it was important to act as an institution to improve it,” said Dr. Rehnberg. “This exhibit shows we can look back and speak honestly about past actions on not only a governmental level, but on an organizational and individual level. No one action or group of actions can change what happened in the past. But we can say we acknowledge that, and this is how we’re moving forward into the future.”

    FWMSH says the exhibition is perfectly aligned with its mission, which is in part to share the stories of the southwest.

    “The southwest is a region of enormous diversity today,” said Rehnberg. “As a history museum with such a broad mission, we’re making a mistake and disservice if we’re only sharing a slice of that history. By expanding the stories we tell, we’re diving deeper into our mission to reflect what’s happened in our past here in Texas. That’s something we haven’t been able to do as effectively throughout the Museum’s history.”

    The new exhibition came to life because current Museum leadership supports exploring more diverse ideas and expanding the organization’s view.
     
    “If you don’t have that support from the top, it’s hard to make that growth within the institution,” said Rehnberg. “Senior leadership and board support has given the freedom to explore ideas like this.”

    Fort Worth and the Green Book is the latest example of programming in an area FWMSH calls the Heritage Gallery, which focuses on centering stories of the whole community. The Museum previously hosted an exhibition in this area looking at women activists and leaders in Fort Worth who were forces of change in their community. Now, the area is dedicated to talking about a visionary Black activist from the mid-century that had an impact in North Texas.

    “Similar programing moving forward will focus on other interest groups in the city, so people can feel like they see themselves in the museum when they come, not just old white guys on the wall,” said Rehnberg.

    The value that FWMSH sees in this type of programming is broadening its audience.

    “Fort Worth is a city of almost a million people, but we don’t have millions of people coming through our door every year,” said Rehnberg. “So there’s an audience out there that isn’t coming into the institution. It behooves us to explore ways we can reach out to those communities and offer programming that can help convert them into patrons of the museum and build a relationship with us.”

    There are early indicators the strategy is working. In addition to the Fort Worth and the Green Book exhibition, FWMSH featured Dr. Gooding as a guest speaker on “Navigating the Road to Reconciliation” in the second installment of its Lecture Series. The Lecture Series is a chance for guests to hear from the most exciting thinkers, makers, and doers in the world of science and history. Rehnberg says the diversity of the event was as good – or better – than any event they’ve had, and the community interest they saw was as good or better.

    “It helped validate for us that it’s not a business risk for the institution to diversify our offerings like this,” he said. “If anything, it’s helping us grow the audience in a concrete way.”

    Rehnberg notes that attendance at the exhibition is outstanding as well, and has exceeded FWMSH’s expectations.

    “We’ve gotten specific feedback from visitors that they are excited we’re offering this particular content,” said Rehnberg. “They say ‘I’m so happy to see my story, my families’ story, represented in the museum.’ Those anecdotes are encouraging and powerful for us to see that our goal of fostering a sense of community amongst the entire community is being borne out with this project.”

    The success has led Museum leaders to look for similar opportunities that will capitalize on the demand in the community for a wider range of content and expand on its other existing diversity efforts.

    “The Museum has undertaken over the last few years to increase the inclusiveness of its offerings, such as overhauling display signage to be bilingual due to the Spanish speaking population in North Texas,” said Rehnberg. “We see ourselves as a community serving institution, and want what’s inside the museum to be reflective of that. We’re constantly considering and developing a variety of ideas.”

    FWMSH is now open five days a week. Regular museum hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sunday, Noon to 5 PM. Fort Worth and the Green Book runs through August 31.

    “I sincerely hope visitors enjoy the exhibit as much as I enjoyed the exhibit creation process,” said Dr. Gooding. “If people walk away from the Green Book experience with at least one new insight, then we are at least one step closer to reaching our desired destination of a [more] understanding Fort Worth.”

  • Classy joins the GoFundMe family

    GoFundMe recently announced its acquisition of Classy in an all-equity transaction. Together, the brands plan to create a definitive solution for giving to help reach more people and nonprofits.

