Stories

Louisiana

  • Building, Sharing and Speaking Truth to Power

    With her retirement on the horizon, MRBF Deputy Director Gladys Washington delivered the keynote address to the Greater New Orleans Funders Network 's annual convening on October 22, 2019, which happened to be her birthday. Her remarks are as follows:

    Thank you for having me here today for this convening of visionaries working toward a better Louisiana. The unity among...

    Gladys Washington
  • MRBF opposes LGBTQ religious exemption to equal opportunity clause

    The administration is poised to make it easier for employers to discriminate against LGBTQ people, those seeking reproductive care and women. The Department of Labor has proposed a new rule to grant federal contractors a broad religious exemption to the equal opportunity clause, which would put more than 11.3 million Americans who already suffer from high rates of poverty and workplace...

  • Making the Invisible Visible: the State Priorities Partnership

    Last month, Executive Director Justin Maxson delivered remarks at the State Priorities Partnership 's Summer Leadership Institute. SPP is a network of more than 40 independent, nonprofit research and policy organizations across the country, coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities . They equip lawmakers, journalists, advocates, nonprofits and the public with research and...

    State Priorities Partnership
  • For Love of Humankind: A Call to Action for Southern Philanthropy

    We are issuing a clarion call to Southern philanthropic organizations to respond to the manic drumbeat of anti-immigrant rhetoric and cruelty coming from the White House. This month began with a mass shooting targeting the Latinx community. Days later, massive raids tore apart hundreds of families and destabilized Mississippi communities but levied no consequences for the corporate leadership...

  • Channeling Anguish into Action

    Over the weekend, Americans watched in horror as yet another gunman expressing hatred toward immigrants targeted Latinx people in Texas, killing 22 people and wounding dozens more. Attacks by men touting white supremacist ideology have surged in recent years, and many believe racist rhetoric from the very highest echelons of our government is fueling them. Changes in immigration policies and...

    Photo by CNN