From Our Founder

I started GroCharity Events because I wanted to use my experience building successful businesses and nonprofits as a Black Woman to help other BIPOC leaders do the same, as I have witnessed and experienced the racial disparities in access to resources and information over my 20 year career in the nonprofit sector. I have also developed beautiful partnerships with funders, community organizations and influencers and have been given access to spaces that have helped me to build my skill-set and network.

Through GroCharity, we will not only uplift, nourish, connect and equip BIPOC leaders to rebuild their own communities but, we will shed light on the disparities in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors and assist those organizations, who have been complicit, in dismantling practices that do not support the well-being of the communities in which they work.

“We’re all in this bag together” as Fannie Lou Hamer said. Our liberation is tied together.

Let’s get free.

Shalita O’Neale

MANIFEST EQUITY

Our ultimate work is to decolonize what has become known as Community Building by helping leaders of color structure their organizations in a way that will enable them to not only sustain their work but to thrive in true community with each other.  With this, our work also includes educating White-led organizations within the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors on structural racism, ways they uphold it and ways they can dismantle it. 

Our goals are to:

  1. Play a role in helping Black-led organizations and businesses restore and rebuild their communities from the inside out.

  2. Help Black Communities heal from generational racial trauma and return to/incorporate indigenous healing modalities so all that they create (businesses, nonprofits, families,etc) will radiate abundance and prosperity (mind, body and spirit)

  3. Help White People and White-led organizations who are willing and ready to disrupt racist ideologies and anti-black sentiments within their personal and professional spaces secure tools and information to do so, for the sake of reducing harm and trauma to communities of color. 

    Truth, Reconciliation and Healing: 

    We facilitate a process that identifies how we can holistically respond to and intervene on trauma, and bring collective practices that impact and transform the consequences of oppression on our bodies, hearts, and minds. This process includes naming and owning the harm done, co-creating a process that supports healing from the harm, and developing processes and practices that ensure truth, reconciliation and healing are key in organizational race equity

MANIFEST VALUES

Centering Racial Equity

In all aspects of our work, whether it is Event Planning, Capacity Building/Organizational Development or the New Roots Racial Equity Training, we center the voices and perspectives of Black, Indigenous People of Color and work to minimize harm to communities of color.

Centering Black Excellence

We believe communities of color have everything needed to heal and rebuild, but have to combat the negative depictions of their circumstances that are a direct result of historic and structural racism. We are excited about creating partnerships that will allow us to elucidate the contributions and strengths of Black people.

Compassionate Accountability

We meet individuals working in BIPOC-serving organizations where they are, regardless of ethnicity, in learning how racial inequity manifests within their organizations, while examining their role in its perpetuation.  White Supremacy ideals are embedded in every institution and system in our country, which means we are all responsible, in one way or another, for causing harm to BIPOC Communities, knowingly or unknowingly.  We believe holding each other firmly accountable with compassion utilizing caucused spaces.

Authentic Collaboration

We are not interested in helping organizations to simply “box-check”.  We are committed to bringing our knowledge and expertise to spaces that are authentically willing to do the work of addressing deep-rooted issues within communities of color, while examining their role in the perpetuation of these deep-rooted issues. 

Community built on Indigenous principles that facilitate healing and learning.

We are decolonizing what it means to be in community with each other in the following ways:

  • We are intentional about using art (visual, spoken music, etc) of the African Diaspora to facilitate healing and learning. “Community can create a container for natural abilities that can find no place in a world defined by economics and consumerism. Indigenous people believe that without artists, the tribal psyche would wither to death.” -Malidoma Somè. 

  • We put in the work to build trust which includes making space for conflict and conflict resolution. “A sense of community grows where behavior is based on trust and where no one has to hide anything.” - Malidoma Somè

  • Unity not Uniformity or Individuality not Individualism. “A community can flourish and thrive only when each member flourishes, living in the full potential of her or his purpose.” - Malidoma Somè

  • We believe in intergenerational coaching and connection. If we do not understand our past by connecting with our elders, we are destined to repeat the mistakes that will threaten the future of our children, families and communities. “Both mentors and elders assist individuals with remembering and claiming their purpose in life.” - Somè

 

TRUTH

Racism’s effects on Black People’s Health

  • According to Medial News Today, “ Racism, or discrimination based on race or ethnicity, is a key contributing factor in the onset of disease. It is also responsible for increasing disparities in physical and mental health among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).”

  • Racism is associated with higher rates of stress, increasing a person of color’s risk of developing high blood pressure. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that Black people are more likely to have hypertension than any other racial or ethnic group.

  • Stress can elevate blood pressure and weaken the immune system, which, in turn, raises the risk of developing long-term health conditions. (and more susceptibility to severe COVID outcomes)

Site: An article Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, published in the US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health,

Racism’s effects on Black-led Nonprofit organizations

  • A 2015 study by Community Wealth Partners found that only 8 percent of nonprofit executive directors were people of color, while a 2013 study conducted by D5 found that 92 percent of foundation executive directors were white. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/columns/the-sustainable-nonprofit/the-diversity-gap-in-the-nonprofit-sector.

  • According to the report, leaders of color, on average, had smaller budgets to work with and were more likely to report lack of access to and challenges securing financial support from a variety of funding sources than did white leaders, including fundraising by board members (72 percent vs. 64 percent), support from individual donors (63 percent vs. 49 percent), and support from foundations (51 percent vs. 41 percent).  (Philanthropy News Digest)

  • Foundation grants were often the largest source of funding for nonprofits led by executives of color, whereas white-led organizations often benefited from more diversified funding sources, including government contracts, individual donors, and fees-for-service. (Philanthropy News Digest)

  • The unrestricted net assets of Black-led organizations are 76% smaller than their White-led counterparts.  The stark disparity in unrestricted assets is particularly startling, as such funding often represents a proxy for trust.

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/overcoming_the_racial_bias_in_philanthropic_funding Racism is a tremendous public health issue. For the aforementioned reasons, our approach to supporting Black Grassroots organizations and leaders centers self-care and holistic health and wellness. One cannot effectively serve the community while suffering from mental and physical health challenges associated with racism and discrimination.  

These statistics are evidence that the issues that matter the most to communities of color are not being addressed and societal injustices and institutional racism continue to deteriorate their communities.  People of color in and from low-income communities have the skills and credentials to create and lead organizations in their communities but lack the support to build the capacity that is necessary. Through our services, Black Leaders will receive intensive support in building the internal capacity of their organizations through intergenerational coaching, group technical assistance and resource development (financial, human resources, etc.) support.