EOF 2021 Fall Series

EOF 2021 Fall Funder Learning Series:
Building Systems of Economic Support for an Equitable Recovery

The pandemic and its economic fallout have exposed our economy’s structural weaknesses and inequalities, deeply rooted in racism and discrimination, with starkly unequal opportunities and outcomes in education, employment, health, and housing. This is an important set of issues for philanthropy to attend to, but we can’t do this alone. We need a strong public response that addresses the long-standing racial and ethnic disparities in our nation. The American Rescue Plan provides significant investments helping struggling families and state and local governments weather the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. But we can’t stop there. The recovery legislation that policymakers will consider this year marks a historic opportunity to build a stronger, more equitable economy and ensures everyone can thrive, no matter what we look like or where we come from.

Our 2021 Fall Funder Learning Series explored the critical role of income supports – tax credits, cash supports and unemployment insurance – in building a stronger, more equitable recovery and how funders can show up to meet this moment.

Watch Our Fall Funder Learning Series Video

We kicked off the series with a short video featuring four field and philanthropic leaders reflecting on the fundamental role of income supports for a just and equitable recovery that centers those who have been traditionally left behind, and with a call to action for funders to meet this moment.

Sarita Gupta, Ford Foundation — Sarita Gupta, Director, Future of Work(ers), Ford Foundation

Avenel Joseph, Vice President, Policy, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Dorian Warren, President, Community Change

Heidi Shierholz, President, Economic Policy Institute

Three Virtual Learning Discussions

Tax Credits: The Anti-poverty Tool of the 21st Century

September 22 | 2-3:30pm ET
View recording link, recap, and related resources.

Historic improvements have been made to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). If we are successful in getting these credits into the hands of the lowest-income families, we can reduce child poverty by almost half. Philanthropy has an important role to play to ensure that the hardest to reach families can access the benefits and continue to explore improvements and modernizations to these fundamental government programs. This webinar explored how we arrived at this once in a generation moment, whether these improvements are sufficient, and how this fits into the broader movement for building a just and inclusive economy.

Danielle Goonan, The Rockefeller Foundation (Moderator)
Ellen Nissenbaum, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Solana Rice, Liberation in a Generation
Samuel Hammond, Niskanen Center

Building a More Robust and Equitable Unemployment Insurance System for a 21st Century Economy

October 8 | 1:00-2:00pm ET
View the recording, recap, and related resources.

While the need for a better Unemployment Insurance (UI) system was apparent before COVID-19, the economic crisis caused by the pandemic has shown that our outdated and underfunded system is broken, with disproportionate impacts on women and workers of color. With too few unemployed workers qualifying for benefits, inadequate levels and duration of benefits, and the lack of effective triggers that tie benefit duration to economic conditions, the UI system fails to meet the needs of today’s workers or economy.

This webinar explored key organizing, policy, and systems design and implementation strategies for making the permanent reforms needed to transform the UI system into a fully functioning and readily accessible program that protects all jobless workers and their families and effectively stabilizes the economy during economic downturns.

Jean Ross, The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust (Moderator)
Arelia Valdivia, Center for Popular Democracy
William Spriggs, Howard University and AFL-CIO
Tara McGuinness, New America

Emergency Cash Benefits: Lessons From Innovation and Rapid Response

October 20 | 1:00-2:00 PM ET
View the recording, recap and related resources

While not a new strategy, the pandemic has put a spotlight on the critical role of cash in supporting workers and families. This webinar explored lessons learned from 2020 emergency cash program experiments as well as efforts to scale up effective strategies.

Padmini Parthasarathy, Sāmya Strategies (Moderator)
Rachel Korberg, Families and Workers Fund
Adrian Haro, The Workers Lab
Tyonka Perkins Rimawi, Families and Workers Fund