    Over the past 10 years, Classy has grown to become the category leader in nonprofit fundraising. Customers raise 10 figures annually on the Classy platform from nearly 5 million donors, many of whom choose to support nonprofits through ongoing donations. From our conversations with GoFundMe, the brand realized its impact for the social sector could be greater if the two aligned.

    Together, the companies can unite individual donors with the organizations that support their most cherished causes. They envision a scenario where those driven to an individual GoFundMe campaign can then be connected to a nonprofit addressing the root cause driving the need.

  • Nonprofit Talent Deficit

    Twenty million people quit their jobs in the second half of 2021, according to a recent government jobs report – the highest quit rate since the government started recording that data twenty years ago.  The nonprofit sector is not immune. 

    The National Council on Nonprofits conducted a nationwide survey last fall and published a report indicating that 42% of responding nonprofits had job vacancy rates above 20%.  Anecdotally, we are seeing more than 250% increase in monthly job postings at DFW501c.com. 

    If you haven’t heard a board member or donor say that excessive government benefits are the cause of our current labor shortage, well count yourself lucky.  On a recent episode (The Big Quit) of CBS 60 Minutes, Karin Kimbough, Chief Economist for LinkedIn debunked that thought with data to back it up. 

    “What we saw was that when these benefits were turned off, when workers were no longer getting the benefits, they did not rush back to work,” said Ms. Kimbough. 

    So, in a sector with well-established employee retention issues, this is definitely not good news.  Should we have seen this coming?  A 2021 study from Nonprofit HR revealed that 45% of responding nonprofit employees indicated they would seek new or different employment in the next five years (23% of them indicated they would seek employment outside the sector). 

    So essentially, the pandemic may have just accelerated and amplified some existing afflictions for our sector. Our traditional woes of both financial and nonfinancial factors (pay, promotion, burn-out, supervisor relationships, and work life balance) influencing employee retention remain and have arguably become more important. 

    So what can we do? 

    Never fear, I have a few thoughts…for what it’s worth!

    • ASK and ye shall receive! An employee survey/check-in is probably overdue, but my guess is you may not be asking the right questions. Ask your employees to identify and rank the financial and nonfinancial factors that are important to them, not you.  Then ask them to assess their current job with you against that ranking.  Also ask what their time frame is for leaving your organization and what factors contribute to that decision.  And if it were me, I’d ask them what are the top three things you could do as an organization to improve their job satisfaction now. 
    • ACT now to retain good employees! Probably the worst thing you can do is put out a survey and not respond. So review your survey results by employee.  Don’t delegate this to supervisors. Review these with your leadership team.  Make individual and organization-wide adjustments immediately.    
    • ADJUST your recruitment and hiring practices!  The more you can do to attract and hire the right talent is money well spent.  Your job listings say more about your culture than you think.  Sell your organization and your roles, don’t just document them. 
    • ADDRESS equity now! Equity does not require time, it requires will. Identify the dominant culture in your organization and the systems it has produced and damage it causes.  Provide opportunities for organizational and individual growth in equity, inclusion and diversity.   More ideas here.

    If we take away nothing else from the sector’s pandemic response it is that we can make changes quickly when we are forced by external circumstances.  But what could we accomplish if we stopped playing defense and started playing offense; adopting a cultural of constant change instead of consistent mediocracy?

    Circumstances currently warrant it and your mission demands it.   

  • FW nonprofit colab to turn Klan building into reparative justice project

    Transform 1012 N. Main Street (T1012) announces the purchase of the former Ku Klux Klan Klavern No. 101 Auditorium in Fort Worth. The acquisition is a major milestone in the movement toward transforming the building that was once a monument to hate and violence as a Klan auditorium, into The Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing.

    T1012 is a Texas-based, nonprofit coalition of local arts, grassroots, and service organizations, as well as pro bono partners and individuals.

