Philanthropy’s Power Problem with guest Iara Peng

"We believe that philanthropy shouldn't be about barriers and bottlenecks." So says the About page of JustFund, the grant platform transforming giving. But removing bottlenecks is just one way that Just Fund is changing the game. Getting resources to organizations truly doing front line work involves challenging entrenched ideologies and engaging leadership often marginalized in philanthropy: people of color. And so it is a group of funders and organizers of color who founded the organization, those who know best how to poke at philanthropy's power problem. And leading the charge is our guest today: Iara Peng, founder and CEO of JustFund. JustFund brings a new approach to philanthropic grant-making and challenges existing systems in what she calls, "an intervention into the antiquated systems that grant makers have inherited."Instead, JustFund offers a trust-based, values-aligned approach that can fuel the movement for social and racial equity and they've done it in a very short time. The platform is already being used by more than three thousand organizations and is coming up on its first major milestone: moving $100 million in grants from funders to organizers.It's easy to call out what is not working about philanthropy. It's another to build a tool from scratch to address the collective opportunity to transform philanthropy. That's what JustFund is all about, and that's why we can think of no better guest to talk about this big idea, and how leveling the philanthropic playing field is not only better for people regularly marginalized in the conversation, but for all of us. Links & NotesJustFundDonors of Color (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward