Akonadi Foundation

Since 2000, the Akonadi Foundation has been working to support and nurture a racial justice movement that can finally put an end to the structural racism that lies at the heart of social inequity in the United States. The Akonadi Foundation uses the concept of “structural racism” because it means: recognizing how history and culture have allowed the privileges associated with “whiteness” and the disadvantages associated with ”color” to endure, adapt and accumulate over time; understanding how public policies and institutional practices intersect and produce inequitable racial outcomes; and examining how the assumptions and stereotypes embedded in U.S. dominant culture serve to legitimize and popularize racial disparities. Though manifestations of racism like Jim Crow segregation, Indian removal and Japanese internment appear to have been eradicated, racism remains an integral part of American society. It is woven into the very fabric of our culture, our language, our government, our economy. And to truly dismantle this structural racism, we need a powerful social change movement that holds racial justice as a primary, fundamental goal. Only then will we be able to create a racially just society. Akonadi’s mission is to help build this robust and powerful movement. We do this in three ways: by providing grants to racial justice organizations; by communicating about our work and the work of our grant partners; and by nurturing support for racial justice movement building in philanthropy.