“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” – Maya Angelou

Happy New Year! It is with great pleasure that we usher in yet another year of partnership as we seek to improve the lives of vulnerable young people impacted by the youth justice and foster care system. This new year is a gift of time—more time to deepen our partnerships, to better support each other, and to see each other through change and growth. So, what will we do with this time?

Maya Angelou’s quote above acknowledges our interdependence and the importance of passing on knowledge, leadership and opportunity. As of Monday, January 7^th, 2019, after 4 years of service with the Andrus Family Fund, I entered a time to serve as its Interim Director. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working closely with many of you throughout these years, and I look forward to getting to know more closely those of you in our policy and direct service portfolios.

Earlier this month we bid farewell to our beloved outgoing Executive Director Leticia Peguero, who recently took the helm as Vice President of Programs at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Leticia was the embodiment of learning and teaching, getting and giving.

Rest assured that AFF is stable and grounded, well-prepared for the changes that lie ahead yet still holding close our commitment to our core values of deep engagement, just opportunity, connected innovation, and sustained impact. Your work on the ground is a constant example of how to embody this cyclical nature of change, growth, and commitment. We continue to stand by you as you seek to uplift youth who our society has often forgotten.

Jennifer Kaizer, our senior program associate, and I are excited about the journey ahead.

In committed service,

Manuela Arciniegas
Interim Director

21 national organizations awarded grants, advancing the Foundation’s commitment to social justice values as part of its Centennial grantmaking.

The Surdna Foundation, in partnership with the Andrus Family Fund, announced today an $800,000 commitment to help build the field of next-generation social justice philanthropy. The Foundation, as part of its Centennial grantmaking initiatives, will build the field by sparking a dialogue about philanthropy centered on race, privilege, equity and social justice and by increasing the number of next-generation philanthropists who are engaged in social justice work.

Through the initiative, the Surdna Foundation and Andrus Family Fund are providing resources for family foundations, community foundations and donor-advised funders to pursue next-generation social justice philanthropy. Next-generation social justice philanthropy engages younger generations of philanthropists—whether they are high net worth individuals or trustees of family foundations—to focus their philanthropic efforts on social justice initiatives.

Surdna’s pledge reflects the Foundation’s commitment to its social justice values. The Andrus Family Fund’s role reflects the Fund’s commitment to engaging family members in philanthropy focused on social justice.

“Recognizing the entrenched wealth and racial inequities that exist across the United States today, foundations and donors want to engage future generations of philanthropists around philanthropic models centered on social justice, race and equity — but many lack the resources and relationships to do so,” explains Leticia Peguero, Executive Director of The Andrus Family Fund and Andrus Family Philanthropy Program. “We hope this initiative will usher in a new era of family philanthropy and next-generation engagement—one that engages the next generation of philanthropists to address systemic inequity through social justice philanthropy.”

A key aspect of the commitment is building the field of next-generation social justice philanthropy by promoting best practices, furthering dialogue and building networks to connect and share resources among philanthropists and foundations seeking to address racial inequity and social justice. To achieve these goals, the Foundation will work with existing philanthropic resource organizations to share learnings publicly via reports, blog posts and social media, and collaborate with next-generation philanthropy groups on presentations, events and publications. Grants are listed below with additional information about the specific work being funded.

