Inclusive Practices Committee Interviews

EGA's Inclusive Practices Committee works to keep environmental funders aware of the importance of diversity in our hiring, funding priorities, thinking, programming and beyond. In this newsletter, we'll hear from four colleagues who have been moved by this work. Inspired to take the next step? Join us at the Undoing Racism workshop at the Fall Retreat on Sunday October 3. Contact Rachel Goldstein at rgoldstein@ega.org or 212.812.4260 for more information on the workshop or the IPC.

Interview with Henry Carey, Sapelo Foundation

Q: In which IPC-sponsored activities have you participated (undoing racism workshop; ad hoc breakfast on IPC; website resources; other)? What inspired you to attend?

A: I attended the ad hoc breakfast on IPC in Ottawa. I have worked for many years with Hispanics & Native Americans and the breakfast was a natural “attractant” that stimulated my curiosity.

Q: What did you take away from this experience? How has it affected your work and your foundation?

A: The breakfast, combined with a conversation with Jim Baca in the hall, caused me to reflect on the Sapelo Foundation’s board recruitment process. The Foundation’s areas of interest include social justice and rural economic development. Although we recently experienced some turn over in the board, somehow, we were not focusing on recruiting community members in Georgia that could speak to these issues from the standpoint of first-hand experience.

In my conversation with Jim, I had asked why New Mexico Hispanics tend to oppose wilderness in spite of the fact that they are some of the heaviest users of wilderness areas. His response was that Hispanics feel that wilderness supporters belong to predominantly Anglo organizations. He offered that the rift would continue until these organizations include Hispanics on their boards, on their staffs and in the fabric of their operations.

Thereafter, in thinking about the Sapelo Foundation, I recognized that we could not begin to serve people who were not well represented on the board. We quickly redirected our recruitment process and have been successful in identifying many, fine candidates.

Q: EGA strives to create a diverse Management Board, Program Committee, and Fall Retreat Program. How do you think we’re doing on this? How important is this priority and why?

A: I’m not up on who is on the Management Board and Program Committee at the moment. I know this issue is important to some people on the Board. And, I haven’t looked at the program yet, although I would think that Hawai‘i would offer many opportunities. I think it should be a high priority for the Management Board.

Q: What would you say to colleagues who are skeptical about the importance or real effects of prioritizing diversity for environmental grantmakers and grantmaking?

A: We are in trying times. The successes of the present Administration reveal that our movement has not brought along the mainstream as effectively as might be hoped. We share many common objectives with culturally diverse peoples. These shared objectives should be explored. Even in the best of times, we need all the friends we can get.

Interview with Jennifer Golarz, Garfield Foundation

Q: In which IPC-sponsored activities have you participated (undoing racism workshop; ad hoc breakfast on IPC; website resources; other)? What inspired you to attend?

A: I participated in the Undoing Racism workshop at the 2003 EGA Fall Retreat in Ottawa facilitated by the People’s Institute. I wanted to attend the workshop because I had heard such positive reviews from so many of my colleagues who had participated in previous years. I was told repeatedly that I would find the workshop very powerful and that it would benefit both my personal and professional development. After attending, I couldn’t agree more with my colleague’s feedback. It really was an effective training. My only criticism is that it was far too short.

Q: What did you take away from this experience? How has it affected your work and your foundation?

A: Undoing Racism opened my eyes to the many inequities in today’s society that are so easily and often overlooked. The workshop was very informative and empowering. I left the workshop more committed to inclusive practices both personally and professionally.

While many EGA members may be quick to dismiss the Undoing Racism workshop (after all, none of us are racists right!? What could we possibly gain from attending!?), I would strongly encourage them to attend. Undoing Racism is not about confronting individual thoughts or fears of prejudice and discrimination (although it can be if that is what you are seeking), rather it is largely focused on confronting institutional and systemic racism in the US. The People’s Institute provides a safe environment to explore the power systems in this country that hinder social justice and challenge our work as environmental grantmakers. I found it to be an invaluable learning experience.

Q: EGA strives to create a diverse Management Board, Program Committee, and Fall Retreat Program. How do you think we’re doing on this? How important is this priority and why?

A: I had the opportunity to serve on the 2003 Fall Retreat Program Committee and creating a retreat rich in diversity was a key priority for us. I am pleased with EGA’s commitment to diversity––organizationally and programmatically––however I hope this commitment can be strengthened, as diversity is a fundamental element of our work as environmental grantmakers.

Q: What would you say to colleagues who are skeptical about the importance or real effects of prioritizing diversity for environmental grantmakers and grantmaking?

It’s discouraging when environmental grantmakers separate social justice from environmental justice, as I feel they are intricately linked and mutually reinforcing. As grantmakers, I don’t think we can achieve systemic-level environmental change without considering racism and its affects on society. It is an enormous barrier to our efforts as environmentalists.

Interview with Peter Teague, Nathan Cummings Foundation

Q: In which IPC-sponsored activities have you participated (undoing racism workshop; ad hoc breakfast on IPC; website resources; other)? What inspired you to attend?

A: I attended the Undoing Racism Workshop at the Ottawa retreat, and it was excellent. I’ve become convinced that we don’t have environmental problems, so much as we have human––political, cultural and psychological––problems. In order to get at these issues, we’re going to have to begin with a hard look at ourselves. I saw the Undoing Racism Workshop as part of the fundamental “re-think” that I see as essential to becoming an effective change agent.

Q: What did you take away from this experience? How has it affected your work and your foundation?

