As CCI works to fight inequality in Atlanta we know that the mission-driven work led by Black women in our city has a much longer history than we do. Black women are pioneers of social innovation, and their long history of working to create community must be recognized.

On Thursday June 3, from 3 to 5p, we’re bringing together a cross-section of Black women leaders in Atlanta to discuss their experience with philanthropy. Facilitated by our Senior Director of Community Innovation, Sagdrina Jalal, this conversation will explore the urgency and the opportunity for Atlanta to be a model for how to amplify and invest in the leadership of Black women.

A special thank you to the Lola for their partnership on this event

The conversation didn’t just start now, nor is this where it ends. Last year, at the height of the pandemic, CCI saw a major gap in the way COVID-19 response dollars were being distributed. In October 2020, we published a data report to bring attention to long-standing racial and gender inequality in a sector addressing issues that disproportionately impact a very specific race and gender. We also contextualized that data through a powerful conversation with Black women leaders in philanthropy. Since then, we have been following the leadership of an advisory board made up of 8 Black women leaders, who are working on a playbook to better guide how philanthropy could, and should, support the civic work of Black women leaders in Atlanta. CCI is committed as an advocate for this work, but also as the first in line to adopt changes in our own operations to reflect the recommendations.

The members of our Inequality in Philanthropy Advisory Group are: Yvonne Druyeh Dodd, Cicely Garrett, Yonina Gray, Sagirah Jones, Kate Little, Wande Okunoren-Meadows, Joy Webb, and Malaika Geuka Wells. We are grateful to them for leading this incredibly important work.