our origin story:
Black Equity Initiative
Supported by the JIB Fund between 2017-2021, the Black Equity Initiative (BEI) was formed with the goal of funding Black-led and Black-serving organizations working to confront systemic racism. It has since become a model for community-responsive grant-making for racial justice.
to address systemic racism targeted toward Black populations in the areas of:
The BEI supported a total of 18 Black-led-and-serving organizations in Los Angeles (15) and the Inland Empire (3) since the initiative’s launch.
Between 2017-2021
BEI organizations leveraged
million
​
over
BEI theory of change
The BEI’s Theory of Change is centered in the belief that progress on Black equity and racial justice must be part of any forward movement in the United States-and will only be achieved when philanthropic investments, public policies, and institutional practices boldly confront racial injustice.
education
workforce development
criminal justice reform
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With the goal of seeing community-driven change, the BEI, which consisted of coupling philanthropic dollars with designated space for organizations to come together, established a set of strategic approaches that were tracked over time, measuring the Initiative’s impact:
Research Goals
01
movement building
Developing networks of individuals and organizations; using the power of collective action to alter the relations of power and enact cultural, economic, and/or political change.
02
Institutional Racism
Systems Change
Building the individual, organizational and collective community resiliency needed to continue systems-change work, confront racial injustice and combat burnout.
03
Communications and Framing of a Black Equity Agenda
Telling the organization’s story in more impactful ways and empowering organizations to more boldly embrace, describe and pursue, a vision for Black equity.
04
Organizational Development
Inspiring organizations to become the best versions of themselves through reflection and response, staff development, and partner and community engagement.