COVID-19 Response and Recovery

KEEPING EQUITY AT THE FOREFRONT: Philanthropy must continue doing all that we can to ensure that our communities and our country address the coronavirus outbreak in ways that include deep considerations of equity. EOF, along with more than 60 United Philanthropy Forum members, have signed a joint statement on keeping equity in the forefront of our coronavirus response.  

Additional joint statements include:

• The United Philanthropy Forum joins nonprofit sector colleagues in a racial justice statement to Congress.
• Open Letter to Philanthropy: The Cure to Viral Racism Is Within Our Hands: Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy’s open letter to philanthropy, signed by more than 350 individuals and groups, calls for foundations to include support for groups confronting racism in their coronavirus relief efforts.
• COVID-19 Crisis is a Racial Justice Issue & our Response must Prioritize the Power of Black, Indigenous, Latinx & Other People of Color: Twelve DC area foundations have signed a joint statement and coordinated approximately $2 million in sustained funding and $500,000 in rapid response funding to date to organizations led by people of color in the Washington, DC region.

See below additional resources on the inequities being exposed by the Coronavirus outbreak and suggested actions to address them.

• Aspen Institute webinar on how COVID-19 is impacting Indian Country and April 29 Book Talk with Eduardo Porter on race, the economy and COVID-19.
• Asset Funders Network webinar on responding to COVID-19 with an equity and gender lens
• #BlackHer and Liberation in a Generation new guide, The Black Woman’s Guide to the COVID-19 Economy.
• Brookings essay on why COVID-19 has been especially harmful for working women, report on how mapping racial inequity amid COVID-19 underscores policy discriminations against Black Americans and Coronavirus and America’s regional inequality.
• Center for American Progress report on how the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing racial inequity as households of color bear the disproportionate burden of the pandemic’s social, economic, and health effects.
• Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation webinar on racism and inequality in the face of COVID-19 and reports on on how Coronavirus is fueling fear and hate across America, compounds inequality and endangers communities of color, the pandemic’s disproportionate economic effects on women of color, and how Coronavirus proposals leave the disability community behind
• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ new report, on 3 principles for an anti-racist, equitable state response to COVID-19 – and a stronger recovery
• The Century Foundation shares 27 progressive policy priorities in their 2021 Roadmap to Advance Economic, Racial, and Gender Equity.
• Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap on the benefits and shortcomings of the recent coronavirus relief packages and implications for women of color
• CNN article on racist assaults and ignorant attacks against Asians
• Color Of Change guide for effectively advancing racial justice in our narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic and how Coronavirus poses racial justice concerns in every aspect of society
• Demos blog post on COVID-19 and the crisis of racial capitalism and how the pandemic is revealing the deeper inequities for Black and brown people
• Disability Rights Fund on disability-inclusive responses to COVID-19
• Early Childhood Funders Collaborative and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees brief on advocating and investing in equity for immigrant families
• Economic Policy Institute report, Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality
• Forbes on what Covid-19 means for equity and inclusion
• Maria Torres-Springer, Vice President of U.S. Programs at the Ford Foundation, speaks about the Ford Foundation’s increase in funding for U.S. racial justice and civil rights groups.in the Barrons Live podcast, November 6, 2020.
• The Forge The Rise and Fall of Racial Capitalism— In this edition of The Forge you’ll find a dozen audio and written articles exploring how racial capitalism shows up today and what are the ways that organizers are tackling it.
• Funders Together to End Homelessness webinar series Anti-Blackness and Transformative Organizing in the Time of COVID-19
• Giving Compass on keeping up pressure for gender equality amid COVID-19
• The Hamilton Project’s new paper: Racial Economic Inequality Amid the COVID-19 Crisis.
• Heising-Simons Foundation, The Education Trust, and The Bridgespan Group report Building Back for Equity: Guidance to Inform 2021 Early Childhood Grantmaking.
• Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) report provides recommendations for achieving racial equity through the tax code.
• The Kresge Foundation announced new $30 million commitment to support more than 50 racial justice and community-led engagement and organizing efforts across the country, November 19, 2020.
• Latino Decisions on the COVID-19 rising toll on Latinos and what we know about COVID-19 infections and deaths among Latinos
• The Levi Strauss Foundation calls for corporate foundations to invest and strengthen people of color and shares benefits and lessons in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, November 17, 2020.
• Liberation in a Generation new interview series, Distancing Racism, exploring Covid-19, the economy and racism — kicking off with Valerie Wilson outlining what we should look for in jobs numbers and Ben McBride imploring us to aggregate Black power. Follow #DistancingRacism on Twitter for updates on new releases in October.
• Ms. Magazine on how women’s foundations and gender equity funders can play a critical role in bringing women and their needs to the table in funding Coronavirus relief efforts
• NAACP’s Ten Equity Implications of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak in the United States
• National Disability Institute report, Race, Ethnicity and Disability: The Financial Impact of Systemic Inequality and Intersectionality
• Neighborhood Funders Group on intersections of justice in the time of Coronavirus
• The New Yorker article on The Great Coronavirus Divide: Wall Street Profits Surge as Poverty Rises.
• The New York Times on how women are getting squeezed by the pandemic and new research from Columbia University that suggests the poverty rate may reach the highest levels in half a century, hitting African-Americans and children hardest.
• nTIDE report on how the recession is hitting workers with disabilities harder
• Opportunity Agenda COVID-19 toolkit of messaging memos on how to talk about the crisis, its disproportionate effect on communities of color, and the shared struggle to contain it. 
• Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity on COVID-19 and using a racial justice lens now to transform our future
• Project Syndicate article on how the crisis is experienced by women and girls
• Prosperity Now scorecard on the unequal impact of COVID-19 on low-income communities, racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women
• Race Forward statement on the Coronavirus emergency and impacts on communities of color
• Racial Equity Tools COVID-19 Racial Equity & Social Justice page to help communities and activists understand and respond to the moment and for the long haul. Key categories include: analysis; resources and tools; healing and community care; organizing and solidarity; resource building and rapid response; virtual work and online engagement; and a “list of lists.” 
• RespectAbility’s new toolkit on making virtual events accessible to all
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Opinion piece on health equity by Dr. Rich Besser in the Washington Post
• Small Businesses for America’s Future op-ed, COVID and Racism Have Exposed Great Inequalities. We Need Small Business Now More than Ever.
• Spotlight on Poverty on why we must center women of color in the next COVID-19 relief package
• Urban Institute’s Tracking COVID-19’s Effects by Race and Ethnicity, launched by the Racial Equity Analytics Lab, measures how the COVID-19 pandemic affects people’s health, housing, and livelihoods by providing analysis of data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and geography, new resource portal for advancing Latinx opportunity, equity, and mobility, how COVID-19 racial health disparities highlight why we need to address structural racism and webinar on the pandemic’s effects on small business owners of color and what’s needed to create a more equitable recovery, and report finds Black, Native American, and Hispanic/Latinx workers are more likely than white workers to have jobs that place them at greater risk of exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, December 2, 2020..
• Washington Area Women’s Foundation on responding to COVID-19 with a gender & race lens
• Washington Center for Equitable Growth blog post on the coronavirus recession and economic inequality: a roadmap to recovery and long-term structural change.
• Washington Post on urging the U.S. government to release race, ethnicity data on covid-19 cases
• Monica Munn, Mariam Assefa Fund at World Education Services shares how funders can advance equity for immigrant and refugee workers in a guest post for Workforce Matters.

