Historic and recent events have laid bare the deep-seated and systemic anti-Black racism pervasive amongst the U.S. populace and built into our institutions and practices. Ongoing White nationalist and White supremacist violence and police brutality against Black people are but two potent symptoms of this institutionalized racism.  

NorthLight Foundation stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and is firmly committed to uplifting Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations that center racial justice in their efforts to combat climate change. As climate change exacerbates racial disparities, putting BIPOC lives at heightened risk, it is imperative that climate solutions address systemic racism. 

We recognize that this racial reckoning is centuries overdue. The existence of our country relies entirely upon the forced removal of Native Americans from their indigenous lands through attempts at genocide by the U.S. government and White settlers, as well as upon the labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Furthermore, our country’s economic growth is inextricably linked to the continued oppression of BIPOC peoples in the United States and elsewhere.  

We acknowledge and affirm that NorthLight Foundation has a role to play in dismantling the systems and culture of White supremacy in the context of our work. We have a responsibility to make decisions -- in our grantmaking and operations -- mindful of the unique history of racial injustice in the United States, and the reality that certain groups have been historically and intentionally disadvantaged, whether by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, ideology, religion, or other social categorization. As a philanthropic organization, we strive to center those most impacted by racial injustice in our work and build power among BIPOC communities so they can lead the fight against racial and climate injustices. 

Integrating Racial Justice into Our Grantmaking

As of February 2021, we have signed onto the Donors of Color Network’s Climate Funders Justice Pledge. The pledge commits us to directing at least 30% of our U.S. climate grantmaking dollars to organizations run by, serving, and building power in communities of color within 1-2 years of signing the pledge. The pledge also commits us to be transparent about the percentage of our grantmaking that goes to these organizations.  

As of our 2021 grantmaking cycle, 44% of NorthLight’s grantees were BIPOC-led and power-building organizations (as defined by the Donors of Color Network), with 30% of our total grantmaking dollars going to these organizations. We aim to grow the percentage of our grantmaking dollars to more than 30%, and will annually update our list of grantees to the Candid eReporter portal to be transparent and accountable for our progress.  

In addition to increasing funding for BIPOC-led organizations, the Foundation as a whole is heeding calls from racial justice activists, and will increase our payout rate for our next grantmaking cycle. The current crises require that philanthropy do away with financial gatekeeping and shift resources to BIPOC communities immediately. We recognize that much of the Foundation’s wealth, as is the case with much of philanthropy, is derived from systems rooted in White supremacy, and shifting this wealth from our hands into communities of color is a fundamental step in achieving racial justice.  

By providing operational support, our goal is to build our grantee partners’ capacities to respond to today’s compounding crises of climate change and racial injustice. We aim to support movement-building efforts within BIPOC communities so they can lead the rebuilding of a world rooted in equity, regeneration, and sustainability.  

Our commitment to racial justice extends beyond our funding into other processes: 

• We are pledging to align 100% of our endowment investments with our mission and values, including efforts to avoid investing in racially violent sectors and industries, as well as efforts to invest in the expansion of wealth within BIPOC communities, as detailed further in our Investment Policy Statement.  

• We have signed on to Confluence Philanthropy’s Belonging Pledge, which commits us to discussing racial equity at our investment committee meetings to move forward a racially just investment agenda. As of March 2021, the Belonging Pledge had 185 signatories representing $2 trillion in assets under management committed to investing in racially equitable strategies.

• We have recently transitioned much of our grantmaking to JustFund, a portal created by funders and organizers of color that allows frontline organizations to more easily access funders and apply for funding.  Our grants on JustFund are disbursed through Amalgamated Bank, a bank committed to social and environmental responsibility.

• In light of the current crises, we have reduced or eliminated formal proposals and reports from our grantees, instead favoring informal check-ins, to give our grantees more time to focus on their critical work.   

• We recognize that “monitoring and evaluation” is based upon academic principles born during, and used to uphold, colonialism and racial segregation, and thus is predicated on inherent racial biases. We are in the process of institutionalizing a standardized review process of our grantees that incorporates equitable evaluation practices to counter these biases.  

Lastly, we are committed to radical humility and transparency in our efforts to confront racial injustice, both as individuals and as an organization. We accept that there is always more we can do to address systemic racism, and we recognize that our efforts outlined above are only the beginning of our commitment to racial justice. We will continue to make in-depth examinations of our implicit biases, conduct honest conversations about race, and join trainings on racial biases as a staff. In the meantime, we reaffirm our shared belief that Black Lives Matter, and restate our commitment to this ongoing process of learning and healing as we work to achieve justice.