New Times: Baobá Fund 2021

The Baobá Fund for Racial Equity wants to make a proposal to you: a reflection on what positively happened in 2021. We all know that, from 2020 until now, it has not been easy for anyone. But we cannot bend. Science has greatly contributed to guide us along safe paths. The waves of optimism emanating from each one of us joined together to form a kind of protective shield, whose energy is called hope.

It is with high expectations that Baobá ends 2021 and sees the approach of 2022. And why is that? Because if it was possible to perform well in a difficult year, it is a dream that will move us to do even better in 2022.

In 2021, the Baobá Fund for Racial Equity is commemorating a decade of activities dedicated to mobilizing people and resources to promote structural social changes and combat racism against the black population.

Baobá has already achieved a lot, but it is necessary to go further. The resources are directed, via public notices, to individuals, organizations, groups and collectives that work to promote racial equity and social justice for the black population in Brazil.

In the year 2021, the Baobá figures were as follows:

 Donations: 

• • • R$ 2.909.814,43 or US$ 646.625,43 (US$ 1 = R$ 4,50)
      

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Ongoing calls for proposal:

• • • Já é Program – 75 young people
    • The City We Want Project – 08 organizations
    • Black Lives Project: Dignity and Justice – 10 initiatives 
    • Maroons in Defense: Lives, Rights and Justice – 35 initiatives 

Opened Calls for Proposals :

• • • Blacks, Business, Food: Recife and Metropolitan Region – 12 businesses

Calls for proposals in concluding phase: 

• • • Marielle Franco Program – 59 leaders and 14 organizations
    • Economic Recovery Program – 137 entrepreneurs

It is extremely important for the Baobá Fund to highlight the presence of those who established a partnership with us. Partners are essential for the implementation of so many projects that have been contributing to the transformation of countless people. Throughout 2021, we signed 11 partnerships that we highlight here: Google.org, Global Given, Cargill, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, IAF Rede de Fundos Parc, Wellspring, General Mills, Met Life, Mover, Unibanco Institute and Verizon.

Much more than numbers, the Baobá Fund is concerned with supporting the growth of people, strengthening organizations, groups and collectives. Hence, along with donations, we encourage individual and organizational knowledge. As program director Fernanda Lopes explains: “philanthropy to promote racial equity does not need resources and opportunities for development. Since 2019, we have been building exchange spaces and learning paths for and with our sponsors. We have learned a lot and now we are elaborating Training Journeys for all calls for proposals. It’s a marriage: financial support and training, and activities usually take place in real time. In the Black Lives: Dignity and Justice call for proposals, we innovated by making new content available for remote access. It would be something exclusive to the organizations selected in this call. But after internal and external dialogues, we chose to make the contents available to all individuals and companies supported by the Baobá during its 10 years of operation. We are gradually expanding access, building new materials that dialogue with different segments of the black population with whom we work in partnership. “We are a black organization, the only one in the philanthropy ecosystem in Brazil, we need to build a different relationship with our grantees, a relationship that goes beyond financial support. This is what will be able to foster changes”, complements Lopes.

The themes that make up this Training Journey are diverse: Digital and Information Security; Records and Institutional Memory; Governance; Defense of the Right of Defense; Monitoring and Evaluation; Strategic Communication; Planning and management; Racial Justice; Criminal Justice and Institutional Capabilities. Therefore, Baobá’s relationship with its grantees goes far beyond financial support.

The Baobá Fund will start 2022 with even more focus on expanding opportunities for the development of organizations, groups, black collectives and black people on the move. They are the reason for the commitment that we have shown in these 10 years of existence. May our efforts and that of many others who are engaged in the quest for racial equity, lead us to an egalitarian world.

The Baobá Fund is moving towards these new times of valued lives and effective rights!