Reflections on Black Philanthropy Month in Challenging Times
Amplifying the voices of women of color in fundraising and philanthropy, as they share their personal thoughts on relevant topics.
By: April Walker, WOC member and Chief Development Officer, Vocational Guidance Services (VGS)
These days, you need not ask me how I am doing. My polite response will be entirely dishonest, though unlike the perfunctory “fine” that follows a greeting. Rather, my reply stems from a reluctance to reveal a truth too heavy for casual conversation.
2020 has taken its toll on every fiber of my being, and I know I am not alone. Plans in our personal and professional lives were thrown to the wayside when COVID-19 crossed the ocean. As the pandemic rages on and the movement for racial equity spikes once again, I am grieving. I am overwhelmed. I am back in therapy. I am clinging to my loved ones from afar. Though not all is lost, all that remains has shifted. When systems are jolted on such a large and unexpected scale, grief and anxiety soon follow. Now, in an effort to control whatever we can, messages about how to cope, how to be compassionate, how to not let the year go to waste are in abundance.
Despite this, I will never be okay with police brutality. I will never be okay with a pandemic that disproportionately impacts Black communities. I will never be okay with the broken wheels of justice for those of us with brown skin. I need not be okay with what hurts me and harms my tribe.
I lift up Black philanthropy for all of its dynamism and vigor, honoring the ways in which our generosity does not rely on accolades.
Even still, with the stress palpable and the exhaustion visceral, my to-do list persists. There is money to raise. There is a mission to bring to life. For fundraisers, even the slowest seasons are marked by a desire to exceed goals, to plan ahead, to engage new donors, and to update messaging. In a year when events and coffee meetings happen over Zoom and capital campaigns have come to a halt, you can venture that Black fundraisers are not all right.
Where do we put our rage while our humanity is in question? How do we write the grant, mail the appeal, or send the note of thanks moments after bearing witness to yet another sensationalized Black death on the news?
As Chief Development Officer of a 130-year-old workforce development agency, I raise money that breaks down barriers to employment for individuals with disabilities. My position is an opportunity to stand in the gap where government programs fall short, to transform what is otherwise overlooked into something more equitable and balanced. At its core, my work entails redistributing resources that were never distributed equitably in the first place.
In celebration of Black Philanthropy Month, I lift up Black fundraisers who are doing the work. We continue to show up and diligently pursue generosity in an unprecedented season of scarcity. I know how tired we are, how conscious we are of the unsafe spaces where our paychecks are earned. Our positions are uniquely sandwiched between the wealth and privilege that is denied Black communities, and our service to charitable missions that fall short of the system overhaul that is due.
I lift up Black philanthropy for all of its dynamism and vigor, honoring the ways in which our generosity does not rely on accolades. Instead, our gaze is fixed on philanthropy designed by us, for us.
In these challenging times, I invite you to lift up a Black woman in philanthropy. Offer more than a singular Black Lives Matter declaration. Understand that being an ally is not the same as being actively antiracist. Identify what you are willing to sacrifice in honor of all that Black philanthropy has achieved and the accomplishments yet to come.
April Walker, Chief Development Officer, Vocational Guidance Services (VGS)
April Walker joined Vocational Guidance Services (VGS) as Director of Development in August 2019 and was promoted to Chief Development Officer in December 2019. In her role, she is tasked with leading the agency’s fundraising efforts, enhancing donor engagement, and overseeing board development, strategic planning, marketing, and public relations. April came to VGS with eight years of development and fundraising experience, including roles at the American Heart Association and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, and she brings a high level of communication and project management skills to her work.
Prior to joining VGS, April was an Executive Director at CCS Fundraising, a strategic fundraising and consulting firm. Responsible for managing a $10 million capital campaign, April worked closely with the VGS Board of Directors to raise $3.2 million in 18 months for facility repairs, programs, and the endowment. Before her consultative work with CCS Fundraising, April provided grantmaking services to individual donor and family foundation clients in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan where she managed a portfolio of grants across multiple sectors, implemented business development strategies, managed grant programs in workforce development and early childhood development, and coordinated research studies and assessments.
April holds an MA in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a BA in Sociology from the George Washington University. April is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cleveland Chapter and serves on the boards of Progressive Arts Alliance and Akron Community Foundation’s Gay Community Endowment Fund.
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