Black community organizations across Canada stand to benefit from a $200 million fund recently announced by the federal government.
The Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund is geared specifically towards sustaining entities identified as “charities and social purpose organizations.”
At a press conference held on Parliament Hill on October 3, Ahmed Hussen, minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, launched a call for proposals from Black-led organizations that has the capacity to administer the fund and ensure that it meets the parameters set out by the government.
Minister Hussen says the fund is his government’s response to calls from community organizations across Canada for more support from the Trudeau government to continue making a difference in the lives of Black Canadians.
“The truth is there are hundreds, if not thousands of Black led Black-serving organizations that are doing great work in the community, transforming lives, but they need support.”
He said his government knows that Black led Black serving organizations “have been doing so much , for long with so little”
And the fund is a direct response to call to invest more in the capacity and infrastructure of these organizations.
In a telephone interview with the CONTACT, Minister Hussen says that all safeguards are in place to ensure that the organization chosen to manage the $200 million fund will itself have the capacity to engage with Black communities across Canada as well as “hold themselves accountable toward the Black communities they will serve.”
He added that before this call for proposals was launched, his government engaged in an extensive consultation process with about 150 Black stakeholders across Canada, to ensure that the fund and the intermediary organization meet their obligation to the community.
He said also that the successful organization will be expected to build a partnership with a financial and investment institution to ensure that the endowment fund continue to live for a long time.
“The Endowment Fund will create a sustainable source of funding to help combat anti-Black racism and improve social and economic outcomes in Black communities.”
So the call goes out to Black led organizations that are national in their scope and are interested in managing this fund to submit, their applications by email at Canada.ca (application forms and criteria available there) until November 25.
The successful organization will be named next spring and the fund will become active a few months later.
