Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: Strategy for addressing dynamics of power and privilege

As a funder with a long-standing commitment to supporting those working to address racial injustice in the UK, we’re proud to support the work of organisations and people who are dedicated to identifying and dismantling systemic racism.

At JRCT, we support those who address the root causes of conflict and injustice. With this as our purpose and as an organisation guided by Quaker values, we have a responsibility to critically examine our own practices.  We need to recognise and be open about our own power and privilege as a funder in order to work towards changing inequitable systems.

We are sharing our strategy for addressing dynamics of power and privilege within our organisation, including a framework for action, as part of our ongoing work at the Trust.

Our power and privilege

Within the charitable sector, people of colour have made urgent calls for change, leading conversation on the many ways in which racism continues to operate in charitable organisations.

At JRCT we want make urgent and meaningful change. We know an imbalance of power and privilege within the philanthropic sector can reinforce racial inequality. The power represented by our endowment and accorded to trustees for its use is substantial. We recognise the need to be aware of the potential to exercise our power and its privileges in ways that perpetuate structures of oppression and marginalisation. 

We also recognise that white supremacy and structural racism are embedded in every aspect of our society and in our organisation. If we don’t work to actively dismantle this reality, we facilitate its continuation.

Being accountable

We want to share our ongoing power and privilege work and our framework for action as we’re committed to being accountable. Our whole-organisation approach to questions of power and privilege will initially focus on anti-racism but will seek to develop an intersectional approach. We expect that will lead us to a greater awareness of ways in which we need to make changes to our governance, leadership, investment strategy, grant-making and operations. The work is urgent, but we also expect to commit to it for the long-term.

We are open to the potential that we are being asked to give away agency, and not only resources.

Our vision of change

We have started by considering these dynamics in relation to our governance and leadership, our investment practices, and our grant-making strategy and operations, including grant administration.  We have identified a range of possible actions in respect of each of these areas.

We recognise the need to proceed with great care and attention and the need to test these provisional commitments with people of colour. We’d be grateful for all feedback, which can be given anonymously via this link.

Power & Privilege: priority actions