INTERSECTION WITH RACIAL JUSTICE UPRISING: As a philanthropic network whose mission is to advance economic equity and opportunity, we stand in solidarity with those calling for justice for George Floyd and for the systemic reforms necessary to end structural racism. As a society, we cannot achieve equity and opportunity without racial equity and justice.

See below how philanthropy is responding and click here to view a full list of related resources.

Funding Opportunities

• Divest/Invest: From Criminalization to Thriving Communities
• Black-Led Movement Fund at Borealis Philanthropy
• Communities Transforming Policing Fund at Borealis Philanthropy
• The Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation will be deploying $10 million to support civic participation in response to the significant election challenges facing the United States in the midst of ongoing civil uprisings and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philanthropic Reflections

• Dwayne Marsh, Northern California Grantmakers on Corporate Philanthropy’s Racial Reckoning.
• Marcus Walton, Grantmakers for Effective Philanthropy in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on Leading while Black: A Story of Double Consciousness, Decolonization & Healing.

PARTNER RESOURCES:

Asset Funders Network is working to connect funders and rapidly deploy the ideas, experiences, new strategies, and resources of its membership network for recovering and protecting the assets of low income and working families. This web page will be updated regularly.

The Communications Network started a Coronavirus Crisis Comms Triage Kit to share and crowdsource best practices, resources, and examples of effective crisis comms from foundations and nonprofits covering many of the tasks you’re likely attending to.

The Council on Foundations resource hub shares updates from the field, insights from the sector and learning opportunities.

Early Childhood Funders Collaborative is providing a curated list of rapidly developing resources and updates for early childhood funders related to COVID-19, including guiding principles, emerging areas of need, key resources for EC funders and EC funder responses.

