This year, the EDGE Webinar series started with a great discussion around how systemic change philanthropy should look like, including examples, strategies and challenges. Moderated by Micheal Kourabas, the webinar unfolded as a roundtable conversation among our great speakers, and participants actively participated by asking questions and inquires. Here below you can find the recording of the video as well as a great blog post by Edouard Morena. 

Hosted by the EDGE Funders Alliance and co-organised by members of its 2nd Global Engagement Lab (GEL), the Systemic Change Philanthropy – Where do we go from here? webinar, was the first in a series of online events that explore how funders can better support “systemic alternatives”. The purpose of the Systemic Change Philanthropy webinar was to discuss the meaning and potential of “systemic change philanthropy” by drawing on insights from an experienced group of practitioners and observers. What do their stories tell us about “systemic change philanthropy”, its key features and the challenges that lie ahead? How does it compare to other forms of philanthropy – such as “social justice philanthropy” or “progressive philanthropy”?

These questions are especially relevant given that a great many foundations regard themselves as “systemic funders”. They do so on the grounds that they tackle the underlying/root causes of a given social problem. But what do they mean by “root causes”? And does tackling the “root causes” not constitute a defining characteristic of philanthropy – as opposed to charity? As John D. Rockefeller, a founding father of modern philanthropy, once noted, “the best philanthropy is constantly in search of the finalities – search for cause, an attempt to cure evils at their source.” What separates “systemic change philanthropy” from “ordinary” philanthropy is a particular understanding of what those “sources” and/or “root causes” are. One can hardly suspect John D. Rockefeller, who was one of the so-called “robber barons”, of seeking to radically transform the economic and political system; a system that had enabled him to accumulate a colossal personal fortune. While acknowledging some deficiencies in the economic system, his philanthropy sought to correct rather than transform the existent. It was about “saving capitalism from itself” rather than bringing about radical, transformative change.

As the webinar showed, “systemic change philanthropy”, on the other hand, involves more than simply isolating a given social problem from the social, cultural, economic and ecological/natural processes that surround it. All participants agreed that particular problems couldn’t be detached from deeper “systemic crises” or solved in isolation from one another. Proper access to life-saving medicines, for example, will only be secured if we understand and confront the broader system that favours a small group of oversized pharmaceutical companies to the detriment of ordinary people. As Azzi Momenghalibaf of the Open Society Foundation explained, “it is fundamentally about capitalism.” In his presentation, Tobias Troll, Director of EDGE in Europe, convincingly argued that all social problems are interrelated. The issue of homelessness, for instance, can be connected to racism, climate migration and more fundamentally, extractive capitalism. As the various webinar interventions highlighted, “systemic change philanthropy” can therefore be described as a radical worldview and praxis that involves simultaneous interventions across a range of issue areas, spaces and geographies. In short, it ultimately boils down to radically changing the self, changing your foundation and the field, and ultimately changing the world.

Changing the self
The various webinar interventions expressed a shared belief that changing the system also requires changing the self. How can we hope to bring about change or convince others of our real commitment to systemic change if we sustain, through our day-to-day professional and personal activities, the very power relations and injustices that we seek to eradicate? As Tobias Troll explained, a degree of “critical self-analysis” is therefore required. In order to change the self, we must start by “asking ourselves many difficult questions”. As philanthropic actors, this, as Tobias points out, means acknowledging that we are fundamentally part of the very system that we seek to correct. It means being humble and responsible at the same time. It means stepping up to the plate and acknowledging the fact that we are, as philanthropists, in a position of power (and that, despite our best intentions and efforts to foster more “horizontal relationships” with our grantees, we will always be in a dominant position).

Changing your foundation and the field
In addition to changing the self, “systemic change philanthropy” is also about, as Michael Kourabas of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee noted, “pushing yourself [as a funder] to be more systemic in your strategies.” It is about shifting philanthropic processes and practices – at the individual foundation and field levels. This, as Tobias Troll explained, requires creating safe and brave spaces for philanthropic actors to learn from one another, experiment new approaches and bring them to scale. In her intervention, Augusta Hagen-Dillon, Research Program Officer at Propsera,  offered an interesting account of how the women’s funds that form part of the Prospera network have collectively sought to align their structures, advisory boards, grantmaking, knowledge production and distribution with a “systemic change philanthropy” model. These efforts have produced greater trust and understanding of each other’s perspectives. It has fostered a shared vision and greater alignment between funders, and produced new tools and models – such as participatory grantmaking.

Azzi Momenghalibaf and Shari Turitz, VP of Programs at American Jewish World Service (AJWS) offered interesting insights into how they incorporated “systemic change” into their funding strategies. In both cases, their efforts included financial and logistical support for multi-level approaches that combine grassroots organising, building national and international campaigns, and more targeted efforts to shift the policy debate. It also means connecting specific struggles to broader concerns. When describing efforts in support of an anti-coal campaign in Kenya, Shari Turitz showed how, through its targeted grantmaking at the local, national and international levels, AJWS supported “bringing more marginal, peripheral voices to the centre”. AJWS grantees successfully linked up a localized, issue- and community-centric struggle to a broader climate justice frame, and, in the process, raised public awareness of the deeper, systemic roots of the problem. In her intervention, Azzi showed how her foundation challenged the “big pharma” business model in the United States by actively supporting, across geographies, a range of academics, think tanks and NGOs. Through its treatment of access to healthcare as a human right, her foundation recognises the limits of market-based solutions and the need to connect health issues to other rights-based concerns (such as indigenous peoples’ rights and their right to use alternative/traditional forms of medicine – challenging western, biomedical approaches to health in the process).

Changing the world
“Systemic change philanthropy” is fundamentally about changing the world. It is about collectively imagining a just and sustainable future for all. This means, as Tobias highlighted, identifying the “systemic crises” and “systemic alternatives”, and their interconnections. It also requires recognizing the power of narratives, politics and people. At the end of the day, it is the people – and not elites, nor foundations – who will be the drivers of “systemic change”. By imagining – in partnership with our grantees and networks – and supporting – with humility and respect – powerful counter-narratives we will contribute to the necessary groundswell in favour of transformative change.

By Edouard Morena (University of London Institute of Paris)