September 4, 2020
True Colors United

In the United States, 4.2 million youth experience homelessness each year, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers. True Colors United believes that in order to develop effective policy solutions to end youth homelessness, youth with lived experience must be a part of the solution. And no organization is doing more than True Colors to bring LGBTQ youth to the table in a meaningful way.

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August 31, 2020

Today the Raikes Foundation announced nearly $1 million in funding to support the dismantling of anti-Black racism. The Black Leadership & Power Fund is separate from the foundation’s established strategies and provides unrestricted funding to organizations elevating Black leadership, bolstering Black political engagement and leveraging community-based organizing to advance anti-racist policy change across the nation.

“This extraordinary moment requires setting aside business as usual and fully living into our commitment to racial justice,” Dennis Quirin, executive director of the Raikes Foundation, said. “We hope to accelerate the great work already happening in these organizations, and to learn from them so that they can shape how we fund the movement for Black lives in the future.” 

The Black Leadership & Power Fund is a direct response to the wave of activism sweeping the country in the wake of countless deaths at the hands of police officers, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and Elijah McClain.

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June 1, 2020

The events of the past several days make clear that America can no longer turn a blind eye to the effects of hundreds of years of racism on its people.

This is a crisis that needs immediate, ongoing attention including, as a starting point, a recognition on behalf of white leaders and people in this country that racism is real, deep, and structural. It's more than a handful of biased  cops. Anti-black racism is deeply rooted in our systems, our laws and our very attitudes and beliefs. Pleas for calm in this crisis sound empty when unaccompanied by action that matches the reality of our history and the despair evident in the current moment. This country must change. We must expel the stain of slavery that continues to haunt us to this day.

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May 7, 2020
Kingmakers of Oakland
By Gisele C. Shorter
Program Officer, Education

For Teacher Appreciation Week, I interviewed Chris Chatmon, Executive Director of Kingmakers of Oakland. I wanted him to share what makes his program, his Kings and, especially, Black educators special.

Kingmakers’ innovative strategies are improving academic outcomes for Black boys and helping them build a sense of belonging in school and community, and an essential part of what makes Kingmakers work is its unwavering commitment to recruit, train and retain a new generation of Black male teachers.

My interview, lightly edited, is below.

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Gisele C. Shorter: Tell me about the origins of the African American Male Achievement Initiative. How did that work eventually evolve into Kingmakers of Oakland?

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Tags Education