Delve into the timely debate over what philanthropy owes present versus future and past generations... and then add a dose of nuance. Consider examples of philanthropies with distinct purposes and contexts.
If you ask me what is the most important thing that I have learned about being a Haudenosaunee, it’s the idea that we are connected to a community, but a community that transcends time.
Rich Hill Sr., Ancestral food sovereignty activist
A typical philanthropic foundation invests donated money, disburses a small portion of that money annually to support charitable causes that appeal to donors (be it broadly or specifically), and invests the rest in perpetual endowments for the benefit of future generations. In doing so, foundations strike a particular balance between donors past and present, and community needs in the present and future. Money is often treated as a neutral instrument to support charitable aims, regardless of how that money was made and whether its production contributed to any past or present harms. Intergenerational Stories seeks to surface the narratives driving the flow of dollars over time, and highlights foundations that have struck a different relationship between generations, in pursuit of their purpose. Right now, there are unmet needs all around us. Hunger, houselessness, opioid deaths, and climate-related displacement are all on the rise. Canada's child poverty rose in 2021 and ranges from 14 percent in Quebec to 38 percent in the territories. Nearly a quarter of Canada's children experienced food insecurity in 2022, up 29% from the year prior. Unmet needs persist even in the wealthiest nations.
Take Sweden as an example: despite a reputation for low childhood deprivation, since 2000, Sweden has witnessed a two-fold increase in the proportion of children living in relative poverty. What can and should philanthropy do in the face of increasing unmet needs, in the present? Do community foundations have any particular responsibilities? And if philanthropic dollars have been raised in ways that have contributed to past or present harms, and greater inequality, do philanthropic foundations have obligations to acknowledge, repair, or prevent these harms?
Is it the role of foundations to emphatically respond to the urgency of the present moment by spending far more money, now, to address the needs of today?
Is it the role of foundations to work to repair past harms that have led to today’s unmet needs... to spend money today to redress historic injustices?
Is it the role of foundations to evenly mitigate the impact of inequality by modestly spending today and responsibly saving for future generations?
You have to know the past to understand the present
Carl Sagan, Astronomer and science communicator
How much should a foundation look back, look at today, and look ahead? Is there an optimal balance of past, present, and future thinking & action? Baked into the institutional design of philanthropic foundations are values about longevity and the nature of needs over time, as well as biases that variously prioritize people's interests in the past, present, and future. For example, tax credits, perpetual endowments, and disbursement quotas set-up relationships between present and future generations, and individual past donors. As a donor, you can establish a philanthropic fund today, receive a tax credit this year, make modest allocations to the current generation, save for future generations, and if you so choose, oblige future generations to allocate those savings in ways that fulfil your values and interests.
What would intergenerational balance look like in philanthropy?
In Money Stories, we explore the web of relationships between philanthropy, the state, the third sector, people in need, and private citizens. In Intergenerational Stories, we examine those relationships over time, introducing the concept of intergenerational justice. Is a foundation tied to the past through its donors’ wishes, and/or through the descendants of prior generations harmed by the creation and accumulation of philanthropic wealth? And/or does a foundation owe something to future generations not yet born? If so, what is that something? Is it money, wellbeing, natural resources, functioning democratic institutions, etc.?
Gain conceptual tools to help tackle the questions around the responsibilities of present generations to their own generation, as well as past, and future generations. Consider our role in repairing injustices of the past and in shaping the opportunities of the future. Read it here.
Learn how two foundations took action based on their conviction that injustices of the past continue to be at the root of the social inequalities in their communities. Read it here.
Present Focus: Chorus Foundation, Justice Fund, & W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Connect strategies with the values and principles held by present-focused philanthropies: spending-down, reforming philanthropy, broad-based healing initiatives, and mission-aligned investment of endowment funds. Read it here.
Future Focus: Berea College, World Land Trust
Probe what it means to be future-focused as a foundation. Consider disparate examples of philanthropies that have been guided by a dream of creating a legacy for future generations. Read it here.
Practitioners speak to the question of what philanthropy owes to the the present generation, as well as future and past generations. They give their reasons for holding funds in perpetuity, spending down, or focusing spending on the repair of past harms.
