$100 million for equity: MacArthur Foundation's new big bet and mandate
The MacArthur Foundation will let loose another $100 million to a single project in the third installation of its global 100&Change competition, which for the first time requires applicants to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, the founda...
The MacArthur Foundation will let loose another $100 million to a single project in the third installation of its global 100&Change competition, which for the first time requires applicants to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, the foundation announced Wednesday.
The first 100&Change challenge was awarded in 2017 to a collaboration between Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee to provide educational programming to refugee children in the Middle East. Four years later, Community Solutions, a U.S.-based nonprofit that works to reduce homelessness, was awarded the nine-figure grant.
The new requirement that 100&Change participants incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, into their grant applications comes as various institutions nationwide have disbanded such efforts. The U.S. House of Representatives shuttered its office of diversity and inclusion in its latest budget. And, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 states have passed legislation opposing DEI efforts in colleges and universities since 2023.
The inclusion of DEI requirements in the current 100&Change competition reflects the MacArthur Foundation’s “ Just Imperative,” a commitment to justice that has guided the Chicago grant maker since 2021, said Chris Cardona, MacArthur’s managing director of discovery, exploration, and programs.
“We’re being consistent with our values,” he said.
Applicants to 100&Change are asked to consider who came up with the idea,
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