    The purchase of the building was made possible by a grant from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. Project funders also include: Atmos Energy as part of its Fueling Safe and Thriving Communities initiative, the Ford Foundation, MASS Design Group, The National Endowment for the Arts and Tecovas Foundation.

    Fundraising was mobilized by the efforts of the T1012 Founding Board, a pluri-cultural, shared leadership collective of eight local organizations:
    DNAWORKS
    LGBTQ SAVES
    Opal Lee Foundation
    SOL Ballet Folklórico
    Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice
    The Welman Project
    Window to Your World
    The 1012 Youth Council

    When the Ku Klux Klan auditorium opened in 1924, Fort Worth had one of the largest KKK memberships in the United States and the building was the KKK’s headquarters in Texas. The building was designed and located to intimidate Northside Black, Hispanic, and immigrant residents returning home from the city center.

    As the Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing, the facility will honor the life and memory of Mr. Fred Rouse, a Black butcher who was lynched by a White mob in Fort Worth in 1921. With this reparative justice project, T1012 seeks to return resources to the communities that were targeted for marginalization and violence by the KKK.

    Adaptive reuse plans include transforming the space into a vibrant cultural hub with: a state-of-the-art performance space; arts training and programming; services for underserved and LGBTQ+ youth; exhibit spaces dedicated to social justice and civil rights; a makerspace and tool library for local DIY classes; meeting spaces forracial equity and leadership workshops and community events; an outdoor urban agriculture and artisan marketplace; and affordable live/work spaces for artists- and entrepreneurs-in-residence.

    T1012 is a member of The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network of historic sites, museums, and memorials dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights in different regions of the world. Additional partners include J.L. Powers & Associates, MASS Design Group, The Projects Group, Saira Jasmine Concepts, SpawGlass, and United Way of Tarrant County.

    Founding members of the T1012 board include Daniel Banks (DNAWORKS), Vanessa Barker (The Welman Project), Freddy Cantú (SOL Ballet Folklórico), Ayesha Ganguly (Window to Your World), Sharon Herrera (LGBTQ SAVES), Jacora Johnson (1012 Youth Council), Dr. Opal Lee (Dr. Opal Lee’s Foundation), Adam McKinney (Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice), Román Ramírez (SOL Ballet Folklórico), and Taylor Willis (The Welman Project).

    In October 2021, T1012 received Urban Land Institute of Dallas-Fort Worth’s 2021 Next Big Idea Award, recognizing innovative ideas that can positively impact the region’s quality of life.

  • Before you quote Dr. King, here are some things you can do to be less of the white moderate he warned about

    Today, a whole bunch of people and organizations will be quoting the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., because that’s what we like doing on this day. He was murdered by a white supremacist, and we now cherry pick the quotes that are most inspiring and least likely to cause tension. Few will bring up that he also said these other things, including “Something is wrong with capitalism. Maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”

    And “We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.”

    And “I think the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided senators who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting.”

    The last one hits especially hard this week, because critical efforts to protect and advance voting rights are being stymied. Yes, by Republicans, but that’s to be expected; they know they will lose the majority of federal elections if voting were fair. But more frustratingly, by two white moderate democrat senators.

    The white moderate is the force Dr. King identified as the biggest barrier on the path to an equitable world: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

    While this is applicable to the political world, our sector has also become one giant white moderate sector of well-meaning people who often perpetuate the very injustice we were formed to fight. Last year, I wrote “21 signs you or your organization may be the white moderate Dr. King warned about.” Since then, I have seen more signs of white moderation in nonprofit and philanthropy.

    This month, for example, I learned some funders are considering working to create a common application because for decades now grant processes have been burdensome and inequitable wastes of time. Seriously? THIS is what some of you funders are worried about? While the US slips further into white theocratic fascism, you’re concerned about grant application logistics?! That’s like a life-ending meteor is heading toward earth and you’re pondering what shade of grey you’re going to repaint your accent wall. FFS, move on! Eliminate grant applications entirely! Just accept a grant we wrote for another foundation! It’s the same information! We have way more important things to work on.