Funders Census Initiative held a joint call with the Census Counts campaign on how the coronavirus is impacting census operations and outreach. The recording is now available, as is a follow-up memo that covers: Messaging Guidance, Updates to Census Bureau Operations, Field Guidance and Resources to Plan Remote and Digital Outreach, and an overview of Funder Engagement. The Census Bureau also released a statement Sunday, March 15 on operational modifications.  See Census Count Covid-19 page here.

Funders for LGBTQ Issues new resource page on who is funding economic opportunity for LGBTQ communties.

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees is closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak, with a focus on how it is impacting immigrants and how philanthropy is addressing that impact. This page includes useful funding recommendations, useful resources, response funds and upcoming webinars.

Grantmakers In Health is compiling and sharing information for health funders. You can also follow @GIHealth on Twitter for the latest news on COVID-19.

Media Impact Funders COVID-19 Funding Resources: Media Impact Funders is tracking funding resources specific to COVID-19. This resource references funding opportunities initiated by funders for inspiration to other funders, as well as potential collaboration opportunities between funders.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy has put together a microsite of important resources for foundations and donors looking to help their grantees weather the challenges created by the coronavirus.

Native Americans in Philanthropy Coronavirus resource center, including a collection of resources aimed at Native organizations and individuals to aid in protecting and healing native communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Neighborhood Funders Group has put together a list of resources and responses from its programs, including their Amplify Fund, Democratizing Development Program, Funders for a Just Economy, Funders for Justice and Integrated Rural Strategies Group.

United Philanthropy Forum is collecting information on how philanthropy serving organizations are responding with internal policies, communicating about the virus to program registrants and recommended resources and events (login required).

Center for Disaster Philanthropy webinar recording on effective rapid response funding. This is part of a series of seven webinars to bring expert panelists together to address some of the most pressing issues, including getting money out the door quickly, supporting vulnerable populations and managing other disasters in the midst of the pandemic.

Neighborhood Funders Group’s webinar on removing barriers to transformational philanthropy in response to COVID-19 & beyond. JustFund and Amalgamated Foundation have built a powerful combined service designed to rapidly respond to urgent needs in the wake of COVID-19. Learn about this unique, frictionless process that has already moved $25M to social justice groups since it launched in 2018.

Workforce Matters webinar recording on grantmaking strategy under COVID-19. Hear from three foundations (Ford Foundation, World Education Services, James Irvine Foundation) on how they are responding to the immediate needs of working families while sustaining their long-term work to reduce disparities and injustices and advance family economic security.

• The Center for Effective Philanthropy Rapid Grantee Feedback in a Challenging Time Tool is designed to help a funder gather a comprehensive picture of what your grantees are experiencing during the ever-changing context of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent economic challenges.
• COF Sample Agreement for Converting Project Grants to General Operating Support
• The Eisner Foundation communication to grantees
• Funders Together to End Homelessness Recommendations for Philanthropy to guide philanthropy’s actions towards equitable systems change for people experiencing homelessness and those most impacted by the effects of COVID-19 in our communities.
• GCIR COVID-19 Funding Recommendations
• The Monitor Institute by Deloitte new scenario planning resource, An Event or an Era: Resources for Social Sector Decision-Making in the Context of COVID-19, launched in cooperation with New Profit, the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and United Philanthropy Forum.
• Surdna Foundation communication to grantees
• Walter and Elise Haas Foundation communication to grantees

Several foundations are increasing their payouts:

• California’s Skoll Foundation plans to quadruple its grantmaking in 2020
• Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation plans to double its 2020 payout
• The Woods Fund of Chicago will increase its payout form 6-8%
• Meyer Foundation is increasing their 2020 payout by 20%

