Giving circles are primed to radically shift the paradigm when it comes to how we collectively share our resources for the common good. Join us in lifting up and celebrating Black-led giving circles that are redefining what philanthropy looks like.
It’s common knowledge that young men of color have limited access to career opportunities, responsible mentors and advocates, culturally competent healthcare and educational resources, and services that keep them in school and out of the criminal legal system. The institutions and systems that are supposed to serve us all regularly commit a tremendous disservice to young men of color, so much so that we’re daily reminded that the words “access” and “opportunity” are often a myth to this population.
A mother of three sons, Dr. Tiffani Bailey Lash started her own giving circle in the Washington D.C. area called Raising Men of Valor (RMOV) Women’s Giving Circle with the mission to uplift boys and young men of color. What began as an informal group of like-minded women, fellow sorority sisters, church members, and other friends and acquaintances transformed into a formal giving circle in 2018. Now composed of 15 women, RMOV has donated more than $5,000 to local nonprofits serving young men of color and continues to run strong.
The core of RMOV’s funding model is rooted in the three Cs: Compassion, Collaboration, and Change. From scholarships to school uniforms, RMOV covers a range of direct support requests and services for youth of color. Providing one to two grants a year, RMOV wants to ensure access to opportunities and positive outcomes for youth of color.
Past grantee partners include Educators Online, LLC, which runs a weekly book club discussion where youth read and discuss books written for young men of color; Young Doctors D.C., a nonprofit that works with D.C.-area youth of color to develop a basic understanding of health issues and preventative medicine practices for underserved communities; and Mentoring to Manhood, another grantee, provides mentoring, tutoring, and family support to 150 Black youth in D.C.
“Our Giving Circle views our financial contributions as a gift of love. Our goal is not to reinvent the wheel when there are fantastic organizations that are on the ground with ideas and efforts that could use support to implement valuable resources for boys and young men of color,” said Dr. Bailey Lash, based on the giving circle’s trust-based approach, noting that the only requirement for a donation is that the grantee is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Dr. Bailey Lash said her goal for the future is to continue to have a big impact alongside members of the MD/DC RMOV Women’s Giving Circle and support other regional RMOV women-led giving circles.
Philanthropy Together aims to strengthen and scale the giving circle movement by working with giving circles like Raising Men of Valor. Learn more at https://www.raisingmenofvalor.com/ or by emailing raisingmenofvalor@gmail.com.
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Maggie May
Maggie May is a small business owner, author, and story-centric content strategist within the nonprofit sector. Maggie is the Founder and Executive Director of the agency Get Mighty Creative, as well as a co-founder and the Director of Operations for The Undercard Collective, a giving circle focused on representation in music and the arts. She is a Maryland transplant by way of Florida, Pennsylvania, Ireland, and most recently Salt Lake City, Utah. She has a passion for finding stories and telling them the way they're meant to be told.