    We cannot keep operating with the white moderate philosophy so pervasive to our sector and society. We cannot keep being complacent, indifferent, or distracted as everything burns all around us. Here are things we must do to stop, or at least reduce, being the white moderates who prevent progress while believing they are helping make the world better:

    For foundations: “Philanthropy is commendable,” Dr. King wrote, “but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” Reflect on this quote this week. But don’t reflect too long. Take actions.

    • Double, triple, or quintuple your payout rate. Or more. Stop saving the vast majority of your endowments and trickling out a tiny amount each year while democracy and people die during one of the worst health and economic crises in our lifetimes.
    • Increase funding to Black-, Indigenous-, POC-led orgs. Analyze where your grant dollars are going and ensure you are funding organizations led by communities most affected by injustice.
    • Fund organizations on the frontlines fighting for voting rights and other issues vital to a thriving democracy. It doesn’t matter if these missions don’t “align” with your priorities or whatever. You should be aligning with the priorities set by communities, not the other way around.
    • Form a 501c4 (or fund them) and start channeling money into electing more progressive candidates into office, especially progressive women of color.
    • Eliminate all grant applications, reports, and funding restrictions. “Streamlining” is not good enough anymore. Accept proposals and reports written for other funders and shorten your process to give out grants within a few days or weeks, not months.
    • If your board is mostly white, even if you’re a family foundation and your family is mostly white, change your board criteria and get people who are not white on your board.
    • Convert all your one-year grants into multiple-year (five at least) grants. Think about sunsetting and going out in blaze of glory.
    • Use your platform to call out white supremacy, antisemitism, Islamophobia, ableism, transphobia, xenophobia, etc., and light a fire under the seats of other funders so they can take actions too.
    • Have funds ready to provide legal and other protections to organizations and leaders who speak up against injustice, as they will be targets.

    For nonprofits: “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” This is what most of us signed up to do. And to do that effectively and move out of white moderation, here are some actions we can take (some of these below are also relevant to funders and everyone else):

    • White-led organizations, support organizations lead by marginalized communities. Introduce them to your existing donors. Amplify their work in your newsletter and social media. When it makes sense, turn down grants and advocate funding go to these orgs instead.
    • Be engaged in efforts to protect voting rights, led by organizations doing this work. Get out of the mindset that this may be “mission creep.” It should be a part of every organization’s mission to protect democracy.
    • Publicly and vocally condemn injustice. You may have to take a hit in terms of donations. But if we’re not pissing some people off, we’re probably not doing this work right.
    • Create opportunities for donors to reflect on racism, white supremacy, slavery, colonization, and the actions they can take in creating a better world. Actions that may include reparation, returning stolen land, paying higher taxes, etc.  
    • Analyze the vendors whose services you use and be intentional about supporting businesses that are owned by people of color and others from marginalized communities.
    • Assess your hiring practices. Disclose salary range on job postings. Remove requirements for formal degrees, unless it’s a specialized position. Be thoughtful about formerly incarcerated colleagues. Stop having unpaid internships; pay your interns.

    For everyone: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.” All of us have some level of influence on our sector, and we often use it to maintain white moderation, sometimes without meaning to. Here are some things to do, whether you are a consultant, donor, volunteer, or leader of a nonprofit or a foundation:

    • Write, call your elected officials on voting rights and other progressive efforts. March, rally, organize, mobilize.
    • White colleagues, reflect on whether your role is to remain in positions of power, or that maybe it is time for you to transition out and create space for leaders from marginalized communities to take over.
    • Colleagues of color, you are not immune to aligning with white moderation. Assess your privilege. Call out injustice, especially if it happens within your family or community.
    • Reflect on where you may be advancing white moderation. If you’re a consultant, for example, you may be steering your clients toward taking actions that are incremental and least likely to cause tension, which may not be most effective in advancing equity.
    • Analyze your own complicity and where there may be conflicts of interests. It is always easier to make a living by maintaining a civility and a “negative peace” than to stand up for what is just. Those of us with more privilege need to be willing to use it to push for change.