• Grantmakers unite in best practices: Nearly 800 grantmakers pledge to loosen both purse strings and red tape, Adapt, December 4, 2020. 
• Center for Effective Philanthropy report, FOUNDATIONS RESPOND TO CRISIS: A Moment of Transformation?.
• Christopher Cardona, Ford Foundation on why participatory grantmaking matters now more than ever.
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy article on how Foundations Have Increased Giving and Loosened Restrictions Since Pandemic.
• COVID-19: How Have Funders Changed Their Approach & What Will Stick?,PEAK Grantmaking and Exponent Philanthropy, 2020.
• Pacing Ourselves for the Struggle of a Lifetime, Cara James, Grantmakers In Health, August 17, 2020.
• Philanthropy Won’t Make Headway on Racial Justice Without Tackling Housing Justice, By Amanda Andere and Bill Pitkin, Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 17, 2020.
• How Philanthropy Can Meet the Moment: The Vital Importance of Trust, By Shamar Bibbins, Nonprofit Quarterly, August 7, 2020.
• Change Starts Within, David Orr, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, August 2020.
• How to Disrupt Philanthropy in Response to Crisis, TED interview with Ford Foundation president Darren Walker, July 2020.
• Inside the Foundation Payout Debate: How Crisis and Opportunity Are Forcing Change, Inside Philanthropy, June 19. 2020.
• Leading Foundations Pledge to Give More, Hoping to Upend Philanthropy, The New York Times, updated June 16, 2020.
• Ford Foundation Announces New Social Justice Bond, Ford Foundation blog, June 11, 2020.
• Funder Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Center for Effective Philanthropy, June 2020.
• Pandemic Philanthropy: Moving From Relief to Power, Dimple Abichandani, Guest Contributor, Inside Philanthropy, May 7, 2020.
• Solidarity Matters: A Poem to Philanthropy in the Age of Covid-19, AAPIP, May 1, 2020.
• The South Has Something to Say: COVID-19 and Our Chance for Transformation, Tamieka Mosley and Nathaniel Smith, Nonprofit Quarterly, May 4, 2020
• How Philanthropy Can Partner with Government to Meet Critical Needs during COVID-19, Faith Mitchell, Urban Wire, May 11, 2020
• No Time for ‘Business As Usual’: Health Philanthropy Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Eileen Salinsky and Kate Treanor, GIH Issue Brief, April 2020
• COVID-19: Using a Racial Justice Lens Now to Transform Our Future, Lori Villarosa, NonProfit Quarterly, March 30, 2020.
• Funders, this is the rainy day you have been saving up for, Vu Le, Nonprofit AF, March 16, 2020.
• Philanthropy Has a Duty to Respond Quickly to the COVID-19 Outbreak. Here’s How We Can Do It, Lori Bezahler, Guest Contributor, Inside Philanthropy, March 16, 2020.
• COVID-19 Coronavirus: How Philanthropy Can Respond, Center for Disaster Philanthropy Webinar, March 5, 2020
• COVID-19-Seven Things Philanthropy Can Do, Lauren A. Smith, FSG, March 2, 2020.
• Leadership in Difficult Times: Guidance for Donor and Giving Families, National Center for Family Philanthropy, 2020.
• Making Amends: How Funders Can Address Slavery’s Legacy, Inside Philanthropy, September 19, 2019.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Federal Stimulus Packages and Implementation
Federal legislation enacted so far takes some important steps towards protecting people and shoring up the economy, but the Administration and state and local governments will need to implement the new laws effectively and swiftly and more will be needed to ensure the people most in need get help and that we do not widen inequality and recreate the status quo.

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act passed with near unanimous support in both the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the President on March 6, 2020. The bill provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law on March 20, 2020, providing funding to address the domestic outbreak, including paid sick leave, insurance coverage of coronavirus testing, nutrition assistance, and unemployment benefits.

The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27 to provide urgently needed relief to families, workers and businesses and includes a sizable expansion of unemployment benefits, significant direct payments to low- and middle-income families, a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund to help address the large budget holes emerging in states and localities, and important new investments in programs to serve people experiencing homelessness (among many others) and to prevent people from losing their housing.

The House passed  The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act on May 15, 2020, which includes state and local fiscal relief, more housing assistance, additional stimulus payments for households, and expanded unemployment insurance.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell previews GOP coronavirus $1 million relief bill, including assistance for schools, small businesses and testing.

