Closing the Gap
The Institute for Strategic and Equitable Development in collaboration with Keecha Harris and Associates, Inc., is excited to announce a series of virtual learning opportunities for conservation and environmental funders. The Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Environmental Philanthropy (InDEEP) 2021 Virtual Learning Series will build on the Fall 2020 Virtual Learning Series.
The Fall 2020 webinar series aimed to reset how funders engage with Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) leaders and center BIPOC leadership in their funding strategies. The series contextualized the conservation and environmental movement’s racist history, created space for peer-to-peer counsel about internal practices, promoted dialogue with BIPOC leaders in BIPOC-majority organizations, and instigated a charge for post-election strategies that are cross-movement-oriented.
The 2021 series will offer four opportunities for conservation and environmental funders to engage with BIPOC leaders, learn from equity-centered regranting intermediaries, and understand the funding gap between white- and BIPOC-led environmental organizations and implications for advancing racial and climate justice across the sector.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the InDEEP Virtual Learning Series is to expand the reach of, share resources with, and offer a discussion of racial equity and inclusion practices within conservation and environmental philanthropy.
AUDIENCE
The audience for this series includes foundation senior executives and program staff.
OVERVIEW OF 2021 SESSIONS
Closing the Funding Gap Between BIPOC- and White-led Climate Organizations - What Do the Data Reveal?
What is the funding gap between BIPOC- and Whiteled environmental organizations, and how do we close it?
Date: June 10 | 12-2 p.m. CT
Aligning Strategies and Practices to Center Equity in Intermediary Relationships
Closing the gap – aligning strategies and practices to center equity in intermediary relationships
Date: July 8 | 12-2 p.m. CT
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) majority communities experience climate change and its harmful effects to a greater degree than other communities in the United States. Along with land use decisions that are detrimental to BIPOC communities, this knowledge is the basis of the modern Environmental Justice movement. What is not as readily evident or celebrated is how effectively BIPOC communities and organizations within these communities address climate change. The InDEEP Closing the Gap research focuses on highlighting the issues identified by BIPOC-led organizations as most relevant or challenging, the strategies used to address those issues, and the systemic change generated using those strategies. It also reviews ([mis)]alignment of those strategies with those primarily funded by major environmental funders. Finally, it reviews examines measures used to track progress of mitigating climate change equitably and makes the case for the necessity of justice- and equity-oriented measures to completely understand impact. This presentation will present the issues and strategies that BIPOC-led organizations see as pivotal to climate change and resilience, environmental justice, and conservation. We will also share which practices, policies, and priorities are influencing funding to BIPOC-led organizations.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of this program, participants will be able to:
Introduce the historical and current funding gap between White- and BIPOC-led climate organizations.
Describe emerging and historical issues critical to advancing environmental justice.
This webinar will feature equity-centered regranting intermediaries in a moderated discussion of the skills, resources, and business models required to successfully serve and support climate organizations with an equity-focused approach. What does equity-centered design look like? How can funders redesign, or undesign, traditional approaches to grantmaking in a way that will allow them to better understand the connection between racial equity and climate solutions?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
As a result of this program, participants will be able to:
Describe effective practices that deepen equity in grantmaking and partnerships.
Understand how regranting entities are centering racial equity in trust- and relationship-building.
Learn about the role of intermediaries in connecting large funders to BIPOC-led climate organizations and the opportunities for funders to support their equity-centered services.
Climate Change is a Racial Justice Problem: Exploring Across Difference, Experience and Perspective in Funder-Grantee Relationships
Climate change is a racial justice problem
Date: September 28 | 2-4p.m. CT
While often considered separately, racial equity and environmental justice are deeply interconnected, and we cannot advance climate change mitigation and climate justice in an inherently racist system. Racially marginalized and disadvantaged groups are typically the most at risk for environmental harm and also least likely to have access to resources required to mitigate challenges within their communities. BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations are not funded at the same level as Whiteled organizations in the environmental space. This webinar will feature a panel of BIPOC experts and practitioners. They will explore their experiences and perspectives in funder-grantee relationships as well as the limitations and opportunities for funders to support those relationships with equity at the center.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of this program, participants will be able to:
Understand the barriers to closing the funding gap between White and BIPOC-led climate organizations.
Recognize how funders often fail to share power and what they can do to build trust with their partners – and with new partners.
Understand how traditional funding relationships often reflect the tenets of White supremacy culture.
From the Pandemic to Politics and Back Again: What Progress Has Been Made to Advance Climate and Racial Justice Under the New Administration?
From the pandemic to politics and back again
Date: November 4 | 11a.m.-1p.m. CT
Race to the Board: Readiness, Recruitment, and Retention
Date: April 14, 2022 | 2:30-4 pm EST
From the pandemic to politics, many Americans were ecstatic to leave 2020 behind and hope for brighter times ahead. One year after elections that were historic for many reasons, this webinar will feature a panel of climate experts and analysts discussing the challenges critical to advancing racial equity and environmental justice.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of this program, participants will be able to:
Learn what progress has been made to advance climate and racial justice under the new administration and how philanthropy has shifted to or sustained more inclusive grantmaking strategies that emerged in 2020.
Identify areas that remain challenging and consider solutions for mitigating obstacles to sustained equitable practices and outcomes across the sector.
Aligning strategies and practices for advancing Black leaders onto boards of environmental and conservation organizations
This webinar was centered the experiences of Black environmental leaders who have served in the leadership of conservation and climate groups. The conversation also focused on what happens when Black leaders join the boards of environmental and conservation organizations. Finally, panelists addressed what it means to be ready for the recruitment and retention of Black leaders beyond Black History Month.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of this program participants will be able to:
Understand the key findings on the behaviors, attitudes, and intentions of current and past leaders of environmental and conservation organizations relative to Black board membership
Contemplate the opportunity gap caused by ongoing, disproportionate biases that result in the historical exclusion of Blacks on green boards
Identify effective strategies for readiness, recruitment, and retention of Black leaders to join environmental and conservation boards.