Addressing Inequity & Injustice to Make Tomorrow Better

June 2, 2020

A message from CFT's President & CEO, Dave Scullin

At Communities Foundation of Texas, our vision is thriving communities for all. That vision resonates with nearly everyone and yet our communities have major structural gaps, stemming from centuries of inequities and injustices that affect us today. These gaps are especially challenging and require a personal and collective commitment towards lasting change.

First, we stand with all communities and especially now the African American community, both locally and beyond, and like many of you, are processing a whirlwind of emotions: grief, frustration, anger, fear, and even despair. These feelings are real and deep-rooted, and the tragic killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and others underscore their gravity. While we must remember what has sparked these feelings, we also need to ask ourselves what we can each do to change the course.

We celebrate diversity, champion equity and inclusion, and advocate tirelessly for policies that serve and benefit all. There is no justification for the lack of progress on basic human rights, opportunities, and protections, and we accept the challenge and responsibility to do more ourselves and demand more from others. Part of that challenge is to ensure that our community members live without fear for their own safety and the safety of their children and loved ones. We are committed to the notion of building a community where everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive and we at CFT will use our extensive community influence to support measures that drive this outcome.

It starts with each of us. Some of us will never know or fully understand the lived experiences of black people and other marginalized individuals, but we can certainly engage, listen, learn, show kindness, and then use our hearts, minds, and collective voices to ally in achieving lasting, positive change. This requires multiple difficult things including a daily commitment, acknowledging and addressing our own personal biases, and conversations that may be uncomfortable. This is hard, yet necessary work, to be done individually and collectively, side by side. To advance a new era, our pace must be faster, our resolve sharper, our urgency greater, and we must hold one another accountable.

The word “philanthropy” means “love of mankind.” Let us all be philanthropists, opening our hearts wider to show our love for one another and our community. Let us commit to this, together, and to the actions that will turn our words into reality.

We stand with you, our partners, donors, and grantees working to build more equitable communities. Let us share our collective power, voice, and resources with all who need it, without fearing what we might lose, because we have everything to gain.

Standing side by side,

Dave Scullin
President and CEO
Communities Foundation of Texas

Recommended Resources

We encourage you to consider giving and/or connecting to the following local organizations dedicated to engaging people in conversation and action around racial equity:

Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation
Dallas TRHT’s mission is to create a radically inclusive city by addressing race and racism through narrative change, relationship building and equitable policies and practices with a vision of a Dallas where no North and South divisions exist in terms of race, wealth, arts, culture, health, safety, education and opportunity, and communities actively, honestly and openly acknowledge, repair and heal from its past and present racial inequities. They will be hosting virtual events soon, check their website for more information in the coming days. We also encourage you to learn more about the Dallas TRHT Racial Equity Now 2019-2020 Cohort.

Faith in Texas
Sign up to receive information from Faith in Texas. Faith in Texas is a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith grassroots movement of people united in values working together to achieve economic, racial, and social justice for all people.

Project Unity
Sign up to volunteer with Project Unity. Project Unity is a yearlong collaborative effort of programming and events hosted in partnership with segments of our community, including faith, business, civic, philanthropic, grassroots and government entities. Project Unity will be launching Together We Dine events on June 23 and June 30, check their website for more information in the coming days.

SPECTRUM: A community of multicultural changemakers creating an inclusive impact economy
SPECTRUM will hold three days of interactive virtual conversations about access, inclusion, and impact from June 9 – 11.
Learn more here

North Texas Community Response Fund Grants Awarded to 110 Local Nonprofits

Over $900,000 in grants announced, with more to be announced soon

CFT's North Texas Community Response Fund, in conjunction with the North Texas Cares funder collaborative, awards over $900,000 in grants to 110 local nonprofits working with people and communities most negatively affected by COVID-19.

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