2024: The Transformative Power of Centering Justice

The impact of our justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) journey allowed us to live into our new mission in 2024.

We’re closing out the year with a deepened commitment to our mission to walk alongside changemakers advancing racial, social, and economic justice. We’ve been doing it through our funding and in our growth as funders.

Native Americans and communities of color continued to receive more than 80 percent of our grantmaking. They’re also a focus of our new 2030 impact investing strategy, which will channel tens of millions of dollars to organizations and companies led by our priority communities. Through compelling storytelling and internal work to practice JEDI by both our staff and our board, we tapped into the transformative power of centering justice.

For the first time since 2008, we have a new mission statement.

Just before the beginning of 2024, CEO Kevin Walker shared the 15-year journey to our new mission statement, which centers on racial, social, and economic justice. He described how we talked with grantee partners and thought leaders in the field, and how we collaborated with our board to land on a mission that describes exactly the kind of work we support.

The new mission emphasizes our role as allies and advocates, not just funders, in supporting changemakers across our region, including those from the Indigenous communities of 76 Native nations. Most importantly, the mission reflects our shift from poverty reduction to overcoming historical and ongoing injustice. Kevin notes inspiration by Bryan Stevenson’s insight that “the opposite of poverty is not wealth but justice.”

The mission change reflects our longtime work on JEDI.

We began our JEDI journey in 2017, back before we adopted a focus on justice and simply referred to it as a journey to make diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) a part of everything we do as a foundation. This year marks our eighth year on the journey, and JEDI has been at the heart of our work since 2020.

Just as vital as the participation of our staff on this journey has been the participation of our board, not only how they’ve fully embraced our support of justice-driven work but how they actually “walk the talk.” No JEDI, or DEI, journey can be successful without the board joining along.

Kevin’s blog “Boards Can Be Allies on the DEI Journey” puts on full display the critical role of boards in advancing JEDI work, especially amidst societal backlash. With so many corporations and institutions recently walking back their support for DEI efforts, our board is setting an example for how to be a powerful ally in work for justice.

It’s also helpful to hear directly from board members to witness firsthand the impact of the journey. And guess what? The journey not only advances JEDI but improves boards’ overall effectiveness. We emphasized this in a new video launched in October.

In the video, board members discuss what JEDI did for building trust, communication among board members, and creating a healthy culture of belonging that helps us lead and work together.

“We have to take a hard look at ourselves . . . for us to all be better as human beings, it’s important for us to take up this work,” says board member Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe).

If you’d like to go deeper on our JEDI journey, check out our 2023 JEDI Annual Impact Report. It’s only a couple pages, but it provides a snapshot of key impacts, including that 90 percent of grant dollars went to organizations led by communities of color, over 50 percent of which were directed to Native-led organizations. Check out our JEDI webpage to learn even more.

Our program team is entering a new chapter.

Our program team is furthering a legacy and refreshing it with new energy. This summer, we welcomed Sadikshya Aryal and Carson Faust as new program officers, bringing a combined 17 years of nonprofit and philanthropic experience to our grantmaking team. Very good news.

Additionally, in October, it was bittersweet to announce that Karla Miller, our esteemed vice president of program, will retire in spring 2025 after 23 years of transformative leadership. Karla has been (and continues to be—she isn’t gone yet!) a leader and advocate for justice at the Foundation. She’s had an invaluable role in shaping our funding strategies and fostering authentic connections with grantees and partners.

It’s never easy to say goodbye, but we’re excited to build on Karla’s legacy while embracing how the fresh perspectives of Sadikshya, Carson, and Karla’s successor will carry forward our commitment to justice in 2025.

We’re looking ahead with purpose.

​As 2024 draws to a close, we find it’s a time to affirm that progress is rooted in partnership—with grantees, communities, and changemakers.

Changes are on the horizon in 2025. There are potential threats to nonprofits and the communities they serve. There could be further pushback against DEI and work that heals and repairs ongoing harm from longstanding histories of injustice. But we’re standing fast to our commitment. We have an incoming vice president and new and ongoing grantmaking staff who are furthering our commitment to justice for our communities with fresh energy. Our CEO and our board join that commitment alongside them and our grantee partners every step of the way.