A: The workshop challenged some basic assumptions, the kind that are so basic you never even know you hold them. What me, racist? Sure, the workshop kindly, gently moved us through a process to expose deeply engrained ways of thought, to shake them up, and allow new perceptions in. This helped me to develop different grantmaking strategies, and to look for grantees who are exploring new approaches to the work. For example, the day after the workshop I heard Van Jones explain on an EGA plenary the connection between solutions to the problem of the mass incarceration of young men of color and climate change––a connection that was completely real and––before Van’s speech––completely invisible to me. As a result of that experience at EGA, we’re now in the process of making a large Environment Program grant to Van’s Ella Baker Center for Human Rights for work that envisions “green” solutions to the problems of both inner city neighborhoods and poor rural communities.

Q: EGA strives to create a diverse Management Board, Program Committee, and Fall Retreat Program. How do you think we’re doing on this? How important is this priority and why?

A: Given the reality of most foundations’ approach to environmental grantmaking, I think EGA is doing remarkably well in this regard. But the reality within philanthropy––the focus on issues rather than solutions, the deep-seated assumption that (in the words of writer Rebecca Solnit) “the environment is an eco-system without humans”––means that many if not most foundations will continue to hire “environmental experts” as environment program officers. The pool of candidates for EGA leadership roles is likely to remain disproportionately white and middle class (like me) until foundations begin choosing program staff based on a broader understanding of the problems that confront us.

Q: What would you say to colleagues who are skeptical about the importance or real effects of prioritizing diversity for environmental grantmakers and grantmaking?

A: Cross-cutting solutions to the big problems will be developed by people with a broad array of perspectives, life experiences, expertise and talents. Diversity is about being effective, not about political correctness.

Q: Any other suggestions for EGA and our membership on diversity and inclusive practices?

A: The question of diversity goes to the heart of the conversation we should be having within EGA about what it will take for philanthropy to bring about genuine change––not change around the edges, not mitigation, but real change in the structures and incentive systems that produce global environmental degradation. These structures and systems act on a global level, and they are also implicated in the conditions of social and economic injustice that affect the vast majority of people living on the planet. In order to be meaningful, the conversation itself must include a diversity of voices, opinions, world views and experiences, and we’re going to have to be willing to reach outside EGA in order to have it.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: I’m grateful to the EGA board and staff for making an ongoing commitment to this work. It’s hard, controversial and personally challenging, precisely because it forces us to question some of our own most deeply held assumptions and beliefs. And ultimately it is central to the question of how we understand our work, and whether or not we’re going to be part of the solution to the big problems.

Interview with Rebecca Fedewa, CS Mott Foundation

Q: In which IPC-sponsored activities have you participated (undoing racism workshop; ad hoc breakfast on IPC; website resources; other)? What inspired you to attend?

A: A local anti-racism training session was held here in Flint, but for various reasons I was unable to attend. A few of my colleagues did participate and were very positive about their experience. So, when I saw the Undoing Racism workshop was available at the 2003 EGA annual meeting, I jumped at the chance. This seemed like a great opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts of racism and how I could begin to affect some change in my personal and professional life. Plus, I live in a city that is deeply divided by race. I signed up for the workshop to begin building my skills to become a more effective member of my immediate community.

Q: What did you take away from this experience? How has it affected your work and your foundation?

A: The Undoing Racism workshop, more than anything, helped to deepen my understanding of the issues and experiences faced by members of other communities. The candid conversations among the group and the background education provided from the facilitator combined to cultivate an atmosphere where we could examine our own views and experiences without eliciting a sense of guilt or blame––I think many people avoid sessions such as these precisely because they don’t want to spend the whole day experiencing “white guilt.”

As a result, the issue of diversity and racism has started to become a more prominent facet of my thinking in both my work life and personal life. I can’t point to any particular way in which my work or foundation has been affected other than there is one more person out there trying to think more deliberately about the issues.

Q: EGA strives to create a diverse Management Board, Program Committee, and Fall Retreat Program. How do you think we’re doing on this? How important is this priority and why?

A: In my relatively short affiliation with EGA, I have been impressed by the commitment the organization has made to increase diversity of the board, committees, and retreat presenters. But at the same time, this commitment is still very much a conscious effort. In my—and I’m sure most people’s—ideal world, it would be perfectly natural for the EGA and its members to have diverse ranks of board and staff members.

Q: What would you say to colleagues who are skeptical about the importance or real effects of prioritizing diversity for environmental grantmakers and grantmaking?

A: I would imagine a good chunk of EGA members view biological diversity as a worthy goal. Species of plants, animals, bacteria, etc. all bring something different and unique to the table. One attribute of a plant may be incredibly important to the survival of species A, but inconsequential to species B. It doesn’t make that attribute any more or less valuable overall, but it IS vital that it is present. I don’t see how a diversity of opinions, experiences and skills derived from different backgrounds (race, socio-economic, gender, sexual orientation, geography, nationality, etc.) can be seen any differently. Okay, an overused analogy, but I think it’s an apt one.

Q: Any other suggestions for EGA and our membership on diversity and inclusive practices?

A: I would just encourage folks to consider attending either a local training or the session offered at the annual EGA meeting. It is a fascinating way to spend the day, and you just might come out of the session with a new idea or two.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: Issues of racism and diversity are really hard to talk about, but it is the hard conversations that are the most important ones to have.

Join us at the Undoing Racism workshop at the Fall Retreat on Sunday, October 3. Contact Rachel Goldstein at rgoldstein@ega.org or 212.812.4260 for more information on the workshop or the IPC.