John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems
A recent QCityMetro profile of Black philanthropists featured Schott President & CEO Dr. John H. Jackson. In the profile John describes the intersection of philanthropy, racial justice, public education, and grassroots movements — precisely where he and the Schott Foundation do our work.
John Jackson came to philanthropy through his work in education justice, first as a member of the Clinton administration, and later in his national work with NAACP Education Division across 2300 sites. Through that work, he grew in his appreciation for the power of grassroots investments, an understanding of which influenced his personal and professional approach to philanthropic investment.
John Jackson subscribes to three tenets of giving. First, he believes that it is about resourcing individuals and institutions “closest to the pain” and offering the best opportunity for progress toward addressing those needs. Second, it is about building trust between funders and recipients, and trusting that those closest to the needs will use resources appropriately to bring about change. Third, Jackson invests for systemic change to ensure that change becomes a public good, not limited to localized impact.John Jackson is adamant that, in his work and in Black giving, we must use a racial/gender equity lens in funding. Specifically, he believes that we can’t get to excellence in educational systems because the inequities are defined by racial and ethnic inequities. These institutionalized, race-based inequities can only be rectified by funding in a way that targets the sources and root causes of the inequities.John Jackson described a years-long movement to integrate restorative justice in schools across the country. When he CONTINUE READING: John Jackson: Using Philanthropy to Build Loving Systems | Schott Foundation for Public Education