• Alliance for Early Success webinar on maximizing Medicaid and CHIP during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Brookings webinar with Janet Yellen and other Brookings scholars on the vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic and challenges to state and local governments, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the current state of the economy and the Fed’s response to the crisis, and Ben Bernanke on how our current response compares to the response to the Great Recession
• Brookings, September 1 webinar: How the Fed will respond to the COVID-19 recession in an era of low rates and low inflation.
• Brookings report on how states’ uneven access to federal small business relief, how much unemployment insurance has helped and podcast on how COVID-19 unemployment compares to the Great Recession
• Brookings report on how politics is wrecking America’s pandemic response.
• CBO analysis finds that direct assistance to state and local governments and enhanced unemployment benefits had the greatest benefit for the economy.
• CDC Foundation’s new EITC guide for public health practitioners makes the case for why the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most effective health interventions available and offers a blueprint for increasing EITC participation
• Center for American Progress analysis on how the Trump Administration’s deregulation agenda has worsened the Coronavirus pandemic
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities statement on how Senate plan for next round of COVID relief fails to meet needs of struggling families and economy, report on what congressional leaders need to include in the forthcoming COVID relief package to respond to the scale and scope of this moment, analysis on how states need significantly more fiscal relief to slow the emerging deep recession, and fact sheets with state-by-state estimates on how much each state will receive from the Coronavirus Relief Fund in the CARES Act and how that money will be divided between state and local governments 
• Coalition on Human Needs COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship and call for additional federal relief to states and localities and  analysis on the CARES Act – necessary but not sufficient to prevent a depression
• Council on Foundations update on CARES Act
• E.J. Dionne opinion in the Washington Post on an open letter from conservative scholars and leaders calling for expanding the EITC and CTC.
• Federal Reserve Board seeking public feedback on proposal to expand its Main Street Lending Program to provide access to credit for nonprofit organizations.
• Georgetown Center for Children and Families report on CHIP and COVID-19 response
• The Groundwork Collaborative, Economics for Inclusive Prosperity, and Economic Policy Institute webinar on policy ideas for Congress’next recovery and relief package
• Homes Guarantee campaign list of federal demands, including the demand for a rent suspension (#RentZero)
• Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy on taxes in the time of Coronavirus and ways federal and state policymakers can modify the EITC to ensure eligible workers can receive the full benefit of the credit during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Internal Revenue Service updates on Coronavirus tax relief 
• RespectAbility analysis on what the stimulus package means for people with disabilities
• Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center highlighted ways the state legislature can help to fill gaps in federal cash support for working families, such as issuing an “Emergency EITC” that isn’t tied to tax time, removing the work incentive, and making the credit available to filers using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
• New polling from Small Business for America’s Future shows small business support for extending unemployment benefits, national Covid recovery plan and mask mandate.
• San Diego Grantmakers blog on the importance of supporting child care during the COVID-19 pandemic, what responses have taken place and policy recommendations for long-term relief
• Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity shares perspectives from several economic policy experts on what Congress should include in any future COVID-19 relief legislation.
• Tax Policy Center webinar on the CARES Act and tax policy during a pandemic, blog post on how Congress must do more to help state and localities respond to COVID-19 and blog post on what a fourth stimulus package should look like
• Urban Institute webinar on responding to the COVID-19 crisis and automatically tying federal relief to economic conditions
• The Workers Lab webinar on the do’s and don’ts of giving out emergency cash

RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY: Recession Readiness and Revenue and Spending Fights
States with adequate reserves and an effective safety net will fare better than states that haven’t adequately prepared for an economic downturn. However, all states will face significant revenue shortfalls and budget gaps as a result of COVID-19 and the ensuing recession, jeopardizing their ability to provide basic services at a time when people need it most and leading to austerity policies that will only deepen the crisis and slow down the recovery. People with low-incomes and communities of color will suffer the most unless we use this moment to transform our economy and not replicate the limitations and inequalities of the past.

