Giving Circle Works To Uplift Marginalized Communities, Women Of Color
DENVER (CBS4) - Black women have had a long history of building communities out of giving within any circumstance. There's a saying, "Making a way out of no way" and the women of the Sisterhood of Philanthropists Impacting Needs are carrying on that rich tradition through the most difficult of times today.
"It's the tears, am I not good enough? It's the - you're not good enough to speak to a person or a business about their net worth," Sade Cooper said.
Cooper is a member of SPIN, and has also founded her own organization, called the Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities.
"It's important for young people to see someone like me and the other women in SPIN," Shayla Renée Richard said.
From banking to software to management, the women work in diverse fields, however, all say they have been discriminated against because they're Black and they're women.
"Through my journey, it's always been, 'What is my purpose? Why am I going through this? Why finance, why banking, why the racism?'" Cooper related.
The 14 members want to answer a special call, Black women helping Black women. And that means each member commits to donating $1 a day, sharing their experiences, and working to uplift each other. Together they pool their resources and take in contributions, then give all the money away.
"We read each grant application and we vote," Richard explained.
SPIN also advocates on behalf of all Black Coloradans, and they have been working on a proposal.
"Make sure education is free for all Black people in the state of Colorado," Cooper said.
The Women's Foundation President and CEO is very proud of the work of SPIN.
"A part of the joy that I felt was to see these young Black women claiming the history of philanthropy that exists within Black communities," Lauren Casteel said.
Casteel often asks people who they think of as a philanthropist, the answer often is Oprah, but the women of SPIN are living proof, anyone can be a philanthropist.