We are excited to share that Community Vision has been chosen alongside 383 other community organizations to receive a $10 million gift from MacKenzie Scott in a round of funding announced earlier this week. We are honored to have our work recognized among such a respected group of changemakers. There is an urgent need for investment in Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, and this donation will be used to accelerate new program innovations that support our current priority focuses, including reparative economy, Black liberation, community ownership of land and assets, and more.
“The global pandemic has exposed what has been hidden to many: the social inequities that are rooted in racist systems and structures,” said Catherine Howard, Senior Vice President of Programs. “Leaders in communities of color have driven immeasurable progress as they’ve stewarded community-born visions forward and led movements for racial justice. Investing in these leaders, and their movements, is at the heart of our work.”
Community Vision was founded as a loan fund more than thirty-three years ago to invest in communities that had been systematically denied access to capital and opportunities through redlining, and other discriminatory practices, for generations.
Today, we are a multifaceted social change organization, partnering with community organizations and small businesses, bringing together capital, including lending and grantmaking, with trusted advising and consulting in real estate and financial management. Our work is grounded in systems change and racial equity. We listen and center our work to be responsive to leaders of color who are driving change and amplifying visions for their own communities.
We are committed to responding to urgent community needs while laying the foundation for a more democratic, sustainable, and reparative economy. The scale of this donation means that we can continue investing in leaders of color, increasing community ownership of land and assets, building community power and more.
“This gift comes at a difficult time as we are witnessing the economic and health impacts of the global pandemic and its disproportionate impact on communities of color,” said Patricia E. GoPaul, Community Vision’s Board Chair. “We are grateful to enter 2021 knowing these funds will support building greater resiliency at a time when it’s urgently needed.”
We thank MacKenzie Scott for setting an example by sharing her wealth through such high impact, unrestricted donations. Stay updated on our work by visiting communityvisionca.org/news.
