Direct action is required to counter the many ways that inequitable systems fight back against progress. Over the past few months, we’ve observed disinvestment from social programs and policy changes that threaten community investment and civil liberties. But at the same time, we’ve seen a rise in mutual aid, communities connecting over challenging and overdue conversations about inequality, and philanthropists reevaluating their role in achieving lasting social change.

To ensure this moment of awareness turns into sustained action for advancing racial equity, Echoing Green is launching a $50 million Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund. As an organization that has invested in leaders who boldly combat structural problems through their work—including upwards of 300 organizations that globally address racial inequality—Echoing Green is leveraging social innovation to dismantle structural racism and build inclusive communities.

Echoing Green has developed bold goals for this three year Philanthropic Fund that call for strategic investments in its work. Through the ambitious, but necessary, framework of the five key strategies for meeting this moment, Echoing Green is committed to:

• Launching and scaling 500 social enterprises focused on racial equity in the U.S. and globally
• Breaking down barriers to capital that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) social entrepreneurs face globally by building onramps to social innovation for 5,000 leaders focused on racial equity
• Infusing the private sector with the understanding of how to participate in and support this work by equipping 10,000 corporate employees with tools to engage in the movement for racial equity

With a major investment from the broader philanthropic community, Echoing Green is poised to lean into this work, build off of our 30+ year learnings, and drive lasting systemic change.

We are proud to announce that our Philanthropic Fund has been met by overwhelming support from both long-time and new partners. To date, Echoing Green has raised more than $36 million towards our $50 million goal. Current supporters to the fund include the Miranda Family Fund, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, and Goldman Sachs.

Now is the time to join Echoing Green and this ever-growing coalition and invest in the next generation of leaders who will disrupt the status quo around racial equity globally. To learn more about Echoing Green’s Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund please email Janna Oberdorf, vice president of external affairs.

Our Sustained Focus on Racial Equity

Changing the world for the better is ongoing work that depends on taking an intentional, explicit, and sustained focus on addressing racial disparities across the problems we are trying to solve. Thirty years of our data demonstrates these inequities, and our learnings underpin everything we do.

• There are over 100 organizations in our portfolio with an explicit focus on reducing racial inequality, and upwards of 300 organizations that have addressed racial inequality through the lenses of Education, Health, Civil and Human Rights, the Environment, Arts & Culture, and more. View some of these organizations here.
• Since 2012, 75% of the organizations we’ve supported are founded by leaders of color.
• For the last 8 years, Echoing Green has also supported a Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind social entrepreneurship program to identify and support top emerging and innovative leaders dedicated to improving the life outcomes for Black men and boys in the United States. Since launching the BMA Fellowship, we’ve invested over $5.2M in funding to 76 Fellows working in 31 states.
• In 2019-20, Echoing Green piloted programming at five Historically Black Colleges and Universities reaching 1,100 students to drive their participation in social innovation.

With our track record providing the foundation for this Philanthropic Fund, Echoing Green and our community are prepared to do the continuous work required to advance racial equity. Together with our Fellows, partners, and investors, Echoing Green is committed to putting resources in the hands of those in the best position to drive change.