“Over the past several decades, the rules of the economy have been rewritten to benefit those at the top of the economic hierarchy at the expense of everyone else. This has had specific and outsized harms on communities of color that have long struggled under the hidden rules of race."

Madeline NEighly, Roosevelt Institute

Corporate consolidation interacts with racial segregation as well.  Take the example of broadband.  Deregulated in the 90s and highly concentrated today, broadband providers invest updates and infrastructure in wealthy areas first where they can reap the greatest profits.  The result - “a redlining of digital access for neighborhoods of color and rural areas.” When a pandemic then shuts down our schools and education goes remote, these kids can no longer access their schooling and educational achievement further slides out of reach.

If you are still with us, you are likely coming to realize it is not just immediate relief these communities  need because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Rather, we need to reimagine the rules to create systemic change and build a more inclusive and equitable economy so that all families can thrive year round and be resilient in the face of minor shocks (e.g. car break down) but also weather larger disasters like a pandemic.

We want to uphold two overarching principles for our funding under this pillar:

• Closing economic inequity and enhancing economic mobility for all cannot be accomplished without confronting how multiple forms of discrimination overlap and interact. For example, women face barriers to wealth generation as do Black people.  Black women face even steeper barriers.  We will look to support work that takes an intersectional approach to economic empowerment.
• People closest to the problem should be putting forward the solutions. We are interested in lifting up and supporting the voices of those most impacted.

The work to be done to create a more equitable and inclusive economy is vast.  Battery Powered will join a number of other respected funders in this space. Areas where we believe our funding can make a difference include the following.

Advocacy. There are a number of policies and programs that would better support economic equity. For example, paid medical and family leave as well as affordable childcare would facilitate women in particular to stay engaged in the workforce and help reduce gender-based wage disparities. Raising minimum wages and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit can improve the economic picture for low-income workers. A guaranteed income would provide an income floor through which no American could fall and would recognize the critical, unpaid work of caregivers. Supporting worker advocacy and fair labor policies can begin to rebalance power between corporate power and the workforce they rely on. 

We are interested in championing advocacy efforts that build broad buy-in around a set of aligned principles and policy demands that address the systemic nature of economic inequity in the U.S.

Narrative change. We all know the American Dream: if you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and work hard you can succeed in America.  This dream is based on perceptions about how people become prosperous and overlooks systemic inequities that keep certain people poor while giving a leg up to others.  As a result, individuals are often blamed for being poor – we assume they have done something wrong or haven’t worked hard enough. This impacts the policies we support, the ballot measure we vote for, and more.  So it is important that we tell more accurate stories about marginalized communities that show the role of systems and racism, while also elevating the ways in which these communities are already resilient, smart, and hardworking. We are interested in uplifting stories that do just that so that we can work toward policies that recognize reality rather than a dream.

Community Organizing. The communities most impacted by systemic inequity should be at the table to decide on the solutions.  They have the best insights into what programs will help or harm them, what well-meaning policy will entrench systemic discrimination and what will uproot it.  However, these local leaders and organizations are often under-funded.  For example, less than 10% of philanthropic dollars go to Black, Indigenous or Other People of Color led organizations. We are interested in supporting organizations led by and for communities most impacted by economic inequities, whether that be low-wage workers organizing for fair labor practices or Black communities ensuring their voices are heard when policies are made that impact their lives.