• 21/64 – To support 21/64’s engagement of next-generation donors, family foundation trustees, and earners to create a day and half long retreat/training for 10-15 individuals who are next-gen donors interested in social change.
• Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) – To support ABFE’s work to build a network of Black Next Gen High Net Worth individuals and/or families to support Black-led social justice organizations and initiatives.
• Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice – To support the Funding Queerly Giving Circle, young donors partnering with Astraea to mobilize resources for grassroots LGBTQI groups.
• Bread and Roses Community Fund – To support Bread & Roses’ multiple Giving Projects, which bring together a cross-class, cross-race, intergenerational group of people who share a vision for social justice and organize resources to support movements for social change.
• Chinook Fund – To support the Chinook Fund’s ability to continue engaging next-generation donors across Colorado.
• Class Action Network – To support Class Action Network’s work to inspire its members to end classism and extreme inequality by providing change-makers with tools, training and inspiration to raise awareness, shift cultural beliefs about social class, build cross-class solidarity, and transform institutions and systems.
• Crossroads Fund – To support the Giving Project at Crossroads Fund, which combines community building among next-generation donors with political education, fundraising, and grantmaking for the benefit of groups organizing for racial, social, and economic justice in Chicago.
• Exponent Philanthropy – To support Exponent Philanthropy’s NextGen Fellows Program.
• Faces of Giving Projects, Inc. – To support Faces of Giving’s second phase of the High Net Worth People of Color Donor Collaborative.
• Giving Project Learning Community – To support a national collaboration of the Giving Project’s model.
• Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) – To support integration of racial and economic justice and resource mobilization frameworks within social justice philanthropy. GIFT will do this by engaging cross-class communities of next-generation family philanthropists, donor organizers and movement leaders.
• Headwaters Foundation for Justice – To support Headwaters’ Giving Project, which is made up of a cross-class, multiracial group of people who are committed to raising money and supporting organizations creating change in Minnesota.
• Justice Funders – To support the Justice Funders’ Movement Commons Fundraising and Power Project, which will partner with philanthropic and field practitioners to design interventions that democratize support for people’s identities as givers and social justice actors.
• Movement Net Lab – To support Movement Net Lab’s “Old Money, New Systems in Philanthropy” retreats.
• NEXUS Global – To support the NEXUS Working Group Toward Equal Justice, which is an on-ramp for members to leverage their influence on innovative solutions to the Criminal Justice System.
• North Star Fund – To support North Star Fund’s donor organizing program through a Giving Project model—a cross-class, multiracial learning cohort that introduces participants to philanthropy through an explicit race and class justice lens.
• Resource Generation – To support Resource Generation’s next-generation family philanthropy leaders, through an annual retreat and training, as well as ongoing leadership development.
• Social Justice Fund Northwest – To support the Social Justice Fund’s Giving Projects in 2018.
• Solidaire – To support Solidaire’s development of a “movement philanthropy” curriculum that will launch at its annual retreat in May 2018.
• Third Wave Fund – To support Third Wave Fund’s work on the development of a cross-class donor leadership pipeline and giving circle model that centers women, queer, and trans people of color under the age of 35.
• Thousand Currents – To support Thousand Currents’ donor organizing initiative, specifically through funding the March 2018 training institute, and the associated next-generation donor organizing.

More information about Surdna’s Family Philanthropy grantmaking initiative can be found here.

This year, we are thrilled to celebrate the centennial of the Surdna Foundation, Andrus Family Fund’s parent foundation. AFF’s Program Associate, Jennifer Kaizer, reflects on the history of Surdna and philanthropy and shares her thoughts on the future of social justice and AFF.

One hundred years ago, what did “philanthropy” look like for the Andrus family?

John Emory Andrus established Surdna—“Andrus” spelled backwards—in 1917 to provide grants for those in need. Shortly thereafter, the foundation established the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial home, an orphanage in Yonkers, New York, as tribute to John’s wife, Julia, who was orphaned as a child. Over the years, Surdna developed a social justice framework and established a mission to foster sustainable communities across the United States.

As a personality, it seems John Emory Andrus was accessible, humble and forward thinking. His nickname was the “multimillionaire straphanger” because he preferred to commute by train to his office rather than by private car.

How do you think the Surdna Foundation has evolved over time?

Surdna became more institutionalized in the late 1980s when the first full-time Executive Director, Ed Skloot was hired. At this time, the foundation began to build strategic grant-making programs. The Andrus Family Fund was established in January 2000 to engage more than 400 extended family members between the ages of 25 and 45 in public service and organized philanthropy.

Surdna’s approach to grant making, and by extension AFF’s approach, is collaborative and focused on building authentic relationships, which is part of the John Emory Andrus legacy. 

What has been your favorite part of the Centennial celebration?

The dinner celebration on May 8^th was my favorite Centennial event because it brought together family members, grantees, colleagues, former and current staff to celebrate John E. Andrus’ legacy. It was such a pleasure to meet extended Andrus family members, some of whom I’ve only seen on mailing lists or corresponded with via email. It was a great portrayal of what Surdna is today.

How do you define social justice and how has that definition changed over time?

