The 15th year of grantmaking at the Maddox Fund was an exercise in unlearning. Instead of reverting to traditional practices, we stretched ourselves to live more intentionally into our vision of a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat. Unlearning isn’t easy. Imagining a liberated world hidden behind a veil seems impossible, but with practice we have a chance to glimpse that longed-for future for which we strive.
The Maddox Fund submitted the following public comment to the Census Bureau.
The Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund’s mission is to better our community through partnerships that improve the lives of young people and protect the natural environment. Nashville is home to the largest concentration of Kurds outside of Kurdistan and Arabic is the third most spoken language in the state. As a funder of youth and education organizations in Middle Tennessee, we recognize the importance of adding a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) category on the Census and federal paperwork.
The exclusion of MENA Americans from federal data has led to a statistical blindspot, leaving many without equitable access to the educational opportunities needed to thrive in the 21st century. We have heard from nonprofit partners that they are frustrated with having their Arabic and Kurdish students being identified as “white” in school data at the local, state, and national level. This causes harm which is best evidenced when we look at data from the American Community Survey that does disaggregate this data. There we can see that MENA students are twice as likely to not graduate high school and twice as likely to live below the poverty line.
The inclusion of MENA would help our nonprofit partners and local school districts understand and serve our communities. It would ensure that all students and families are receiving trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and linguistically competent services. We thank you for considering the addition of a MENA category when collecting federal data.
As we pilot our re-designed grant program, it is tempting to recount the Maddox racial equity journey with you—charting our work from 2017 to now, both our learning and unlearning. But instead, I’ll point you to the timeline on our website and the series of blog links that appear below. Suffice it to say, change has come through intentional and ongoing struggle.
What will remain the same going forward is our mission—to make Middle Tennessee a better place through partnerships that improve the lives of young people and protect the natural environment. What will change are our grant strategies and practices in hopes of contributing to a more equitable, just and liberating tomorrow.
Our 2023 pilot grant program is based on several realizations:
The well-being of people and planet are intertwined. We can no longer talk about wilderness and wildlife as if they were separate from human thriving, especially in this time of obvious climate change. Our mutual liberation is tied together.
At the heart of every inequity lies a race analysis. From educational outcomes to tree canopy, from third grade literacy rates to water quality, from college opportunities to climate migration, an examination of structural violence invariably returns to the construct of race and the determination of white supremacy.
Foundations hold a lot of power—extractive wealth, social connections, decision-making authority—yet are largely removed from the inequities their missions seek to address. Philanthropic institutions must share power with communities most impacted by injustice.
Our new youth and environment interest areas reflect our new direction as well as our partnership priorities and eligibility definitions. Instead of business as usual, Maddox will trust nonprofits closest to communities that have been historically and systemically under-resourced. We invite you to watch our recent in-house video to learn more about these changes and opportunities.
In 2023 we will shift more funding decisions to the community through an HBCU Philanthropy Fellowship and a LGBTQ+ participatory grantmaking process, while also adding more community members to our grant decision process and more diversity to our board. We will continue funding direct service programs but will also shift funding to movements that challenge intrenched policies and practices that perpetuate and further inequities. We will seek to be more accessible, more transparent and more connected to the communities we serve.
In the past year, Maddox examined our own organizational culture and unearthed needed internal healing as well as oppressive power and control practices. Our self-examination required us to slow down and think about the kind of foundation we wanted to be. We turned to nature for guidance as we reset our internal eco-system.
Trees teach us we are stronger together
Grasslands show us that diversity feeds us
Earth teaches us that seeds grow in fertile soil
Water teaches to bend, adapt and to keep moving forward
Animal communities teach us how to lead and follow
In some Native languages the term for plants translates as “those who take care of us” (Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass). Living in lush Middle Tennessee we need only look around us to see that we are rooted in a planet created for shared thriving. The Maddox Fund’s 2023 grant pilot is our first move toward partnering with nature and the community to create a more just and liberating world. With you, we seek a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat.
Related Blogs and Resources
2018—Racial Equity Learning Year with Board of Directors
Over the past few weeks, we have heard from 50 nonprofit partners with input on our redesigned 2023 grant process and priorities. You have made us think, asked essential questions and ranked our future focus areas. Thank you.
Before the Maddox Grant Committee meets to put the final touches on the 2023 grant program, we are inviting your final thoughts and input. All input before June 30 will be part of the Grant Committee’s conversation.
You can access the slides from the recent partner meetings here. You can also use the Mentimeter survey to share your thoughts and to rank the sub-categories under Youth and Conservation. All input before June 30 will be part of the Grant Committee’s conversation.
As always, if you have questions, please reach out to Kaki or Joseph directly:
As an attorney, so much of my work is seeking justice for past wrongs—who was hurt, what restoration can be offered, what sort of punishment fits the crime, etc. At Maddox, I’m inspired by our shared commitment to making justice a future reality by dismantling historical systems that have marginalized our neighbors and creating new liberating systems to take their place. Understanding how we put diversity, equity, inclusion, justice – and now, liberation (DEIJL) – into organizational practice has occupied much of the energy of the Maddox board and staff in 2021.
The Maddox Fund promised to keep our partners informed as we continued our DEIJL journey. We are committed to transparency and want you to know about our discernment and struggles along the way. Your questions – and challenges – are welcome as we learn and grow together.
The Dan and Margaret Fund is pleased to announce the Youth Philanthropic Advisory Board applications are open! This participatory grantmaking initiative is an effort to share power and integrate the voices of the community in processes. We are currently accepting applications for youth (ages 16-19) to be a part of the inaugural class of advisory board members. The Youth Philanthropic Advisory Board will also receive a $1,000 stipend for participating.
For more than 25 years, I worked with nonprofits providing affordable housing. We were always on the hunt for a house or an available apartment building. I learned to love the smell of fresh paint but also knew to bring an experienced inspector with me. New paint looks good but frequently covers a myriad of structural issues. Only by looking beneath the veneer of fresh paint could we know the integrity of the house’s foundation and framing.
On the surface, Maddox has made progress living into our racial equity imperative. Our 2021 grant analysis reveals that we are supporting partners with more diverse boards and more organizations led by and for BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous and People of Color). We have added partners committed to the movement building essential to systemic change. Even our Opportunity (out-of-cycle) Grants have grown to be more responsive to the unique challenges faced by Black and diverse leaders. Our 2021 Young Professional Scholarships at CNM will focus on BIPOC leadership development.
But upon deeper inspection, the Maddox Fund’s policies and practices have perpetuated racial inequity. Examining our most recent 5-year comparison, we found that:
The 5 organizations that have received the largest cumulative levels of funding since inception are all white-led organizations
Out of the 9 organizations receiving more than $200,000 in total funding, none are BIPOC-led*
Out of the 33 organizations receiving more than $100,000 in total funding, only 3 of them are BIPOC-led
Maddox is pleased to partner with 70 nonprofits to continue our mission of improving the lives of young people and furthering wildlife conservation. Over the past 13 years, the Maddox Fund has granted $28 million dollars in programs and organizations that better the Middle Tennessee community.
“Our philanthropic work is shaped by trust-based culture. Funder-grantee relationships built on trust are stronger and more to responsive to community,“ said Melissa Gordon, chair of the Maddox Grant Committee. “We are re-envisioning grantmaking to ensure we are connected to partners who have the greatest proximity to community needs.”
