The study, "Race and Philanthropy," will be released by the Research and Memory Center of Black Women at Fundo Agbara (known as NUPEMN in Portuguese), Brazil's first philanthropic fund for Black women and a partner of Imaginable Futures.
With nearly 800 initiatives surveyed, this study will be the largest mapping of Black organizations ever conducted in Brazil. The study shows their location, team make-up, activities carried out, as well as challenges faced in their operations. The project also includes a short film that brings to life the stories behind the numbers. An English version of the research will be published in March 2025.
Days before the release of the study and documentary, Dandara Tinoco spoke with Luana Batista, research manager at Nupemn, who shared part of the research findings. Below, we share excerpts from the interview, which can be watched in full here (in Portuguese).
How did the idea for this research come about?
The idea for the research emerged from Fundo Agbara’s desire to create a space for knowledge production. It’s important to think about the philanthropic ecosystem to understand our limitations and, from that, advocate for our mission: the empowerment and autonomy of Black women through economic justice.
We conducted a very thorough listening process to understand our aspirations, questions, and the areas where Agbara wanted to operate in to bring even more excellence to its work. This led us to ask: if Agbara’s primary focus is on the intersection of philanthropy and race, and resource mobilization is still a significant challenge, how can we address this?
It only made sense to begin with a comprehensive mapping of Black-led grassroots organizations. This research is groundbreaking and brings highly promising data. It provides us with a robust primary data set, enabling secondary and tertiary analyses and paving the way for further studies.
We are committed to developing racialized and gender-focused research because we believe that true social justice can only be achieved when we create policies and practices rooted in racial and gender equity.
What were the main challenges of conducting research of this magnitude in a country as vast and regionally diverse as Brazil?
The main challenge was raising funds and convincing people that the research could actually be done. [When] we proposed conducting a national mapping of Black organizations and producing an analysis from that, many thought it was crazy. But we are used to delivering excellence.
The second major challenge was hiring researchers. We opened positions to hire 12 researchers, and in the end, we received 575 applications. The selection process was challenging because there were so many qualified candidates.
Another challenge was traveling to these territories. We visited 11 Brazilian states and 75 organizations in two months—short trips with no time to return home, going from one place to another—but it was an incredible experience. Another challenge was producing research of this scale, with the rigor of a doctoral thesis, but within a much shorter timeframe.
Lastly, the third phase of our research involved interviewing the private social investment sector and philanthropists. We didn’t get the same level of response as we did from the organizations in terms of dialogue and questionnaire responses. This perhaps reflects [attitudes on] the importance and legitimacy of the topic of race in this sector.
What change do you hope to provoke in the private social investment sector with the release of this research?
If I could sum it up in one sentence, I would say: I want more resources for Black women-led organizations. These women are the ones building realities with their own hands every day in their communities, ensuring rights for many people. Many are studying, eating, working, and accessing leisure, healthcare and education thanks to people organizing in specific territories. They are organizing in the present to ensure a future. We must rethink how money in our society is being allocated.
A recent study shows that the nonprofit sector generates around 6 million jobs in Brazil. Our research shows that 9 out of 10 women from the organizations we interviewed are volunteers, meaning they are not formally employed. So, where are these millions of jobs going?
This helps us reflect not only in the field of philanthropy, but also in politics, economics, care, resource allocation, democracy, social justice, transformation and impact.
I want more resources for Black women-led organizations. These women are the ones building realities with their own hands every day in their communities, ensuring rights for many people. Many are studying, eating, working, and accessing leisure, healthcare and education thanks to people organizing in specific territories. They are organizing in the present to ensure a future.
In addition to launching the research in Brazil now, you are also planning to launch it internationally next year —in the United States. Why is this important?
We want to globalize what we are producing here. This also relates to financing: we’ve noticed that it’s increasingly easier to secure funding for race-related projects outside Brazil than within Brazil. To secure more investments, amplify our practice, reach more women, and fulfill our mission, we need to globalize what we have produced in our country. Brazil has the largest Black population outside of Africa and has gone through social, political, cultural and historical processes that prevent us from accessing many things. We need to reverse this reality, and that requires investment. This international launch is part of a broader fundraising strategy to strengthen our ability to create more impact with Brazil.
In addition to the research, you will release a documentary with testimonies from representatives of the organizations that were interviewed in the study. What does the short film bring that’s different from the research?
The idea behind the documentary is to humanize the data from the research. Charts and tables are essential because they provide an objective analysis of reality, enabling us to engage with funders effectively. However, the documentary adds nuance, emotion and context, bringing the information in the report to life. It’s a strategy to foster empathy, showcasing the diversity of this country, the people who inhabit these territories, and the challenges they face—challenges that go beyond what charts and tables can capture.
For example, in a graph, I can’t show you that I had to take a plane, a bus, a bicycle and a motorcycle to reach a quilombo (traditional Afro-Brazilian community), which has no internet access but does extraordinary work. It also can’t show you that it has never been able to secure funding through an open call due to mobility challenges. When we think about open calls, are we thinking about these difficulties? I think the documentary helps highlight problems that go beyond our imagination.
We believe that the evidence presented by Fundo Agbara research highlights crucial elements for the philanthropy ecosystem, drawing attention to challenges that need to be mitigated and opportunities for support to organizations led by Black women to be not only more widespread, but also more equitable.