From Passion to Action: Q&A with Alayah Glenn, Launchpad For You Graduate and Founder of Rushing River Giving Circle
“I am passionate about making a difference in my community, but I don’t know where to begin.”
This is one of the most common refrains we hear from new participants in our Launchpad For You program, a five-week virtual training program for individuals interested in starting their own giving circles. For so many of our participants, Launchpad For You is an initial entry point into philanthropy and a first step toward a lifelong journey as a philanthropist.
One of those participants, Alayah Glenn, entered Launchpad For You’s inaugural cohort as a passionate social justice advocate who was unsure of her place in philanthropy as a woman of color. That uncertainty is a thing of the past: after graduating from Launchpad For You in July 2020, she launched the Rushing River Giving Circle, a BIPOC-led community of young people that supports movements for racial justice led by people of color in the U.S. Deep South.
I spoke with Alayah about her experience with Launchpad For You, how participating in the program encouraged her to claim her space as a leader of color in philanthropy, and her compelling argument for why you should start a giving circle today. Read on for highlights from our conversation below. You can also watch a recording of our full conversation.
Sara: What initially drew you to the Launchpad program?
Alayah: I am convinced Launchpad came to me as an answer to questions and concerns I grappled with as we found ourselves not just in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, but also the histories-long pandemic of anti-Black systemic racism. I am part of an incredible network of justice-oriented young people through my work with Donors of Color Network, and I was looking for a way to leverage this network to advance justice in the world. I wanted to delve into philanthropy, but I didn’t see myself in it: it’s a largely white sector that can feel dominated by people who come from affluence. I didn’t know how I could participate, or what I could offer.
Through Launchpad, I learned that giving circles are far from what I had for so long considered when I thought about philanthropy. They are part of a deep, rich cultural identity rooted in diasporic communities across the world. In fact, giving circles are part of my own cultural identity: in Jamaica, we call giving circles “pardna”. My mom participated in this form of collective giving growing up. Looking back, it was a clear cultural tradition. I didn’t have the language to label it until now, but I now see how giving circles are a part of my cultural identity.
Please tell us about your experience with the Launchpad program.
Surprise and joy come to mind first. This program gave me the space I was hungry for: an opportunity to engage with like-minded folks about how to make our communities better places to live. Launchpad provided me with an incredible network of people I am still in contact with today. Our discussions were rich and engaging, and the collective inspiration and enthusiasm was contagious.
Launchpad offered me every tool I needed to build and execute a giving circle — something I could not have fully appreciated until I got into the weeds of planning my own. Each session offered an accessible idea or main takeaway for us to incorporate into our own planning. The wealth of coaching and support built into these sessions was intentional and robust.
Perhaps most importantly, Launchpad gave me the confidence and affirmation that philanthropy is a place where folks of color belong and can have decision-making power. With that, critical change can happen.
How is your giving circle doing post-Launchpad?
Building a vision can feel scary. Even in the middle of the Launchpad program, I was nervous about getting my giving circle off the ground. I needed affirmation that my idea for a BIPOC-led, cross-race, cross-class community focused on giving to causes led by people of color in the American Deep South was valuable. With support from my cohort, I realized this concept wasn’t just acceptable; it was actually a critical need. What we talk about when we talk about social change is often rooted in the South. It has been invigorating to own this space and invite people to join me in it. Our giving circle is still working through the planning stages and defining who we are, but thanks to Launchpad, we are sure of our core values and look forward to using them as a framework to define our work moving forward.
Tell me about the kinds of work Rushing River Giving Circle is funding. What organizations have you awarded grants to so far?
We are excited to award grants to organizations led by Black and Brown women in Deep South states like Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana. We want to support women whose work is making a significant impact but are not receiving as much investment or visibility as they might if they were located in another part of the country.
So far, we have been proud to award grants to: S.O.U.L. Sisters Leadership Collective, an organization advancing racial justice for Black and Brown girls in Miami; Montgomery Bail Out, which supports and posts bail for people in the Montgomery County Jail in Alabama; and Gulf Coast Center For Law & Policy, a climate justice organization in New Orleans. We also recently supported the Mississippi Bail Fund Collective, a Jackson-based organization whose activism around the Black Lives Matter movement and policy agenda is critical in this part of the country where you can imagine philanthropic dollars aren’t exactly flowing.
We are still a small giving circle with room to grow, but I am proud of the path we are carving and the principles and political ideology on which we are centering our giving. The process of building upon our expertise has been so rewarding, and it has been a gift to continue to check in with the Philanthropy Together team for coaching and support as we hit bumps in the road.
What are some of the other ways you would have supported this work in your community if you hadn’t started a giving circle?
I view myself as a philanthropist, and I like to think I would have found other ways to support causes aligned with my values and what I see as critical to my safety as a Black woman. Community organizers, activists and artists are the ones giving visibility to the most critical issues of our time. When we think about the unjust killing of Breonna Taylor, for example, we can look to activists across the country who made that issue national. When we think about building safety and security for our communities, we have to be willing to put our money where our mouth is and support the people of color-led initiatives leading that work.
My work at the Donors of Color Network and our support for the movement for Black lives feels like a big part of my legacy. But when I think about my overall contribution to justice, my giving circle feels most essential and reflective of my values. It feels like organizing in and of itself, and something I turn to for hope.
What would you say to someone who is on the fence about starting a giving circle?
I am equipped to answer this because I was that person! The short answer is, you just have to do it. Consider this: who will do it if you don’t? What hopefulness looks like is an orientation around action. In this historic moment, I believe giving circles are a mechanism for actively investing in a future we can all be proud of.
What does it look like to create a community that exists for a particular philanthropic purpose? I would say to this person, “Starting a giving circle is how you find out. This is part of what you are meant to do.” I also think it’s important to remember that giving circles are flexible and yours to experiment with. There are frameworks available to take inspiration from, but the beauty is that you can truly make it yours. If you only have an hour a week, see what it is you can do with that hour. You will be surprised at who shows up to support you. Your one hour may become someone else’s three to four hours. If you build it, they will come. So build it!
Thank you, Alayah!
We are now accepting applications for the spring 2021 cohort of Launchpad For You! Join an inspiring group of community leaders by visiting philanthropytogether.org/launchpad and completing a brief interest form.
