Martha Awojobi: Anti-Racism, Philanthropy & Fundraising

Philanthropisms

In this episode we talk to Martha Awojobi, Founder/CEO of JMB Consulting about the upcoming BAMEOnline conference and about what it means to bring the principles of anti-racism to bear on philanthropy, charity & fundraising. Including:

• How did the BAMEOnline conference come about, who is it for, and why is it needed?
• Does philanthropy and the charity sector have a diversity problem?
• What does it mean for organisations in the charity and philanthropy world, and those working in them, to be anti-racist?
• Is racial injustice such a big/cross-cutting issues that it should not be seen as a cause area, but rather as something that is the responsibility of ALL philanthropic funders and nonprofits?
• Is the momentum we saw following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 being maintained, or are racial justice efforts already stalling?
• Can “funder ego” or a “saviour mindset” present barriers to genuine efforts to share power?
• Does prioritisation of certain kinds of knowledge act as a barrier? How is this reflected in grant application processes, funding decisions etc?
• Does the success of XR, BLM and other “new power” organisations suggest that there is untapped appetite for participation and power sharing?
• Does the ability of social movements to be more overtly political, or to employ more challenging tactics (e.g. protest, direct action), give them an advantage over civil society organisations (CSOs) that might be more constrained by legal/regulatory requirements?
• What role can storytelling and the creative arts play in allowing us to imagine different ways of doing things?
• What is needed to get more of this in civil society and the charity sector?
• Why is it important to understand the historic roots of the wealth, institutions and practices we have in philanthropy?
• What should philanthropic orgs do about links to historic racial injustices? Is it enough to acknowledge them, or do they need to go beyond that and seek means to make reparations somehow?
• Is philanthropy a reflection of the “circumstances of economic injustice” that Dr Martin Luther King identified, and therefore too often part of the problem? How can we make it be part of the solution?

Links:

• BAME Online 2023
• JMB Consulting
• Civil Society, "EDI strategies are a ‘waste of money’, says charity consultant"
• Martha writing in Third Sector, "It will take courage, ambition and sacrifice to dismantle white supremacy in the charity sector".
• Martha as a guest on the Starts At The Top podcast and on the Charity Impact podcast
• Philanthropisms episode with Jake Ferguson & Vanessa Thomas from Baobab Foundation
• Philanthropisms episode with Derek Bardowell.
• Philanthropisms Episode with Edgar Villanueva.