Story by MASON HARDY

A panel of leaders in community philanthropy met Feb. 26, 2020, for a virtual Friday Forum focused on efforts to achieve racial equity in the workplace and the impact of philanthropy on communities of color. University of Utah President Ruth Watkins acted as moderator to the forum.

On the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion website, Friday Forums are described as a way to bring in “national thought leaders to lead discussions and provide opportunities for participants to share ideas on actionable items towards a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus.”

Watkins began the forum by asking Corie Pauling, chief inclusion and diversity officer of the TIAA, to share her perspective of philanthropy and the kinds of interests in institutions that she has seen.

“Equity is the promise of what inclusion stands for. It is some of the gaps that we see in education, socioeconomics, health care and unemployment. We are going to tackle those,” Pauling said.

She said 2020 was an eye-opening year for many American citizens regarding the reality of modern-day racism. She talked about philanthropist organizations, and the intent to make racial inequity less of a moment and more of a movement, making investments accordingly.

“What was really groundbreaking about it was that it unearthed a desire to talk about anti-racism as a calling and obligation, and responsibility of everyone,” she said.

Pauling emphasized the importance of data when it comes to social and racial equity as it relates to inequality in America. She said making an investment in accurate data can form complete opinions of “what is my role in this?”

To put racial inequity and racial injustice into perspective and give some context to what the panelists discussed, a July 2020 Brookings survey of 5,500 nationally representative respondents from each of the 50 states, revealed the following:

• 1 in 3 Black men born in 2001 will spend time in prison in their lifetime
• 1 in 1,000 Black men and boys will die at the hands of police
• 1 in 3 Black children live in poverty
• 1 in 10 Black adults were not able to pay rent or mortgage in the past three months

The information listed above is only a small portion of the results from that survey.

“It’s hard to argue with data,” Pauling said.

Watkins asked panelist Caroline Smith, deputy director of the Kresge Foundation’s education program, to discuss the research the foundation is doing.

She said the organization surveyed people to see what it should focus on in the next three years. The response overwhelmingly called for racial justice.

“We did this survey at the end of 2020. I don’t think you would have seen that answer at the end of 2019 or the end of 2018. It’s certainly quite indicative of the racial reckoning that began in the last year,” Smith said.

Watkins acknowledged the work the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation is doing with the University of Utah to help advance diversity and inclusion.

Kym Eisner, executive director of that foundation, brought up its research, and the focus on researching data for policymakers.

“Being able to get good, solid, evidence-based information into their hands to inform decision making, is a very valuable contribution,” she said.

Smith emphasized the work of researchers to improve racial equity in the workplace, and called on them to make a difference in the community.

The Friday Forum series are free events for the community and students to attend. They offer a way for Salt Lake City residents to gain a better perspective of the community around them. Prior forums covered “A Call for Racial Healing,” “Confronting our Racism” and Establishing Anti-Racist Policy.”

For more information, or to sign up for future events, visit the website.

A video-on-demand version of the Racial Equity and Philanthropy Friday Forum is available here.

Filed under: African American, Education, Law and Justice, Nonprofits, Organizations |