    We are at a crossroad. Democracy, equity, justice are all on the line. In the face of so much, it is easy to remain the white moderate and quote MLK. Much harder, but much more aligned with the spirit of his teachings and activism, is to take actions that help bend the arc and bring forth the kind of world he dreamed about but did not live to see.

  • New Blue Ribbon Committee spearheads investment in young children

    Local elected officials have announced the formation of a new Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Childcare to guide critical investment opportunities in child care and early education for children 0-5. The committee, in partnership with two local nonprofits, will help define and guide a multi-year initiative aimed at driving public/private investments to improve the lives of young children, working parents and early educators.

    Under the expertise of Child Care Associates (CCA) and with public funds allocated to Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, the committee will coordinate funds, data and infrastructure improvements at scale. The effort commences with an immediate investment of up to $2 million in public funding from the American Recovery Act Plan (ARPA) that will be used locally to raise child care educator wages.

    “We’ve listened to the child care providers working hard in our communities,” said CCA CEO Kara Waddell. “Without a doubt, the single greatest challenge facing child care programs today is its workforce. We believe this initial investment is a critical first step in ensuring young children continue to have access to quality child care.”

    Thanks to the funding, qualifying Texas Rising Star (TRS) quality child care providers in Tarrant County are eligible for an approximated $250 in additional monthly income for up to six months. The number of eligible providers is estimated at up to 1,500 child care educators in the region. Beyond the six months, child care programs are eligible for Texas Workforce Commission sustainability grants opportunities in 2022 that can be used to continue these salary supplements.

    Members of the Blue Ribbon Action Committee will be finalized in the coming weeks, to include business, philanthropic and community leaders. Two committee leaders have been appointed as committee co-chairs: Dallas Federal Reserve’s Alfreda B. Norman and North Texas Community Foundation’s Rose Bradshaw.

    “COVID magnified child care and early education challenges – challenges that have been underlying for years,” said North Texas Community Foundation President and newly appointed Blue Ribbon Action Committee co-chair Rose Bradshaw. “It is a historic moment in our community, and we must step up to guide investments that make a multi-generational impact.”

  • Giving USA 2021 – Charitable giving is up, arts organizations need support to recover

    The unprecedented times of a global pandemic resulted in unprecedented giving in 2021, with Americans distributing over $471 billion to charity in 2020 according to Giving USA 2021 – a 5.1% increase over 2019. Contributions increased from individuals, foundations, and bequests, but corporate giving went down 6.1% compared to 2019.

    Unsurprisingly, giving to organizations providing human services increased by 9.7% and a decline of 7.5% to arts, culture, and humanities organizations-likely due to the cancellation of events and performance, which is the primary source of giving and revenue for arts organizations.

    Giving is increasing much in part to the charitable giving of billionaires who saw their wealth skyrocket throughout the pandemic. Major gifts from billionaires, including MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, assisted with the overall increase in giving. Between individual giving (69%) and bequests (9%), individuals account for 78% of total giving, with foundations (9%) and corporations (4%) rounding out total giving. This is the largest amount of bequests recorded by Giving USA; therefore, nonprofits might want to consider how their planned giving programs are structured or work with their local community foundations to learn more about their planned giving process.

    North Texas is home to nearly 700 arts organizations. Whether it is attending a performance, visiting a museum, or purchasing gifts from local artisans, we must support our local arts organizations as part of ongoing recovery efforts if we want them to survive.

    Arts organizations: Be sure to share your news with us at DFW501c.com and submit your upcoming events to the free DFW501C Nonprofit Business Journal Calendar.

    You can purchase a copy of Giving USA online, or download the infographic for free, to learn more about charitable giving within the United States.