One of the questions that has guided my work in the philanthropic sector is: What is the best approach to ensure our work and investments are reflective of and responsive to the ever-changing needs of the communities we serve?

In recent years, we have learned how critical it is for us to work together as a sector to create real and lasting change for children, families, and communities. Philanthropy can meet the moment, but our ability to do so depends on our willingness to make radical shifts away from traditions, models, practices, and approaches that no longer serve our grantees and the communities they serve. This is a critical time for philanthropy to reflect as a sector, acknowledge and repair past wrongs, and forge a new path forward with racial equity as a shared goal.

While we should all be encouraged by the increased awareness of and support for racial equity, we are in a moment that requires transformative action to create a more equitable future. Philanthropic organizations have an essential role to play and can start by beginning or continuing their own racial equity journey. Our work on racial equity can’t be thought of solely as a funding priority; it must be a critical component of our own way of being. My organization, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is on its own racial equity journey to create the conditions where every child thrives and to establish a working environment that reflects our commitment to being an anti-racist organization. Along the way, we have changed the way we’ve worked inside and out and gleaned insights from the experience, including addressing the power imbalances inherent in philanthropy and redesigning the structure of philanthropic institutions, which we hope others can learn from as well.

At the Kellogg Foundation, racial equity is one of our core values. We define it as the condition where people of all races and ethnicities have an equal opportunity to live in a society where a person’s racial identity would not determine how they are treated or predict life outcomes. In our work to create a world where all children can thrive, we seek to challenge and dismantle racism in all forms; support racial healing; identify and address historic oppression and privilege; remove present-day barriers to equitable opportunities; and disrupt the racialized processes in which people and institutions operate.

Read the full article about racial equity by Alandra Washington at Stanford Social Innovation Review.