https://www.fcd-us.org/reimagining-philanthropy-with-vivian-tseng-and-lori-bezahler/
Join Vivian Tseng, president and CEO of the Foundation for Child Development, in a compelling dialogue with Lori Bezahler, former president of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation. Lori shares an inside look at the Hazen Foundation’s groundbreaking journey — a journey marked by direct action and collaborative decision-making with grantees to advance social justice. Learn how the foundation’s bold choice to spend down its assets by 2024 set the stage for reimagining philanthropy and making a lasting impact. This conversation challenges conventional philanthropy and highlights the power of community-driven change.
In 2019, the Hazen Foundation’s board opted to sunset the foundation, channeling its entire corpus into communities by 2025. This move, rooted in a commitment to racial and social justice, was shaped by extensive engagement with stakeholders. A five-year spend-down strategy was crafted directly in response to grantees’ input, prioritizing multi-year general operating support and various forms of capacity-building.
Lori explains that this pivotal decision was driven by a profound desire to reassess and enhance the foundation’s impact. By prioritizing the perspectives of grassroots organizers and marginalized communities, the Hazen Foundation aimed to better address systemic inequities and power imbalances in philanthropy. Despite challenges, including those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation remained steadfast in its mission to empower grantees and amplify marginalized voices.
“There is beauty and joy in shifting how we do our work to one that is truly about mission, intention, living your purpose, and being in authentic relationship with others,” said Lori Bezahler. “I don’t know anything better.”
The foundation’s reevaluation of philanthropic practices centered on rebalancing power dynamics and fostering more equitable grantmaking processes. Feedback from grantees underscored the success of these efforts, highlighting the foundation’s dedication to advancing social justice and supporting grassroots movements.
For deeper insights into its journey and an understanding of this unique approach, explore the Hazen Foundation’s Reevaluating Practice: Reimagining Philanthropy report.
“This job has been the most amazing privilege of my life,” Lori reflected. “I had the opportunity to reflect on it for the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Conference, and to talk a little bit about it there. I can glibly say, you know I’m the person that I am because of the people who I had the unbelievable luck to be in relationship with through this work.”
Lori Bezahler’s personal commitment to social justice is evident in her leadership, shaped profoundly by the voices and experiences of grantees. Her experience at the Hazen Foundation underscores the ongoing effort required to dismantle barriers and promote inclusive practices in philanthropy.
This is the ninth blog in the Foundation’s Social Justice for Young Children Conversation Series exploring what it means to pursue social justice for young children and their families.
About Lori Bezahler
As former President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Lori Bezahler led a national grant making program supporting organizing and leadership by young people and communities of color to dismantle structural inequity based on race and class. To provide the greatest benefit to the struggle for social and racial justice during a critical period, the foundation chose to move all of its resources to communities and sunset in 2024.
Lori’s writing and commentary have appeared in The Nation, TIME Magazine, The Guardian, Washington Post, and numerous philanthropy and general interest media outlets. She served as chair of the board of Race Forward and has served on boards of Grantmakers for Education, the National Center on Schools and Communities at Fordham University, Philanthropy New York, and the Center for Community Alternatives, and has taught as an adjunct assistant professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.