Jenny is a journalist, public servant, and member of the City of Vancouver’s Renters’ Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Vancouver hub of the Global Shapers, a network of young leaders convened by the World Economic Forum, and an SFU RADIUS Fellow. Jenny is deeply curious about Vancouver’s housing crisis and produces videos on the topic on Instagram and Twitter at @jennymeixiNations.
Ishita Khosla
Ishita is a racialized settler from New Delhi, India, with a passion for advocacy and community building. She dreams of a future where we can grow out of the nonprofit industrial complex into something more organic and enriching. In her spare time she loves to read and explore Vancouver's diverse food scene.
Dr. Sharon Hobenshield, whose traditional name is Ha-Youly, is of mixed ancestry from Gitxsan First Nation. Sharon is currently residing on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation and has been working in close relationship with the Coast Salish communities for more than 25 years. Previously, she acted as the Director of Indigenous Education and Engagement at Vancouver Island University. In 2021, she was appointed the first Executive Director of the Kw’umut Lelum Foundation. The foundation is fully First Nation-owned and led. Its purpose is to collaborate with private and public philanthropists to invest in Indigenous youth and communities. Sharon’s research on Indigenous practices of gift giving shapes her philanthropic work.
Edgar Villanueva is an award-winning author, activist and expert on issues of race, wealth, and philanthropy. Villanueva is the Principal of Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital and author of the bestselling book Decolonizing Wealth (2018, 2021). He advises a range of organizations including national and global philanthropies, Fortune 500 companies, and entertainment on social impact strategies to advance racial equity from within and through their investment strategies. Villanueva holds a BSPH and MHA from the Gillings Global School of Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe and resides in New York City.
Vicky Stott is a citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a member of the Hoonch (Bear) Clan. She is a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek Michigan. She serves on the foundation’s Racial Equity, Community Engagement & Leadership team. Vicky is responsible for developing and coordinating strategic grantmaking activities aimed at addressing racial equity, community engagement, and nurturing opportunities for positive systemic change for historically marginalized communities and vulnerable children. For the past 16 years, Vicky has worked in the community development sector in a variety of places including the Middle East, Mexico, North America, and the East and Central Africa region.
Cuong Hoang is the director of programs of Mott Philanthropic, a consultancy founded in 2008 that works with individuals and foundations to increase the impact of their giving. In his role, Cuong helps clients design, implement, and assess their grant making, which focuses on local and national issues, including arts and culture, education, climate change and just transition, and fiscal policy. Cuong previously worked at Philanthropic Advisors, where he also was the Director of Programs. Prior to this, Cuong worked at Hunt Alternatives Fund, a family foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he launched the foundation’s new program to support arts for young people in Eastern Massachusetts. He has also worked for the City of Boston Mayor’s Office, where he oversaw all grants made from the City’s general fund, including those for arts organizations, out-of-school programs, and early childcare providers.
Oronde A. Miller currently serves as a Program Officer focusing on racial equity at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Previously, Oronde was a Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC, where he led efforts to promote racial equity among families involved with the nation's foster care, juvenile justice and education systems. He held various positions as a racial equity consultant to agencies in the US public child welfare system. He is committed to promoting the health and well-being of African American children and families. Oronde published his book “Facing the Rising Sun: Perspectives on African American Family and Child Well-Being” in 2010.
Dace West is the Chief Impact Officer at The Denver Foundation. In her role, she serves as senior leadership and oversees the Impact Group, which brings together all the Foundation’s philanthropic activities from work with donors to nonprofit grantmaking. In 2021, the Denver Foundation created a new strategic framework which situates racial equity at the core of its mission and vision statement. Prior to her work at the foundation, Dace held several leadership positions in the nonprofit and public sectors across the Denver Metro area with a strong focus on poverty relief and community development.
Yonis Hassan is the CEO and Co-founder of Justice Fund Toronto, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing long-term support and advocacy to under-resourced communities who are in conflict with the law. Justice Fund is incubated by 40 Foundation, the private foundation of Noah “40” Shebib, Co-Founder of Octobers Very Own. Yonis is an emerging community builder who has made it his focus to be part of the dialogue that is shaping Toronto’s future, in particular the Northeast and Northwest of the city. He is currently a board member of FoodShare Toronto and UKAI Projects. He published an “Agenda to Reform Philanthropy” in First Policy Response in 2021.
