Resourcing Racial Justice

Project Overview

This was an independent project run in 2020 to redistribute over £1.1 million to 58 racial justice organisers and organisations in the UK. The fund was created as a political project that aimed to do two things: rapidly move financial resources towards global-majority-led projects that centre racial justice; and act as an important piece of infrastructure to shift the practice of the philanthropic sector in the UK.

The first wave of applications saw nearly 2000 requests for support from across the UK through a variety of grants including individual support, long-term investment and project funds. The deeply collaborative effort saw an entirely new organisational entity set up within a matter of weeks and grants distributed within 5 months of launching.

Project Outcome

After leaving the project at the end of 2020, two co-founders took on the responsibility of completing the distribution, grantee management and learning process. Funds were raised from organisations committed to racial justice work including Thirty Percy and Lankelly Chase, plus £100,000 from the RRJ crowdfunder. The majority of the £1 million was distributed to 58 beneficiaries within a 4-month time frame, followed up by instalments. Operating and administrative costs were separately covered by Thirty Percy, Lankelly Chase, Polden and Puckham and the John Ellerman Foundation.

Read about the impact and learnings on the RRJ website.