• AFN webinar Lessons from COVID Relief: Spoiler Alert – One Time Cash Disbursements are NOT enough (December 8 |1:00- 2:30 PM ET)
• The Alliance for Early Success webinar on the pandemic’s pressures on state budgets
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s webinar recording, Strategies for Child Welfare Leaders Facing Post-COVID Budget Cuts.
• Aspen Institute webinar on ratcheting up rural response, recovery and resilience and five good ideas for philanthropy right now 
• Associated Press article on how Coronavirus deals one-two financial punch to state budgets 
• Brookings reports the impact of the pandemic on state and local revenues and why we shouldn’t reopen the economy without paid sick and family leave, webinar on state and local government pandemic driven budget innovations, webinar on the principles and tradeoffs of reopening the coronavirus-closed economy, new series on reopening America and the world and articles on how the coronavirus will affect state and local government budgets, the places a COVID-19 recession will likely hit hardest, and why supporting women and minority owned small businesses will be critical for the nation’s economic recovery.
• Center for American Progress recommends 6 State Strategies To Improve Child Care Policies During the Pandemic and Beyond, how state and local governments can help protect workers and small businesses from the economic impacts of the Coronavirus and need for targeted relief to rural areas
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blog posts from Michael Leachman on how federal aid for states, localities protects the economy, Nicholas Johnson on how targeted aid for cash assistance and social safety net programs, education, and housing is key to advancing racial equity, and Samantha Waxman on why states should tap into their rainy day funds to address current and future budget shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 resources page which aggregates their latest statements, papers, and blog posts related to COVID-19 and the economy, federal aid for states, food assistance, health, housing, paid leave, unemployment insurance, TANF, state policies and more, “State Budget Watch” tracker of emerging state revenue shortfalls and report on 3 principles for an anti-racist, equitable state response to COVID-19 – and a stronger recovery
• In Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Demos President K. Sabeel Rahman writes that we need a new new deal, with a fundamental rebuilding of government with the ideals of power and equity for Black and brown people built into its core.
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that a full recovery will require COVID-19 containment.
• Federal Reserve’s Connecting Communities webinar on local solutions to foster equity in recovery and ways to address ingrained barriers to economic opportunity, especially for low- and moderate-income people and communities of color
• First Focus report on Key Stats on the Effect of COVID-19 on Kids, November 19, 2020.
• Forbes article on using The EITC to help fight an economic slowdown
• Groundwork Collaborative webinar on the dangerous return to austerity and how to stop it
• The Hamilton Project webinar on recession readiness and fiscal policy options to support communities and stabilize the economy
• Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) report provides recommendations for achieving racial equity through the tax code.
• The Johnson Center has released new research on exploring the impact of the PPP program, both how nonprofits fared under the program and its impact on nonprofit employment.
• National Association of State Budget Officers is monitoring budget and fiscal implications as well as broader issues that states are addressing related to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
• National Conference of State Legislatures is tracking state legislative responses to COVID-19 and information on state fiscal, public education, and elections responses.
• National Governors Association letter to Congress seeking an additional $500,000 billion in direct aid to states.
• National League of Cities local impact survey of 1,100 municipalities from across America shows the nation’s economic recovery is at risk of stalling if Congress fails to provide direct federal aid to cities, towns, and villages. 
• New York Times article on what happens to the safety net after the Coronavirus 
• Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Rahm Emanuel in The New York Times on how to save Medicaid, the unemployed and state budgets.
• Peter G. Peterson Foundation Economic Forum Series on restoring our economy post-pandemic  
• Pew Charitable Trusts on how Coronavirus outbreak reinforces need for long-term state budgeting
• Politico article on States cutting Medicaid as millions of jobless workers look to safety net
• The Rockefeller Foundation shares insights and highlights initiatives on Powering a Green and Equitable Recovery., December 3, 2020.
• Small Businesses for America’s Future op-ed, COVID and Racism Have Exposed Great Inequalities. We Need Small Business Now More than Ever.
• Tax Policy Center report on design changes that can strengthen the EITC during recessions, webinar on fiscal policy for the COVID-19 economy, three ways Congress should design any new COVID-19 relief for state and local governments, how the novel Coronavirus requires novel state solutions, how to strengthen EITC during recessions, and using purchases to reduce unemployment and increase demand
• The Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy nonprofit has released a webpage dedicated to tracking state legislative tax changes and actions during the COVID-19 crisis. These updates include budget and tax news from all 50-states.
• Urban Institute new interactive web page on how the COVID-19 pandemic is transforming state budgets.
• Urban Institute report finds UI and stimulus payments reduced food insecurity and material hardship for families impacted by COVID-19. webinar on how deep the recession will be, blog on lessons from the great recession to help Congress get Americans back to work,COVID-19’s effect on employment in states, regularly updated state economic monitor, analysis on how the COVID-19 recession will be different and what we can learn from new state and local assistance programs for renters
• The Wall Street Journal on how state and local budget cuts to employment and spending likely to delay economic recovery for years
• Washington Center for Equitable Growth blog post on the coronavirus recession and economic inequality: a roadmap to recovery and long-term structural change.
• The Washington Post article on public services under threat with more than 2,100 cities bracing for budget shortfalls and how the pandemic has made the Poor People’s Campaign virtual — and vital
• Jason Furman, Timothy Geithner, Glenn Hubbard and Melissa S. Kearney op-ed in The Washington Post on what a successful economic recovery plan must look like.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC NARRATIVES: COVID-19 will have a profound effect on how Americans view the role of government. This public health and economic crisis illustrate more clearly than ever before, just how important government is along with an inclusive and expansive public support system for workers and families.

