The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Beyond, and Grand Victoria Foundation have announced the launch of Abundance, an initiative designed to shift philanthropic dollars to Black-led and -centered organizations.

Organizations that choose to join the initiative will commit to significantly increasing their annual payout in support of Black-led efforts by the start of 2025, with growth year after year. In addition, participating organizations will commit to being in the Abundance Action Community, a space for participants to develop a shared understanding and meaning of Black-led work, strategize collectively, share goals, track year-over-year growth in the percentage of annual payout to Black-led efforts, encourage adaptive changes in practice, and be responsive to Black leaders. Abundance has a committed annual budget of $400,000 for three years and will soon introduce a new director.

“Philanthropy has perpetuated racial oppression, which systematically and disproportionately impacted organizations led by people of color,” said MacArthur Foundation president John Palfrey. “We must disrupt these traditional practices by giving more money to Black-led, -centered, and -serving organizations, trusting them to make decisions about how to use their grant funding. Operating from a place of Abundanceallows us to ensure long-term and equitable support for Black-led organizations as we advance racial justice.”

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