Violence and racial chaos in Charlottesville earlier this year sparked a call to action for one philanthropic foundation dedicated to making post-secondary education accessible to all.
Mobilized to back words with action, Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, announced Tuesday that the foundation will award $2.5 million in grants for community-building programs and initiatives that address racial justice issues at colleges and universities nationally.
Lumina’s grants will go to colleges, universities and philanthropic organizations that will improve the racial climate on campuses and “elevate efforts to teach about race and racism in our nation’s history and contemporary life,” according to the foundation.
“Ensuring fair and equitable results in a country sullied by an enduring legacy of systemic racism and oppression is not just a part of our collective work in philanthropy,” Merisotis said. “It is the work.”
Merisotis added that the call to action is not only for Lumina, but for every philanthropic organization seeking to fuel social change.
“Foundations such as Lumina typically aren’t the first responders to crises, but in this historic climate, we believe the time to act is now,” he said in the announcement on the foundation’s website . “We know the challenge isn’t just to do the right thing – it’s also to bring others along. So, our decision to act – and to join a growing choir of university, student, philanthropic, and community voices in this effort – is an embrace of optimism.”
The first of the Lumina investments is a $200,000 grant awarded to Christian Theological Seminary’s Faith and Action Project in Indianapolis, where Lumina is headquartered and a place where the organization says it has a leadership responsibility to make itself heard on racial justice and equity issues. The Faith and Action Project will host events that highlight solution-driven approaches to community problems rooted in racial bias and inequity, Merisotis said.
