MaineCF: When you envision achievement for MaineCF’s racial equity work, what does it look like?

Shana Cook Mueller: To me, achieving racial equity would mean we no longer have racial disparities in outcomes of wellbeing and in the process, we have improved outcomes for everyone because we understand ourselves and one another better. I envision a board, staff and donors who mirror the identities of the populations MaineCF serves and are in real relationship with those communities and their service-providing organizations. I envision donors putting faith in those relationships and loosening controls over decisions about exactly how their donations are spent.

Carol Wishcamper: Racial equity is completely and fully integrated into all aspects of MaineCF, while
at the same time a clearly articulated and practiced priority focus in its grant making strategy.

MaineCF: What makes it challenging to think about racial equity as a white philanthropist?

SCM: I have worked through years of self doubt, asking questions like, “What makes me think I can fix the problem of racial inequity as a white person?” And yet, I have come to believe that if I’m a person with the ability to make charitable donations, then I have a responsibility to figure this out, in community, the very best I can.

Betty Robinson: We know we are inescapably in a position of privilege just to have the resources to share and to participate in making decisions about the “best” way to support racial equity. Unless we simply turn over our resources to others (which others?) in an attempt to abdicate this position, we must continually seek more education, listen carefully to more BIPOC voices, and consider deeply the best ways to give and to whom.

MaineCF: How can donors in the Racial Equity Donor Cohort help enact positive change in Maine?

SCM: At the heart of the goal of racial equity is that all people should have access to similar and positive life outcomes. Viewing MaineCF’s initiatives through the lens of race means considering whether and how solutions to those problems account for varied life outcomes by race. It begins with asking this very question in conversations about climate, environment, poverty, early childhood education, et cetera. Not only will this have the potential to reduce racial inequity, but it will also mean the solutions our community funds will be that much more effective for everyone.

BR: By offering to engage others with this education and by responding generously to BIPOC voices and organizations that serve diverse populations, including those involved in political advocacy for racial equity.

CW: This group can be visible and vocal, bold and brave in our advocacy and commitment to racial equity.

MaineCF: What have you learned from one another?

SCM: When I began to commit more fully to philanthropic giving a few years ago, I felt (and still fight against feeling) like an imposter. I made assumptions that most other donors involved with MaineCF have more to give than I do and that most have come to philanthropy because of longstanding multigenerational wealth. I also assumed that both those things translate into legitimacy in the world of philanthropy.

Being part of this group has allowed me to see that my assumptions were unfair and that my legitimacy as a donor doesn’t relate only to how long I have been a donor or the size of my donor-advised fund. I also learned that other donors involved with MaineCF have some incredible life experiences to share.