Dear Friends,
A year ago, I wrote about the burdens uniquely born by leaders of color and the Fund’s commitment to support their leadership and well-being. I also restated our commitment to learn alongside and seek guidance from partners who are closest to community and leading justice-oriented work. As we head into 2025, these commitments continue to drive what we do.
The social sector workforce remains in a well-documented crisis of burnout, uncompetitive compensation, and overall vulnerability to breakdown, with huge challenges on the horizon. Our grant partners speak to these conditions in our recently released biennial report, calling for more rest and wellness resources.
As funders, we simply must understand our part in contributing to these unsustainable conditions, and our responsibility to do things differently. This is perhaps philanthropy’s most difficult work, because it requires us to seek out blunt critiques of how we show up, to engage in honest self-examination, and to upend many of our entrenched processes and assumptions.
At the McGregor Fund, we believe that foundations should be accountable to the communities we purport to serve and support. In this spirit, we are trying out new practices to demonstrate this belief. We’ve continued to reduce burden in the application and reporting processes. Recent grants include investments in community expertise and vision, in thought- and practice leaders pursuing multiple domains of justice, and in some big-dream projects that center community thriving. We are truly excited about the ongoing evolution of how we work and what we support.
As always, I must end by thanking our exceptionally talented team whose big hearts guide everything they do, and our clear-eyed, values-driven board who bring out the best in us.
With wishes for a joyful holiday season and solidarity in the new year,
Kate Levin Markel
President
