This Q&A is part of a series highlighting the 2022 Black Women Give List honorees.<\/span><\/i><\/p>","content":"A long-time advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Cathryn McClellan Kelly unabashedly brings her personal experiences and knowledge to the philanthropic table.\u201cBeing a Black woman has made me look at philanthropy with a critical eye and lens, leaning toward organizations taking on the root of problems,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWhen you are consistently left out of the narrative, you tend to notice more of what is also being left out, purposely or not, and you take those notes with you.\u201dKelly was recently featured in the 2022 Black Women Give List, an initiative of the Women\u2019s Philanthropy Institute, Black Philanthropy Month and The Women Invested to Save the Earth (WISE) Fund. Building on research that demonstrates the unique perspectives women across race and ethnicity bring to philanthropy and recognizing women as leaders for racial justice issues, the list highlights the contributions Black women donors have made around the world.Kelly recently shared more about her work with Giving Compass. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.Briefly, can you describe some of your philanthropic work that you are most excited about?I am most excited about the collective philanthropy movement. Being a part of an all-Black women giving circle that only provides funding to organizations by and for Black women and girls has opened my eyes to just how many crucial organizations large funders are missing because they tend to ignore grassroots organizations. These organizations genuinely address problems that people in traditional, non-community-driven organizations can\u2019t even understand. Not only that, but the collective giving movement has also opened many doors for these grassroots organizations that may have never received a grant before and are now eligible for grants by traditional funders.\u00a0Collective giving is challenging the rigidness of conventional philanthropy and causing traditional funders to take a closer look at their practices. The movement toward diversifying philanthropy through collective giving truly changes the game for everyone.\nHow have your personal experiences as a Black woman informed your approach to philanthropy?Being a Black woman changes the way you experience and observe the world around you, so I know for a fact it affects my philanthropy. I view organizations through a different lens than most. If organizations serve historically under-resourced and underrepresented groups, the language they use to describe their mission tells how leadership views their clientele. I look for uplifting language that doesn\u2019t speak negatively of the audience. I firmly believe that if you wouldn\u2019t call someone \u201cat risk\u201d to their face, you shouldn\u2019t write about them being \u201cat risk,\u201d either. There is language that empowers people and language that degrades people.I also look for smaller organizations founded by and for the people and communities they serve. They tend to be closer to the issues and have a better understanding of the nuances that exist in these communities. Many issues facing Black and Brown communities are interconnected. We can\u2019t talk about youth crime without also addressing defunding of community centers in many urban areas, the lack of livable wage jobs for these communities, and much more. Addressing youth crime is only one part of the problem, and it\u2019s the part of the problem that larger non-community-based organizations typically take on, while grassroots organizations might be advocating for better-paying jobs in the community, promoting skills training, and creating nonprofit community centers or community engagements.\u00a0You\u2019ve worked throughout your career championing DEI. How would you describe the evolution of DEI efforts in philanthropy? What progress are you still hoping to see?\nDEI has become such a significant force in philanthropy. In the past, you might have seen it here and there for organizations that were a bit more progressive or organizations that used it as a buzzword, but now it is a critical piece to almost all organizations\u2019 missions. Many funders and organizations are looking at their established processes with a lens of equity and asking themselves crucial questions around what these missions are and who is deciding those missions.\u00a0I hope these conversations will continue to grow and evolve to change how traditional funders evaluate organizations deemed worthy of funding. I know there must be an evaluation process. At the same time, funds traditionally go to the same organizations repeatedly, even though there might be another smaller organization with no history of grant funding, but is creating just as big, if not more significant impact in the communities that it serves. By changing the evaluation process, you open the opportunity for those organizations to shine.\nWhat are you most hopeful about?I am hopeful that all this progress will continue to open doors for organizations created by and for the communities they serve. These organizations address needs an...","html_content":"

A long-time advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Cathryn McClellan Kelly unabashedly brings her personal experiences and knowledge to the philanthropic table.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cBeing a Black woman has made me look at philanthropy with a critical eye and lens, leaning toward organizations taking on the root of problems,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWhen you are consistently left out of the narrative, you tend to notice more of what is also being left out, purposely or not, and you take those notes with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>