Shifting Power and Resources to Build the Democracy We’ve Never Had
By Elise Belusa, Executive Director
For the world we want, philanthropy must shift.
In this crumbling present, how do we hold onto vision? How do we nurture hope and find joy? At Tara Health, we’re examining what we can do with our power, influence, and institutional resources. Again and again, this reflection has led me to confront an uncomfortable truth about philanthropic structures: despite our best intentions, we know that private foundations are deeply undemocratic spaces.
For the most part, a relatively small group of people—boards and executives (like me) at foundations—make decisions about whether, when, where, and how billions of foundation dollars flow—or don’t. Rarely do we represent the communities we fund; never are we formally accountable to them. With a requirement of giving away only 5% of our total assets annually, foundations were never designed to shift the balance of who holds wealth and power and who doesn’t.
But what happens when we in philanthropy subvert this very design?
We’re embarking on a journey to find out. To start, we’ve asked leaders we admire, peers who’ve shaped our work, and collaborators already modeling different ways of moving and being:
What becomes possible when philanthropy shifts the flow of power and resources?
Their responses reveal a constellation of possibilities—from true equity and justice to embracing our shared humanity, to philanthropy itself ceasing to exist*. Their voices remind us that transformation isn’t theoretical; it’s already happening in pockets across our sector.
As our government and country crumble around us each day, philanthropy’s structural shortcomings offer us not just an opportunity but a mandate to experiment in dismantling and transforming our inherently undemocratic institutions. Our grantees are asking us:
What will it take for us to reorient our relationship to power and money away from withholding, scarcity, and control and toward sharing, abundance, and emergence?
How might we apply these lessons to building a radically inclusive, multi-racial democracy, such that fascism could never rise in this country again? How might we apply this knowing of the limitations of philanthropic structure to create the world we want and need?
These aren't just questions—they're commitments we're living into at Tara Health Foundation. And we're not alone.
Across the philanthropic and nonprofit landscape, amidst the violence and chaos, a vibrant ecosystem is emerging: organizations and leaders who refuse to accept the status quo, who are building new structures while boldly dismantling the old, who dare to imagine and create systems rooted in shared abundance rather than manufactured scarcity.
This world of collective thriving isn't some distant dream—it's already taking root. Each of us holds a piece of what’s needed to help these possibilities grow.
A lot needs to happen for us to realize a vision where all people, as Tara Health’s vision dreams, assert sovereignty over their bodies and futures and lay full claim to quality healthcare, money, and power. This vision requires a version of democracy the US has never known. We know that changing philanthropy alone won’t get us there; transformation must touch every institution, every relationship, every one of us. But we also know that philanthropy must stop being a part of the disease, because until then we can’t be a part of the cure.
More soon,
Elise
*When Philanthropy truly shifts the flow of power & resources:
True equity and justice become possible. (Shaady Salehi, Co-Executive Director, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project).
Our world transforms. (Rachel Robasciotti, Founder and Co-CEO, Adasina Social Capital & Tara Health Foundation Board Member)
There will be less "flying the plane and building the plane and building the airport" happening. (Mariko Miki, Co-Executive Director, If/When/How)
Community power won't be a buzzword. (Tenesha Duncan, Founder and CEO, Orchid Capital Collective)
The practice of midwifery will be better respected and protected. (Kiki Jordan,
Founder and Executive Director, Birthland Midwifery)
We can accelerate and amplify the change that we all want to see. (Ruth Shaber, Founder and President, Tara Health Foundation)
We will be able to truly be in one another's humanity. (Elise Belusa, Executive Director, Tara Health Foundation)
It’s modeling for what is possible with respect to change in society. (Erika Seth Davies, CEO, Rhia Ventures)
I think communities have much more say— and much more access— to the change they want. (Glen Galaich, CEO, Stupski Foundation)
Communities and movements will be able to govern those resources for themselves. (Maria Nakae, Senior Director of Just Transition Investing, Justice Funders)
When philanthropy truly shifts the resources and flow of power, I think we will cease to exist. (Nwamaka Agbo, CEO and Managing Director, Restorative Economies Fund at Kataly Foundation)
