Breanna Reeves
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A social media campaign developed by the Inland Empire Black Equity Fund and the Center for Social Innovation is encouraging communities to support Black-led organizations for #BlackEquityFriday.
Launched in 2020 following the growing call for racial justice, the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) created the IE Black Equity Fund to advance racial equity, awareness of Black-led organizations and support the long-term investment in these organizations.
The fund initially set a goal to raise $5 million for Black-led organizations in the Inland Empire, and has exceeded that goal in just three years. Under the instruction of the Black Equity Initiative of the Inland Empire (BEI-IE) and the BEI-IE Advisory Committee, the fund has raised more than $6 million.
#BlackEquityFriday calls for the investment and support of Black-led organizations across the Inland Empire through donations.
“[Black Equity Friday] is important because we want to shift the focus from consumerism to community,” said Deidre Coutsoumpos, Founding Member and Doula Program Coordination & Development of Sankofa Birthworkers Collective of the Inland Empire.
Sankofa is a collective of Black birthworkers who support birthing families across the Inland Empire. The group is made up of a variety of different birthworkers including midwives, certified doulas, lactation consultants and community advocates. The collective hosts doula trainings, community events and provides educational resources.
Donating to organizations in the spirit of building Black equity can uplift and inspire community growth which results in a longer-term investment compared to traditional Black Friday purchases, Coutsoumpos explained.
This year, the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective of the Inland Empire was one of 71 Black-led community organizations who was awarded a grant. The Black Equity Fund made two rounds of grant awards throughout the region totaling $1.767 million in funding.
“For us at Sankofa we’re going to be using [the grant] for capacity building. We are beginning the process of creating a strategic plan, so that we can increase the capacity of our larger collective,” shared Coutsoumpos. “Among those things it’s thinking about mentorship circles, and providing more professional development for the providers who are members of our collective.”
Among 2023 IE Black Equity Fund grantees were dozens of other community health organizations, including Community Health Action Network (CHAN), a nonprofit organization that provides services and programs to residents of Victorville.
Part of CHAN’s services include promoting healthy living through nutrition classes and cooking demonstrations, as well as walking events. With the support of the IE Black Equity Fund, CHAN developed an iWalk program that encouraged residents of the High Desert to walk more with the goal of lowering high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. CHAN supplied t-shirts, pedometers and healthy soul food recipe booklets. More than 200 residents participated by walking around the Victor Valley Mall for seven days a week beginning at 7:45 a.m.
“Black equity is crucial for fostering a fair and just society,” said CHAN Executive Director C.J. Page Jr. via email. “Achieving Black equity involves addressing historical and systemic disparities that have marginalized Black individuals in various aspects of life, including economic, social, educational, and political arenas.”
According to Page Jr., building a supportive network among Black-led organizations is crucial for uplifting and encouraging one another, especially when it comes to funding opportunities.
A 2023 report released by the Young, Black & Giving Back Institute found that Black-led and Black-benefiting nonprofits are often grassroots and hyperlocal, yet they operate on smaller budgets. The institute surveyed 227 organizations, and found that these organizations accomplish a lot with very little as roughly 76.8% of nonprofits surveyed operate on a budget of less than $500,000 a year, and nearly one-third operate with just $30,000 a year.
“One of the ways we can uplift one another is just continuing to do the work and then making ourselves aware of other organizations in our community, so that we’re furthering equity in multiple lanes,” said Coutsoumpos.
Page Jr. shared a similar message about encouraging one another as leaders of Black-led organizations — “We must share information and rejoice with those who are funded and not be envious. We must organize collaborative events or initiatives that bring Black-led organizations together to share in the funding.”