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Thrive Alliance and Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits stand together with our two-county nonprofit alliance to express our sorrow about the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color (BIPOC) who experience systemic and institutional violence. 

 

Although the nonprofit community, at its best, has allied with communities of color and low-income communities to pursue social justice and dismantle inequity and racism, we also must acknowledge we all have more work to do.  

 

Our Silicon Valley community has just begun to come to terms with the disproportionate impacts of the virus and shelter-in-place on our communities of color. People of color are dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than other groups. Frontline workers—who are more likely to be BIPOC—are more exposed to the virus than remote workers and are disproportionately financially affected by the pandemic. On top of these unsurprising but still unacceptable facts, news of another Black life unnecessarily lost has sparked a collective remembrance of countless incidents of racism and the seemingly unending legacy of slavery and legalized oppression. 

 

Nonprofit organizations have a high calling. But now, more than ever, is the time to raise the bar. If race equity is not currently part of your calling, add it. If organizing yourselves and the community you serve to advocate isn’t part of your mission, do it. If you’ve allowed COVID-19 to stall your intentional, organizational race equity work (we’re there, too), it’s time to get back to it. 

 

For nonprofits with primarily white leadership, how can we go beyond allyship and towards anti-racism and anti-oppression? Reach out to BIPOC-led nonprofits and provide support and partnership if it’s needed and desired. Do they need office space, extra hands, or back office help to weather the storm? Can you introduce them to a funder? Boost their fundraising pitches. Follow their lead on advocacy. 

 

Don’t stop there. Provide your staff with time during the workday to protest, write letters to elected officials, build coalitions of nonprofits to fight for equity, participate in race equity workshops or conferences, and simply check in with Black colleagues. We can and should make clear that everyone’s job description includes learning about and acting to dismantle systems of inequity. 

 

Together, Thrive and SVCN have made a commitment to support nonprofits in their race equity journeys and will be working together with the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits to create a race equity, diversity and inclusion resource hub. We say this publicly now to create accountability for ourselves.  

 

We are here to support you now and through all of the challenges that may lie ahead. And today we paused all normal social media and messaging activities as we listened, reflected, and amplified the voices of Black-run organizations. Please also see this list of those working in the racial justice space curated by our sister agency CEN.  #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter 

 

Black-led Organizations

African American Community Service Agency 

African Diaspora Network 

American Council of Teachers 

Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council 

Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet 

Boys & Girls Club of North San Mateo County 

CASA of San Mateo County 

Coalition of Black Excellence 

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto 

CORA 

East Palo Alto Center for Community Media

East Palo Alto Teen Home 

EPA Can Do 

EPA Center Arts 

Ecumenical Hunger Program 

Eritrean Community in Santa Clara 

Ethiopian Community Services, Inc. 

Family Connections 

Friends of African Village Libraries 

Foundation for a College Education 

Free at Last 

Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY)

Girls to Women 

Greene Scholars 

Hagar Services Coalition 

Ivy and Pearls Foundation 

Joint Venture - Building Back Better

Karat School Project 

Lauren’s House for Positive Change 

Leadership Incorporated 

LifeMoves

Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club 

National Coalition of 100 Black Women/SV 

New Creation Home

ODOS Synergy Services 

People Acting in Community Together 

Razing the Bar 

Retraining the Village 

Roots Clinic 

Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators 

San Mateo NAACP 

Silicon Valley African Film Festival

Silicon Valley at Home 

Silicon Valley Black Chamber 

SJ/SV NAACP 

StreetCode Academy 

Tabia African American Theatre Ensemble 

Today’s Youth Matter 

Ujima 

Unity Care 

Villages of San Mateo County 

WeHope  

Youth United for Community Action 

Black Organization Directories: 

COVID19BLACK

Black Led Organizations Fund 

 

Please, reach out to us with your requests, ideas, and feedback. #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter 

 

Georgia Farooq, Thrive, georgia@thrivealliance.org 

Kyra Kazantzis, SVCN, Kyrak@svcn.org 

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