Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Aria Florant

Co-founder and CEO | Liberation Ventures
Pronouns: she/her
Aria Florant is Co-Founder and CEO of Liberation Ventures (LV), which is building the power to win federal, comprehensive reparations for Black Americans. Prior to LV, Aria has been a researcher, management consultant, organizer, teacher, and nonprofit practitioner. All of her work drives toward a singular mission: building a world where all people’s whole selves belong. She is rooted in a Black feminist ethos, loves a good Cabernet, and calls Colorado and East Palo Alto home.

Twitter: @racialrepair
LinkedIn: Profile

Presentations from Facing Race 2024

Bridging Philanthropy and Reparations: The Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint

We invite Facing Race attendees to join us for a session exploring the creation process and lessons learned from the Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint, a tool designed by reparations movement leaders to guide a donor collaborative in investing in the reparations movement in a strategic, effective, and equity-centered manner. This will include:

- Grounding the session in the three key roles that philanthropy can play in catalyzing the reparations movement and a culture of repair
- Discussing our approach to movement-led strategy development, including reflections from movement leaders that are part of the Blueprint Steering Committee
- Engaging with the draft Blueprint, including some of the strategic milestones, activities, and tradeoffs that emerged in the process
- Discussing and reflecting on opportunities for participants to advance collaborative/movement-led strategy development and/or the reparations movement from their institutional contexts.

Our hope is that session participants feel more prepared action to change grantmaking strategy development practices in their own institutions, in the form of:

- Identifying specific and creative ideas about how they can implement similar frameworks in their institutions (e.g., particular program areas, potential partners, etc.)
- Analyzing their field’s landscape to clarify how and where collaboration will be valuable
- Understanding opportunities to deepen their institutions’ engagement with reparations and racial repair

Speakers: Aria Florant, Dr. Cheryl Grills