Cultural Icons for Social Change: The Iconic Impact Initiative
Bridge Philanthropic Consulting (BPC) is publishing a series of position papers called The Iconic Impact Initiative to explore the historical nature of multi-cultural philanthropy and the foundations of giving that were built by modern-day leaders of color—from ordinary individuals to the most famous pop-culture icons. While often not given credit, African Americans and Hispanic Americans have been leaders in charitable giving, not only providing generous monetary contributions but innovating ways to empower worthwhile causes.
The Giving Institute is honored to share these articles with its readership as an example of thought leadership in philanthropy from one of its member organizations. You can learn more and see the full series on the Bridge Philanthropic website.
NBA All-Stars of Philanthropy
By Tashion Macon, Ph.D, Jennifer Jiles, and Dwayne Ashley
The year 2020 revealed Blacks needed their leaders to up their game beyond just generosity–they needed to fight for social justice fearlessly and publicly. The demand became clear as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor died at the hands of police, triggering nationwide racial justice protests, while COVID-19 was killing nearly three times as many Blacks as whites, with Blacks at greater risk because so many work at low-income, frontline jobs. Fortunately, the new generation of NBA stars has been up to the challenge. We proudly recognize the NBA All-Stars of Philanthropy as part of our Iconic Impact Initiative series. This series installment is our way of spreading awareness during the league’s All-Star Game celebration that African Americans’ contributions should be known to Americans of every color, not just their own.
