Last night, we had our first meeting over Zoom w/ the @SeattleFdn together with reps from our coalition partners @KCEquityNow, @DecrimSeattle and @NikkitaOliver.
Just want to update everyone on what went down and where we are. (THREAD)
1/21
We met with @SeattleFdn's CEO @tgmestres, Equity Advisor Alice Ito, Board Member and UW Dean of Undergrad Academic Affairs Ed Taylor, and several other employees of the foundation to present our demands, which are listed below:
2/21
1.) Divestment and reparation - Halt grants to the Seattle Police Foundation and invest $1.5m (2x the total amount granted to SPF) in repairing the harm caused by SPD, with a specific emphasis on funding community-led policing alternatives.
3/21
2.) Transparency and accountability - release itemized grant data quarterly and annually with clear and specific accounting of how much is going to orgs that serve and are led by Black and indigenous ppl.
Release already compiled 2019 grant data immediately
4/21
3.) Systemic change -
Board composition:
5 community-selected BIPOC board members from communities impacted by racism, the criminal punishment system, eviction, homelessness, gentrification, deportation, poverty, etc.
5/21
Replace outgoing board members in this way until 70% of the board has BIPOC community ties, w/ 50% of seats going to members from Black and indigenous communities
Codify board composition guidelines in policy so that it does not revert to the status quo over time
6/21
Grants:
-Spend down endowment by at least 20% annually to circulate more money to those in need in a time of unprecedented crisis.
-Require donor-advised funds to be paid out fully in five years
7/21
- Change policies to exclude organizations that do active harm to marginalized communities (SPF, orgs like Billy Graham Ministries that promote gay conversion therapy, orgs like WPC that promote austerity and mass incarceration, etc.)
8/21
Tony & Co. talked a lot about "reimagining" and a "reckoning" and how they "share our values" and all that. Standard liberal moderate language that we're all familiar with by now.
Ultimately, however, they were noncommittal
9/21
While we obviously understand that this is just the start of a process and that SF is a massive institution with lots of moving parts, it was disconcerting—to put it mildly—that they could not give us a clear answer on our central demand: Divest from SPF.
10/21
Tony said that it was priority for them and implied that many on their staff were pushing for this, but said the board needed time to review the policy and deliberate on how to change it.
11/21
We pushed for a firm timeline on when that would happen. Tony said that he would go to the board and give us an update by Thursday.
12/21
Here's the thing though: If they need to change the policy before they can formally divest, okay.
But we need a commitment up front that they're actually going to change the policy.
13/21
With the council waffling on the SPD budget cuts, the Seattle Defund movement is rightly skeptical about broken promises.
@tgmestres has said that he's willing to lose donors to do the right thing. Only time will tell what that statement is worth.
14/21
Tony also added that the demand on SPF is "narrower in scope," so he thinks it can be resolved in a short time frame. The broader systemic issues will have to be worked out over a longer period, he said.
15/21
He said revising criteria for grants to exclude those other orgs mentioned (Washington Policy Center, Billy Graham Ministries, Liberty U, etc.) would require some more extensive conversations w/ the board + added staff to vet them...
16/21
Right now their criteria is: As long as donors aren't giving to an SPLC-designated hate group, then it's okay.
FYI: Franklin Graham leader of Billy Graham Ministries ($104k in grants to date) is frequently featured on the SPLC Hatewatch blog
17/21
@tgmestres also promised to "show his work" regarding disparities in grantmaking that we raised (Spending on symphony, opera, ballet v. housing, homelessness and poverty) as well as @SeattleFdn's grants to POC/Black & indigenous groups.
18/21
While we concede that some things may take more time, we see no reason why @SeattleFdn can't show us their work right now. We demand:
- The immediate release of 2019 grant data
- An itemized account of grants to Black- & indigenous-led groups by next wk
19/21
These demands aren't hard to meet. It would be a show of good faith and create the transparency that needs to be the foundation moving forward.
20/21
Though we're extremely disappointed that @SeattleFdn couldn't give us any firm answers at this meeting, we are nevertheless confident that we will win our core demands.
21/21
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