Dr. John Borrows is one of the world’s leading scholars on Indigenous law. Indigenous law looks to nature and to the land to provide principles of law and order, and ways of creating peace between peoples. At the University of Victoria, Dr. Borrows co-founded the world’s first dual degree program in Indigenous and common law. He supports efforts for and by Indigenous peoples to reclaim their inherent rights to self-governance in order to address systemic and individual injustice and to build healthy, safe and inclusive communities. He's Anishinaabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario. Dr. Borrows is a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation, a recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award in Law and the 2017 Canada Council Killam Prize, is a Fellow of the Academy of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada, and was awarded the 2019 Canada Council Molson Prize.
Randall Bear Barnetson is a multidisciplinary Northwest Coast Indigenous artist. Bear is from the village of Nadleh Whut’en, the Dakelh nation, and of the Duntem’yoo Bear clan. Bear’s artistic practice interprets matters such as mental health and wellbeing, identity, spirituality, and culture through the framework of Northwest Coast Indigenous art forms. Bear’s art and traditional storytelling has aided in reconciliation and decolonization efforts with settler organizations in discussing Indigenous culture and heritage. Bear is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Bear has completed the Foundation Program thus far.
I chose the image of a double Eagle to show the connectedness of both past and future. That they mirror one another and are more similar than we understand.
When I think about Intergenerationality I am immediately reminded of the seven generations teachings of my Elders. In this teaching, we (the present) are connected to the past three generations, as well as the 3 generations to come. With ourselves being the sacred center, totalling seven generations. We are both connected to, and responsible to these other generations. The past and future are not linear, but cyclical, in this way everything is connected. So we must do our part to ensure that our children’s children’s children will have a healthy way of life on the land, and with the people around them. Just as we look to our ancestors who did the same for us.
Kyla Yin James (They/She) - Complementary Art
Kyla Yin James is an illustrator and designer whose work is inspired by mythology, the unconscious, subcultures, sociopolitical systems, and their mixed heritage. They love exploring their connection to intergenerational experiences. Kyla’s work is filled with symbolism that creates surreal and speculative scenes questioning the status quo. Through their work, they explore the ways they approach the different thought worlds they grew up in. Kyla describes their practice as thinking and feeling out loud, sorting through the symbols and ideas they’ve encountered.
With the theme of intergenerational stories, I was struck by how the present is affected by the past and future. Past, present, and future seemed to come together to create a whole picture.
This led me to imagine all 3 connected and coming together in a circle, along with the environments that hold us. The use of perspective suggests that this circle exists in multiple dimensions and holds nuance. Each part is distinct, but the circle isn’t complete without everything in relation to each other.
Resources
1
Tim Li, Andrée-Anne Fafard, and Valerie Tarasuk, “Household Food Insecurity in Canada 2022,” Food Insecurity Policy Research (PROOF), 2023, https://proof.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Household-Food-Insecurity-in-Canada-2022-PROOF.pdf.
2
Nina Johansson et al., “Ameliorating Child Poverty through Connecting Economic Services with Child Health Services (ACCESS): Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial of the Healthier Wealthier Families Model in Sweden,” BMC Public Health 22, no. 1 (November 25, 2022), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14424-x.
Tackle the questions around the ethical responsibilities of present generations to their own, past, and future generations. What is our role in repairing injustices of the past vs shaping the future?
What are the moral obligations foundations have towards righting wrongs of the past? Learn about two foundations who have gone down the road of reparations.
Encounter three foundations who focus on strategies to address urgencies in the here and now. Read about their experiences with spending down, philanthropic reform, and mission-aligned investment.
Perpetual endowments are well established within the philanthropic sector, some say as a source of stability across generations, some say as a means to hoard resources.
Is it the role of foundations to emphatically respond to the urgency of the present moment by spending far more money, now, to address the needs of today?
