Making Philanthropy a Tool for Repair

In this moment—amid growing attacks on DEI initiatives, rollbacks of civil rights protections, and ever-deepening wealth inequality—the desire to do more than "give back" is powerful. It reflects a deeper recognition that philanthropy can be a tool for repair, a means of addressing historical harm while building pathways toward justice and healing.

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At Bold Ventures, we have spent nearly five years as a team unpacking, learning, and engaging in conversation with others about the potential to transform philanthropy from a practice that often perpetuates existing power structures to one that actively dismantles them and thoughtfully replaces them with more inclusive ones. From a desire rooted in our personal experiences to a practice we have developed alongside clients and community partners, we have clarified our role and perspective on this work.

Today, I’m excited to announce that we are beginning a process of more clearly and openly sharing these insights and the principles that guide our work—work that we define as reparative philanthropy.

For us, reparative philanthropy represents an urgent opportunity to advance racial repair and build a more just and liberated future. This approach centers on the intentional redistribution of wealth and power to address historic and ongoing harms on the way to a more perfect future.

Reparative philanthropy transforms how we give by centering the wisdom, leadership, and lived experience of communities that philanthropy has historically excluded from decision-making and resource allocation. Rather than perpetuating traditional top-down models, we seek to build a culture of repair that honors those most affected by systemic inequities and includes them as architects of solutions.

This work fundamentally shifts our perspective, asking us to consider a transformative question: To whom are we accountable? The answer guides us toward authentic partnership, shared power, and collective liberation.

Over the upcoming months, we will be sharing more about this guiding framework and the approaches we believe will move philanthropy toward justice, starting with the five essential practices below.

This work requires collective wisdom and honest dialogue, so we invite you to engage with us as partners in this exploration. Please share your thoughts, offer feedback, provide constructive criticism, and join us in reimagining what philanthropy can become when it centers repair, relationship, and community power.

With purpose,

Jessyca Dudley

Founder & CEO, Bold Ventures