“The Refugee and Immigrant Culture Hub is more than just a building — it’s a vision of hope, dignity and shared responsibility,” said Ramla Sahid, Founder and Executive Director of the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) who unveiled the master design for the first-of-its-kind refugee and immigrant hub in San Diego. The Refugee & Immigrant Cultural Hub (RICH) Project will provide resources to current and recently-arrived refugees and immigrants, including long-term and transitional housing, medical care, job training, and food assistance. This grassroots effort is driven by the voices, needs, and solutions of nearly 700 community members. “This community hub will be different than other community hubs, because we’re giving the power to the community. They get to see what they want to see,” said Mohamed Mbengue, one of about numerous residents who have helped design the new space. Read and learn more about PANA and the RICH project in the San Diego Union Tribune, Times of San Diego, ABC 10 News San Diego, NBC San Diego, and Noticias San Diego. 

“Our founding mothers created an alternative model of grantmaking that involved participation from community members and deep trust in their grantee partners. They knew those most affected by the problems we face also held the solutions, so they worked to democratize the sector and make philanthropy accessible to everyday people.” Natanja Craig Oquendo, Executive Director of Boston Women’s Fund, shares how the practice of listening to the community and funding the “unfundable” can achieve what traditional large-scale philanthropy can’t in this op-ed for Candid. 

“There is a retreat from work that supports racial equity and racial justice just because, ‘I don’t want to get sued’ or boards not wanting to put their organization at risk,” said Lulete Mola, president and co-founder of the Black Collective Foundation MN, who worries about the decrease in funding dedicated to racial equity for Minnesota nonprofits. The Collective recently launched an initiative to help Minnesota-based nonprofit organizations navigate legal challenges to race-conscious efforts. MN LEAD expands on LEAD for Racial Justice, launched earlier this year by the California Black Freedom Fund. Learn more in these pieces from the Minnesota Lawyer, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Inside Philanthropy.