The Praxis Project Receives a $4M Gift from MacKenzie Scott

OAKLAND—March 23, 2022—The Praxis Project announced today the receipt of a $4M gift from MacKenzie Scott, a significant donation which will further Praxis’ efforts to create scalable infrastructure and expand our programmatic systems. This is critical to supporting our work with power-building community organizations and institutional allies to transform the systems, policies, structures, and practices that underlie inequity and injustice.

The Praxis Project is a national non-profit that supports the work of 200 primarily Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led community organizations from across the U.S. to build power as they seek to improve opportunities for residents to thrive. Our community partners organize around food systems, climate change, housing, community safety, transportation, parks and recreation, reproductive rights, education systems, civic participation, community infrastructure, economic development, and more. Praxis’ approach centers community, equity, and racial justice as the basis for all solutions.

"We are excited to receive this significant gift that will help us to continue to build Praxis’ operational and programmatic infrastructure that have long been on our list of needs. We deeply appreciate that MacKenzie Scott and her team have recognized the unique role that The Praxis Project plays in generating structural change to advance equitable solutions through authentic community collaboration, institutional partnerships, and movement capacity building," shared Xavier Morales, Executive Director of The Praxis Project.

This contribution comes at a vital time when demand for Praxis’ support and partnership continues to increase. Our work is requiring us to expand our operations to serve more groups as our nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and continues work toward addressing structural and systemic racial injustice that is disproportionally shouldered by BIPOC communities. Our partners’ work builds power in communities that have experienced systematic disinvestment to improve conditions so all residents can thrive and live with hope, equity, justice, and opportunity.

Carla Sparks, Praxis board chair, noted, “This generous gift will help Praxis to continue building the strong operational and programmatic foundations from which to increase the impact of our work. This gift acknowledges that movements that center community, equity, and racial justice need to be supported and resourced to make transformational change.”

Praxis supports community power-building organizations through providing responsive technical assistance and training, coordinating opportunities to share wisdom and lived experiences through Learning Circles and our annual Roots and Remedies convening, and supporting a growing movement-based fiscal sponsorship program. Praxis also works with institutional partners and philanthropy to understand and more authentically engage with power-building community organizations.

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About The Praxis Project

The Praxis Project is a national movement support intermediary committed to capacity building for social change. Our mission is to build healthy communities by transforming the power relationships and structures that affect our lives and communities. Praxis believes that community power is explicitly connected to health, equity, and racial justice. We work to support community organizing and base-building to shift power to the communities most impacted by inequities and create sustainable, lasting infrastructure for change. We emphasize developing fields of work in ways that encourage multi-level, trans-disciplinary learning and collaboration across issues, across the country, and across the globe. For more information about The Praxis Project, visit https://www.thepraxisproject.org/.

Contact:
Diana Lieu
The Praxis Project
diana@thepraxisproject.org