Racial Equity Imperative

Our Imperative

The Maddox Fund is committed to helping create a more just and equitable community.  We fulfill this commitment with our partners by recognizing and addressing the systemic injustices that have marginalized communities and continue to leave many people behind.  We engage in and reimagine partnerships to advance education,  young people, and wildlife conservation.

Undergirding this commitment is the conviction that all human beings are interconnected, not just with one another, but with all of nature – a belief that makes our desire to foster connection and a sense of belonging even more urgent.

Defining DEIJL

diversity

embracing differences in race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, age, faith tradition, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability or disability in order to diminish historic barriers and disadvantages and to reduce bias

equity

providing the resources and support needed to help marginalized individuals and organizations thrive, thereby ensuring we can no longer predict advantages or disadvantages based on our differences

inclusion

elevating the values, voices, styles, experiences and identities of people who have continually been marginalized, thereby increasing shared understanding, dignity and the opportunities to belong and succeed

justice

dismantling historic systems that have marginalized our neighbors and creating new liberating systems to take their place

liberation

a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat

Glossary of Terms

Inclusive but not limited to those who identify as Black, African American or being of African descent; Latino, Latina, Latinx; Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander; Indigenous, Native American or Indian; Middle Eastern or Arab.

Maddox will prioritize organizations led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color in our grantmaking.  For us, a BIPOC-led organization meets the following criteria:

  • CEO or Executive Director is BIPOC
  • At least 33% of the Board is BIPOC
  • Organization primarily serves BIPOC communities

Inclusive but not limited to those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, gender non-conforming, gender expansive, a of plurality of gender identity or gender expression or identifies as queer.

Our North Stars

Learn more about the North Stars
that guide and shape our work.

Learning from Nature

We looked at nature to teach us
how to live and work together.

Our Equity Journey

Our work towards justice and liberation is an ongoing process that began in 2017.  Below are a few statements and resources we put together along the way.

Links

Jen Bailey is the Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, bringing her deep experience in community-based leadership, philanthropy, and movement-building to the organization.

Jen is the Founder of Faith Matters Network, a national Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually-grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities. Since its inception, Faith Matters Network has served over 25,000 leaders through its programs and initiatives. She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.

Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair.

An Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Jen holds degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured by On Being with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more. She is also the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope (Chalice Press, 2021).

email Jen: [email protected]