• The Advancement Project National Office, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop! Consulting, Demos, and The Opportunity Agenda have released a new messaging tool, Map The Truth, a COVID-19 Social Justice Guide.
• Aspen Institute webinar featuring Frameworks Institute on messaging on economic mobility, Covid-19, and ways to support practice and policy goals in this unprecedented moment
• Atlantic article on how the Pandemic could change how Americans view government 
• Brookings webinar on how coronavirus is changing politics and public opinion, report on rethinking our current perceptions of job status and who is an essential worker 
• The Center for Cultural Power guide on helping movement groups and artists create aligned narratives that move us toward policies we need now to create a  more just and equitable world with tips on how to put this guide to practice
• Color of Change and Family Story released a new guide, Changing the Narrative About Black Families, for effectively advancing racial justice when communicating about COVID-19.
• Communication Network webinar on narrative, COVID-19, the uprising and the future and the role of narrative in building a more just society
• FrameWorks Institute has launched a COVID-19 Responsive Research Program in collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Ford Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore how the pandemic is affecting our collective culture and the openings and challenges it presents to progressive change. Findings from this and other responsive research will be shared in a new newsletter, On Frame, that launches next week (sign up).  They also have weekly series on COVID-19 framing providing guidance pulling from twenty years of framing research and practice to help advocates and experts be heard and understood in a time of global crisis, including how to sustain powerful, progressive frames over time, making a powerful case for the role of government and framing the post-pandemic economy
• The Groundwork Collaborative webinar on aligning the interests of America’s workers and small businesses and webinar recording on public opinion on the COVID-19 economic response and the strong appetite for sweeping action from Congress to help workers and families through this economic crisis.
• The Johnson Center for Philanthropy on equity mapping tools and combining the power of data and narrative change
• Politico on how the Coronavirus will change government
• The New York Times article on how nation to nation, rescue plans reflect conflicting ideas of government’s role in a crisis
• Our Story: The Hub for American Narratives on economic narrative in the COVID crisis
• Reframe’s Rona Report on narrative weather trends from the past three months around Covid-19, the economy and workers 
• Tax Policy Center reviews a new study by Harvard University economist Stefanie Stantcheva on what people think about taxes.
• Topos on will COVID-19 kill trickle-down economics?
• Washington Post on what coronavirus and the looming recession tell us about government and how the crisis exposes how America has hollowed out its government

FUTURE OF WORK: The coronavirus outbreak may speed up the future of work and ultimately reshape public and private systems, policies and infrastructure. How we think about workers will be different. Places of work will be different. Supports for work will be different.

See below resources and information on the opportunities and challenges of this moment and how to ensure inequities are disrupted and not reinforced so that we create a more vibrant and just economy.

• Brookings Workforce of the Future initiative releases new interactive data tool, Visualizing Vulnerable Jobs Across America, that breaks down the number and dispersion of “vulnerable” jobs (jobs that pay low wages and do not provide benefits) for 380 metropolitan statistical areas and all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
• Brookings report on how we can’t recover from a coronavirus recession without helping young workers
• Fast Company article on how Coronavirus is changing work forever. Here’s how to make ageism a thing of the past
• CAL Matters article on how undocumented workers live paycheck to paycheck and struggle as economy grinds to a halt
• Center for Law and Social Policy report on how the next Coronavirus package must do more for youth and young adults
• The Century Foundation on how COVID-19 sent women’s workforce progress backward and how the COVID-19 recession is hitting young workers—especially young workers of color—the hardest.
• CNBC article on how the coronavirus pandemic further highlights why women workers need equal pay
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research on how women have lost more jobs than men in almost all sectors of the economy.
• The Interagency Working Group on Youth programs has created a new page on youth.gov that has statistics about youth unemployment during COVID-19.
• Lean In and McKinsey & Company report on women in the workplace finds one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to the impact of Covid-19.
• National Domestic Workers Alliance opinion in The New York Times on protecting caregivers from Coronavirus – workers who have been in the shadows could be essential to stemming the spread of the virus
• NBC News article on how as the economy struggles amid coronavirus, low-wage workers of color taking a major hit
• NDLON worker & migrant justice response to the Coronavirus
• Politico article on who is most at risk in the coronavirus crisis: 24 million of the lowest-income workers
• Urban Institute are on how even before the Coronavirus outbreak, hourly and self-employed workers were struggling to meet basic needs and what policymakers can do to help older workers
• Vox article on relief for immigrants a missing piece in the coronavirus stimulus bill
• Wired article on how Coronavirus exposes workers to the risks of the gig economy
• Women Innovating Labor Leadership on how women will be disproportionately devastated by COVID-19’s economic impacts, especially women of color.

• Brookings article on how the robots are ready as the COVID-19 recession spreads
• Center for American Progress report how public work provides economic security for Black families and communities.
• Forbes article on how coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the future of work
• Governing article on how AI work is predicted to grow as society moves online
• Public Private Strategies Small Business Guide to the CARES Act
• UC Berkeley News article on how Coronavirus response is a ‘vast experiment’ that’s changing U.S. workplaces

