PREPARING ORGANIZATIONS TO ENGAGE IN EQUITY |
INITIATING ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION TO EMPHASIZE RACIAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC EQUITY

One of the Foundation for the Mid South's most important learnings from the Building Philanthropy project, was that philanthropy occurred in the Mid South in many diverse, creative, and unacknowledged ways. Our organization recognized that it needed to expand its traditional view of philanthropy to include those who possess "assets" other than money and power such as youth, leadership, ideas, knowledge, and experience. This is important because the betterment of the Mid South will require the widespread participation of its citizenry in developing their own communities. Only through deliberate, strategic, and focused use of resources both in and outside the region in addition to these new "assets" will the region improve its social conditions. This is the concept of community philanthropy that FMS is integrating into its work and grantmaking.

It is important for organizations committed to equity and the concept of community philanthropy to ensure that they possess the willingness, capacity, understanding, and fortitude to support their commitment—especially at the local level in the communities it is supposed to serve. It has been FMS's experience that even if an organization is considered or considers itself to be ahead of the curve on issues of equity, it is important that the organization still addresses the issues of equity and racism at all levels inside the organization and assesses the effectiveness of its work in these areas. To better prepare an organization to tackle issues of race and equity, it might be necessary for it to make necessary changes and set in place the policies, procedures, vision, and mission to help it reach its goals of bettering the human condition and society.

WHY CONSIDER CHANGE

FMS ultimately decided to engage in an organizational change process because of the need for additional leadership on and a lack of resources available to address the issues of equity and race in the region. For our region to improve, some organization or a group of organizations had to provide leadership on these issues. It was important that

• Philanthropy both understand and increase its efforts to promote equity in the Mid South;
• The region increased the resources available to support social change; and
• FMS (and other organizations) question its ability and that of philanthropy to be a catalyst for social change in the region. Was FMS either the right choice or did it have the potential to become a leader in the Mid South to call for and help facilitate this change?

BEGINNING THE ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION PROCESS

Admittedly, the Foundation for the Mid South was in a unique situation to begin this process. FMS received support from the Ford Foundation that allowed it to take the time and receive the help it needed to initiate the process. The Building Philanthropy project was the result and it required FMS (1) to develop its understanding of philanthropy and to develop solutions for it to promote racial, social, and economic equity in the Mid South, and (2) to prepare itself to become more engaged in issues of racial equity and social justice in the region.

While the work was done on parallel tracks, FMS was greatly informed through its leadership and the experiences and recommendations of the Mid South Commission to Build Philanthropy. In addition to the Commission, FMS sought to initiate transformation by:

Providing the means for staff and board to learn and grow: FMS provided extensive opportunities to its staff and board to place the issues of race and equity front and center as it relates to the internal workings of the organization, its policies and procedures, and how it conducts its business externally.

Seeking Counsel and Support: The transformation process was not strictly internal. FMS solicited input from others outside of the organization (leaders from business, philanthropy, faith-based and civic sectors, etc.) to shape and share its experiences and understanding of equity and the realities and needs of the region.

Adopting a New Mission and Priorities: FMS took seriously its commitment to transform and to make the necessary adjustments that would better enable it to help build philanthropy in the region that is both equitable and inclusive. To this end, FMS adopted a new mission statement to demonstrate its commitment to this work.

Tackling the Challenges to Leadership: At times during the transformation process, the staff and board did not know how the transformation should occur or what the organization would look like after it happened. The pressures for both the responsibility and the success for both the Commission and FMS's transformation fell squarely on the CEO and the board of directors. The CEO had to navigate "the fear of the unknown" with the board and the staff. In the process, the CEO made two important admonitions (1) he would have to relinquish some control to allow the process to work, and (2) he had to accept that flaws existed in the organization that required attention if the organization was to meet its goals.

Likewise, the board had to work through its own learning journey. Ultimately the board prioritized the development of new governance structures that would reinforce the importance of including directors who are reflective of the communities that FMS serves and the work it does.

Creating the Conditions for Change: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita interrupted FMS's progress of organizational transformation. But the storms provided an unlikely impetus for FMS to shift from discussing how it was changing to reflecting change though its actions in response to the disasters. As a result, FMS's Grant Committee restructured and put in place new grant policies, guidelines, and criteria that addressed accountability, transparency, equity and inclusion, and effectiveness. While FMS received millions of dollars to provide grants to hurricane-affected nonprofits, because of FMS's learning journey, it accepted the challenge and the resources with a better understanding of how it could be used and leveraged to create the conditions for social change, as well as to rebuild devastated communities.

THE REAL NITTY GRITTY ABOUT TRANSFORMATION

FMS developed some important questions that boards, CEOs, and staff should consider before embarking on a mission to promote racial, social, and economic equity.

• Does the board and staff recognize, understand, and endorse the need to emphasize equity in their organization and work?
  
  
• Is the staff and the board willing to participate in conversations that will require them to honestly and openly share their belief, values, and experiences with regard to race and equity?
  
  
• Does the board and staff truly understand that a serious commitment to organizational transformation could result in significant changes in personnel (both at the staff and board levels), institutional processes and priorities, and mission?
  
  
• Is the staff willing to maintain an ongoing commitment to institutional improvement with regard to equitable practices beyond the initial transformation process?
  
  
• Is the makeup of the staff and board racially, socially, and economically representative of the area(s) it serves?
  
  
• Has the organization's work and business practices developed credibility and trust with the people and organizations it serves and with its partners.
  
  
• Will the organization maintain its courage and commitment to racial and social equity even if it is an uncomfortable topic for its current and potential donors?
  
  
• Is the organization truly willing to engage, better understand, trust, and share power and decision-making with the community, people, and organizations it serves?
  
  
• Will the CEO be empowered to "push" the board to stay engaged in the journey to both better understand equity and incorporate its practice internally to facilitate institutional transformation that emphasizes social justice?

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Details and further insight into the organizational transformation process that FMS is currently undergoing are available in More Than Words: Part 1 / "Moving Beyond the Status Quo" by Chris Crothers.