philanthropy unfiltered is where I say the quiet parts out loud.

As a Black woman who’s spent nearly a decade working in and around philanthropy and the nonprofit sectors, I’ve seen the disconnects up close: funders demanding innovation but clinging to outdated power structures; organizations speaking the language of equity while replicating the very systems they claim to fight; staff burning out while leadership protects reputations over people; and powerful narratives about justice, care, and liberation that rarely translate into how we actually operate behind the scenes.

This newsletter is my space to unpack it all without jargon, without fluff, and without pretending everything’s working just fine.

Here, I look beyond buzzwords and impact reports to explore the contradictions, tensions, and truths that often get buried. I write with love and critique because I believe accountability and imagination can coexist, and that’s where real transformation begins. We can’t build liberatory futures if we’re too afraid to name what’s broken on the inside. Change doesn’t come from comfort; it comes from truth-telling and being honest about what’s failing.

If you're tired of business as usual and hungry for honest conversation, you’re in the right place.

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Pushing past the buzzwords to confront what’s not working in the sector, naming its contradictions, and inviting a more honest, liberatory path forward.

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An artivist, educator, and storyteller writing about the nonprofit industrial complex.