• AAPSS Fellow Raj Chetty evaluates the impacts of pandemic on spending and employment policies using real-time economic tracking of private-sector data to facilitate ongoing evaluation of the impacts of policy choices.
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation blog on resources to help young workers through the economic crisis and policy ideas to help workers in the gig economy
• Aspen Institute webinars on paid leave, livable wage,  and affordable care policies that could avert the next crisis, how worker organizations respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the essential work of caregivers, and how worker organizations are building power to demand better, COVID-19 and unemployment insurance, cash infusions and increasing equity by growing worker ownership in a post-pandemic economy.
• Aspen Institute Job Quality Tools Library to support workers and businesses during and after this crisis and reports on stronger workplace protections for independent contractorsand the growing interest in and value of access to guaranteed income and cash infusion programs,
• Brookings webinar on the role of community colleges and employers in retraining workers, and what to do about retraining after COVID-19 and reports on projections for a rapidly automating post-COVID-19 economy, black essential workers deserving a real change, the economic insecurity built into our labor market, the need to permanently overhaul the nation’s broken worker safety net system and how to reboot the employment system to support low-wage workers during and after the pandemic,
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blog post on the need for Congress to reject attempts to weaken Medicaid protections enacted in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
• The Century Foundation commentary on workers’ collective power in the pandemic
• The Century Foundation, the National Employment Law Project, and Philadelphia Legal Assistance report presents the findings of an intensive study of state efforts to modernize their unemployment insurance (UI) benefit systems.
• Commonwealth Fund on Medicaid and the Coronavirus and putting the nation’s largest health care first responder to work
• Early Childhood Funders Collaborative report sharing examples from grassroots organizations funded by the Raising Child Care Fund on acting boldly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic to sustain and rebuild child care
• Digital US report on building a digitally resilient workforce
• Family Values @ Work Network statement on the CARES Act and what’s needed from Congress on paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave, as they consider a fourth stimulus package
• Forbes on how coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the future of work and using the EITC to help fight an economic slowdown 
• Op-ed in Fortune from Nancy LeaMond, AARP and Rhett Buttle, Public Private Strategies, on the looming caregiving crisis.
• Georgetown Center on Poverty report on how a Jobseekers Allowance could fill gaps in the UI system and help young people, workers, families, and the economy by providing cash and employment supports for jobseekers left out of UI
• Groundwork Collaborative webinar on aligning the interests of America’s workers and small businesses in partnership with Community Change, Demos, Economic Security Project, The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University, The Roosevelt Institute, and Washington Center for Equitable Growth
• The Hill article on how Democrats are fighting for an expanded federal EITC or Universal Basic Income
• History News Network on the importance of unions in securing a robust social safety net 
• The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy recommendations on ways federal and state policymakers can modify the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to ensure eligible workers can receive the full benefit of the credit during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Kaiser Family Foundation on Coronavirus Response and the Affordable Care Act how Coronavirus puts a spotlight on paid leave policies
• Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a new network of mayors from across the country dedicated to advocating for a guaranteed income in America.
• Ms. Magazine article the need for a cash stimulus and the Emergency Money to the People plan
• National Employment Law Project resources to support workers during the coronavirus pandemic and report on getting flexible child care funding to the states
• Neighborhood Funders Group on the COVID-19 strike wave
• NPR report on recent research that warns nearly half of U.S. child care centers could be lost to the pandemic.
• Opportunity Agenda updated research on increasing support for Paid Family and Medical Leave policies
• Op-Ed in Newsweek by Maureen Conway and Mark Popovich of Aspen Institute on why “Buy American” is not enough to secure a better future for America’s workers
• Public Private Strategies and the Bipartisan Policy Center report on small business owners and family friendly policies
• New York Times on what happens to the safety net after Coronavirus and opinion piece by Angela Glover Blackwell and Darrick Hamilton on now is the time to seriously consider a federal jobs guarantee.
• Niskanen Center paper outlines policies for a high road, high wage economy.
• NPR Special Series, Enough Already: How The Pandemic Is Breaking Women and Morning Edition on how the pandemic has revealed longstanding problems in how the disaster recovery industry treats their workforce, many of which are immigrants.
• One Fair wage live conversation with service professionals and Senator Cory Booker on the crisis and the opportunity – and the potential for change
• Pew Charitable Trusts on if child care will be there when states repen.
• Politico op-ed by Maureen Conway, Unemployment Isn’t Too High — Regular Wages Are Too Low and article on how a lack of child care is keeping women on unemployment rolls.
• Public Private Strategies article in Forbes on why small business, entrepreneurs of color are key to a more prosperous future
• Tax Policy Center on Uber, Taxes, and the Question of Who’s an Employee in the Gig Economy and  how the stimulus rebate is not the same as universal basic income
• Time op-ed by Craig Fugate and Saket Soni and calling for a national jobs service
• Urban Institute webinar on making direct cash payments work and treating essential workers as truly essential blog post on how we can ensure Latinx essential workers are not forgotten during economy recovery and reports on subsidizing jobs for economic recovery, what we know from previous recessions about policy tools that can quickly boost employment and why child care support for laid-off parents is critical, report shares lesson on the impact of state preemption of local paid sick days ordinances, October 29, 2020.
• The Washington Post article on how Europe manages to keep a lid on coronavirus unemployment while it spikes in the U.S and op-ed by Josephine Kalipeni on why we need universal family care