The past two years have been a stress test for America’s social and governmental systems, as well as the protections many take for granted.

So far the results haven’t been good: Whether it’s the pandemic crushing our health-care institutions, the assault on the sanctity of the election process, protests against police brutality after the death of George Floyd, or a deadly power outage that spread across Texas, the crises of 2020-21 have revealed weaknesses that will need to be addressed if the country is to protect all citizens equally.

Of course, tax dollars are supposed to go toward building and maintaining many of these systems—but it would take more than a few pages to explain why that’s not enough.

The good news? You can do something. We consulted top philanthropic advisers and nonprofit executives to offer concrete, practical counsel on ways to address structural inequality in five critical sectors. Here are some fresh ideas, focused locally and at a modest scale, to inspire you as you consider how to help.

Read the full article about investing in social issues by Mark Ellwood at Bloomberg.