Bringing Equity to the Forefront

In June 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, the 600-year-old pandemic of racism and systemic injustice was brought to the forefront of the American consciousness. As protests spread across the nation in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement, it became clearer than ever that SVCF had to respond in a way that was explicit, specific and long-lasting.

The foundation leaned into its strategic plan, which puts reducing systemic disparities and injustice at the forefront of all its work. This was not the time to tiptoe around race and inequity, but instead to deepen relationships with communities of color, educate and take a bold stance against the racism that’s plagued the United States since its inception.

“We have to constantly bring up the issues of racial justice and inequity because they are the root of every social challenge,” says Nicole Taylor, president and CEO of SVCF. “The whole reason we have philanthropy is because of the inequity that exists in our country. Especially today, you can look at any system in our country and clearly see the inequity and who is disproportionately impacted by homelessness, criminal justice, jobs, education, banking, home loans, etc. And because it’s in every aspect of our society, we must keep it front and center at this foundation.”

Using the framework of the strategic plan, SVCF launched an initiative that encouraged donors to give to nonprofits dedicated to racial equity and social justice and Black-led organizations. Taylor also created a Community Advisory Council to engage leaders of color who are already working to address the systems that have led to the region’s inequities among communities of color. Case in point: Two members of the council, André Chapman and Walter Wilson, are part of the group behind COVID-19 Black, a health initiative that works to educate the Black community on ways to protect itself from COVID-19, as well as other pressing health issues. It is an initiative of Unity Care in partnership with the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet.

“Community Advisory Council members can help us amplify the untold stories of Black, Indigenous and people of color in our region, and in doing so, help us increase philanthropy’s equity and social justice footprint,” says Manuel J. Santamaría, SVCF’s vice president of community action.

SVCF is also providing administrative support and fiscal management for the new California Black Freedom Fund, which is a five-year, $100 million initiative that funds Black-led movements and organizations statewide to fight systemic and institutional racism. The fund, which is the first state-based fund of its kind, aims to create an ecosystem of social justice organizations across the state and transform the relationship between philanthropy and Black-led organizations, empowering them to work at local, regional and state levels to change unjust policies and systems.

“Black communities know what it’s going to take for us to excel,” Taylor says. “We know what it takes to make sure we are thriving financially, we’re healthy and have access to opportunity. Investing in this community so all those things can be true for the long-term, and not just for this moment, is my hope for the fund.”

A Post-Pandemic Recovery Plan Centered on Equity

It’s impossible to separate the work to dismantle structural racism from the work of recovering from the pandemic. And SVCF staff members understand that any successful recovery plan needs to center on equity.

In May 2020, Taylor was tapped by San José Mayor Sam Liccardo to serve as one of five co-chairs of the newly formed Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable. The coalition, which brought together 59 community, corporate, public sector and nonprofit leaders from various industries across the region, spent about 100 days drafting policy recommendations and practical strategies to ensure that the post-pandemic recovery plan included all residents, especially the lowest-income households, immigrants and people of color.

“The objective of the roundtable was to recover in a more equitable way, which is easy to say,” says Gina D. Dalma, SVCF’s executive vice president of community action, policy and strategy, who led the equity workgroup. “The problem was that every time the group began recommendations, the equity lens was forgotten. We quickly realized it was SVCF’s role to keep equity at the center by asking a key set of questions before each meeting to keep our focus on a robust recovery for everyone.”

SVCF team members continued to ask: How do we ensure that those who are hardest hit by these crises are part of an equitable recovery? “Of course we want our businesses to open, and we want more people at work,” Taylor says. “But how do we make sure that the people who were left out don’t continue to be left out when we reopen or get back to some new sense of normal?”

Initially, these communities weren’t fully represented during the roundtable’s discussions. So Dalma and Mauricio Palma, SVCF’s director of initiatives and partnerships, launched about a dozen focus groups with community members that had direct experience with the hard-hitting impacts of the crises of 2020.

“We spoke with people who had been laid off and couldn’t find a job, agricultural workers, parents who didn’t have the appropriate devices for virtual learning, those without documents, people losing their homes,” Dalma says. “We asked them what they wanted to see us do, and we brought their responses back to the roundtable so we could be intentional about our policy recommendations. We also asked community members to review our recommendations and let us know if we missed the mark. Oftentimes the roundtable wasn’t explicit enough about race or social justice, so we made sure the language was appropriate regardless of whether it made people uncomfortable, because that was our role.”

At the end of August, the roundtable released “Building a Better Normal,” a report containing strategies to drive job creation, support small and medium-size businesses, expand digital inclusion for the community, increase the affordable housing supply and keep people facing vulnerable circumstances in their current places of residence. The report serves as a viable structure to create a more just, equitable and sustainable future, but it’s just a start.

“We can only build a stronger, better Silicon Valley if this recovery is inclusive — specifically of those who traditionally have been left behind,” Taylor says. “This report is just one piece of our efforts to eradicate racism and oppression.”