Google defines social justice as justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society. At AFF, we look at social justice through a racial lens because our grantee partners work with youth in juvenile justice, foster care and other disruptive systems— who are mostly youth of color. This disparity is not new. People of color have historically been impacted by unjust systems. Therefore, we must view social justice through a racial lens in the work we we do in order to implement real change.

What excites you most about working in philanthropy?

I love serving as a resource for grantee partners and anyone who comes our way. If a grantee or board member calls, I’m the first person they talk to. I also provide programmatic support.

What do you see for the future of philanthropy in general?

I expect the future of the sector to shift toward better support for grantees in the long term. We are seeing that the current political climate has an impact on grantees’ organizations and the sector will need to respond with both strategic funding and resources for capacity building.

What do you see for the future of AFF?

As AFF’s influence expands, our impact will continue to grow. Our grantee partners will benefit from our ability to connect them to bigger foundations and more resources to help them build capacity and be sustainable. We want to see them continuing the legacy of John Emory Andrus and making a positive impact 20, 40, 50 years from now!

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This is a quote that the Andrus Family Fund team repeats and tries to embody often. We are privileged to travel the country and meet leaders, organizations and young people that teach and remind us every day the causes that we must not overlook.

As you may remember over the past two years the Andrus Family Fund has undergone a strategic assessment which led us to a new vision and mission. For the first time in over a decade we had an open call for unsolicited letters of inquiry this past February. Our team has had a very busy few months. We received an overwhelming response of amazing and diverse work from across the country—including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Letters of inquiry from big and small organizations that spanned large states, small counties, dense cities and sparsely populated rural areas came through our portal. It made our decisions hard ones, which we approached with care and fairness.

This first round of grants was the final step in solidifying our new approach. We are looking for partners that are bold and innovative, partners that share our organizational values and are willing to question the status-quo. And most importantly, we are looking for partners that believe that those most impacted by unjust histories and policies should be at the center of the work and of the solutions.

So, we are excited to partner with organizations as diverse as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California to help them advocate for laws that reduce solitary confinement for young people and to spread some of the great strides that California has made to other states and with the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights in New Orleans for their Fairness First Project which helps them leverage the success of their direct service work as a driver for systems level reform in one of the most incarcerated states in the country. We continue to learn from our new partnership with JustLeadershipUSA as they put the voices of those formerly incarcerated at the center of criminal justice reform. And locally here in New York City, we are partnering with innovative voices like Common Justice, a Vera Institute of Justice demonstration project which works in collaboration with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office in an effort to provide direct services centered around young people accused of felonies.

These are just a few of our new partners. Please visit our grantees page to see them all.  As we continue to learn and grow as a grant maker we will be highlighting many of their voices right here on our blog. Please be sure to read, post, like and share. Through community and partnership can we realize the change we seek.

I’m excited to announce a new chapter in the history of the Andrus Family Fund. As Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”  At the Andrus Family Fund we do not believe that we alone can make any substantial change – change happens in partnership and in community. I hope that with our new focus we will begin to help create many ripples in the areas we care about so that real change can take root.

We have a fresh look and a new focus. Why the change? As an organization, we’ve evolved to better achieve our mission. We’re fostering potential and unlocking promise for youth and young adults and the organizations that serve them. We want to invest in partnerships with young people, organizations and systems that help create lifelong personal, family and community connections which lead to successful and productive adulthoods. We want to support organizations whose work directly connects youth to the people and services they need to become self-sustaining and resilient. We will work closely with all of our grantees to advance and advocate for programs and policies that are proven to create more equitable systems. We will continue to support organizations that utilize community organizing as a tool to remove barriers and create social change.

But it’s not about us. It’s about who we serve – our grantees. It’s about the work they do and the lives they impact. As you peruse our updated site, I hope this will be evident. Each and every page features youth from our grantee partners, so we never forget what’s at stake. We believe that every young person deserves more than one chance at a successful life.

Part of our evolution is taking our cause to communities near and far. Being more vocal about the issues that make young people vulnerable is the first place to start. That’s why we’re embracing social media, using photos and videos to put a face to the important work our grantees do every day. Please follow us and join the movement that puts our youth and young adults at the center of change!

The future is full of possibility. I’m proud of what AFF has achieved over the past 14 years, and I’m really looking forward to our progression. There’s lots of work to be done and we’re honored to be at the forefront of change.