As our name signifies, Philanthropy West Virginia values the love of humanity. Hatred, intolerance, violence, and racism are violations and outright attacks on humanity and our values. We are horrified, saddened, and beyond frustrated by the unjust killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others. Philanthropy West Virginia stands in support and in unity with our Black community members.
As West Virginians and Appalachians, we are committed to becoming better by serving with humility, listening to learn, doing more through respectful leadership, and centering equity. Philanthropy West Virginia is about making our state, communities, and philanthropy stronger. We can only accomplish this with collaborative leadership of diverse communities and by improving our practices so that marginalized communities can safely thrive and have equality.
Building upon Philanthropy West Virginia’s equity and inclusion learning as shared in our blog one year ago today, Philanthropy West Virginia is working to improve philanthropy’s practices and our communities when it comes to equity and inclusion. We humbly serve, learn, and lead by:
- Educating and furthering equitable and inclusive practices of our members and the philanthropic sector in West Virginia and central Appalachia
- Living and doing philanthropy better by engaging, learning, and supporting diverse and marginalized communities through our giving
- Advancing more equitable and just practices within philanthropy and our communities through the leadership of Philanthropy WV’s Equity & Inclusion Working Group who advises, guides, and leads us to better practices and centering equity in our work here in the Mountain State and our Appalachian region
We embrace this priority by being dedicated to working towards a brighter future for our West Virginians and Appalachians regardless of race. We are committed to listening and learning how to strengthen our state and communities especially for our diverse neighbors and then sharing lessons learned to mobilize others to join us. West Virginia and Appalachia deserve better and we are working to be better.