With their massive resources, corporations could be champions of racial equity but often waver
A Missouri nonprofit founded in 2015 to help address the issues that contributed to the police shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. and the riots that followed has faced the same lament many philanthropies face
NEW YORK — Forward Through Ferguson has made its mark on its community and the St. Louis region by focusing on justice and education, racial equity and policing reform.
The Missouri nonprofit was founded in 2015 to enact the societal changes outlined in the Ferguson Commission report to address the issues that contributed to the police shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. and the riots that followed in Ferguson, Missouri.
The new nonprofit and similar organizations looking to support the community saw money pour in from corporations like St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch and major philanthropic organizations ranging from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the NBA Players Association Foundation.
It didn't last, Annissa McCaskill, Forward Through Ferguson's executive director, told The Associated Press.
She doesn't want to dwell on the negative because many have generously helped the organization. But she won't forget the community group that pledged her nonprofit multiyear support and then decided after the first year that they didn't want to pay anymore. “Our priorities have shifted,” the group said. Local companies that initially supported the group also stopped, “shifting priorities” again.
It's not like her organization was ever getting the million-dollar donations that many businesses like to tout. In fact, experts say following where money from corporations and their foundations goes is very difficult.
“The largest donation we've ever gotten from a business is
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