Doing soul-filling work drives her commitment to place-based philanthropy

Q&A with Shona Carter, Director of Partner Engagement & Investment

Shona Carter (she/her) joined the Black Future Co-op Fund team in July 2022. As director of partner engagement & investment, Shona brings a community-centered and racial equity focus to growing trusting partnerships and leading development in order to resource and further the mission of the Black Future Co-op Fund.

In this special Q&A conversation, Shona shares how she got into philanthropy and what inspires her about the Fund and the work.

Shona’s favorite place in Washington is Mt. Rainier. As a cancer thriver, her first hike after treatment was on the Fremont Lookout trail, where she encountered incredible wildlife and found her peace. To recharge, Shona enjoys traveling with her husband, Kelvin, and cuddling with her dog, Hobbs.

Learn more about Shona

You recently joined the Black Future Co-op Fund team. Tell us about yourself and what brought you to the Black Future Co-op Fund.

I am the daughter of a single parent who moved her family from Evansville, Indiana, to Portland, Oregon, where my talents were nurtured in high school and, for the first time, I thought about going to college. The first in my family to go to college, I started at the University of Oregon, but didn’t enjoy my experience there so I decided to take a break.

I moved to the Bay Area, and worked my way back to school, attending the University of California, Berkeley. Following graduation, I decided to pursue a career in philanthropy. I later earned an MBA in corporate social responsibility and have been working in the field for more than 20 years. I most recently was working with the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. Prior to that, I worked for the San Francisco Foundation and the East Bay Community Foundation. I can't imagine myself in any other field than this. Place-based philanthropy is what I really love.

I’m a spirit that is quite inquisitive and adventurous, so I've done a lot of traveling. I am married to a loving husband. I chose not to have children, but I have a fur baby whom I love dearly.

What led you to the Black Future Co-op Fund?

When I entered the field, it wasn't very diverse and it was mostly older white men whom I sat on panels and around tables with. I would be the youngest and the only person of color.

I've been in community place-based philanthropy for 20 years now and, in traditional philanthropic institutions, in communities that are largely white, I’ve seen less than sufficient resources being funneled into Black communities because they don't have representation at the table. Even today, only a small percentage of philanthropic dollars actually reach Black and brown communities.

While there is a trend in philanthropy to become more diverse and inclusive, within those institutions, there are still obstacles to being seen and having a voice. After beating cancer, I decided I wanted to focus my energy on working for a culturally specific fund like the Black Future Co-op Fund.

Joining the Black Future Co-op Fund was just the perfect culmination of everything that I've done in the past and an opportunity to do the work that means the most to me going forward.

What inspires you about philanthropy?

I am the child of a single parent, and I had the fortune of being in community with folks who helped support my mom as she raised two children, and that extension of support is super important. That's how I think I ended up in philanthropy, knowing that along my mom's journey raising her children, I was touched by all of these different resources and support not knowing how we made it through challenging times.

Now that I'm in this field, I know exactly how it happens. It happens through community organizations and networks that create that type of support. So that extension of family and support is what helped raise me. It helped me become a first-generation college student, helped me to enter a field where I can actually give back.

I can't imagine myself in any other field than this. This work is challenging at times but it is what fills my heart and soul. I may never be able to measure the impact of my personal efforts in this work over the years, but I know because I was able to steward a gift, our mission is carried forward and hopefully touches the lives of many people.

As a Fund that is shifting the paradigm of philanthropy, how do you see the Fund doing things differently?

I think it really does start with the knowledge and the belief system that community isn't a problem that needs to be solved. That we trust community and their lived experience, and that their knowledge is something that could be shared to help us improve the approach to philanthropy. We are building relationships that are based on trust and reducing the barriers to and access to philanthropic dollars.

I think when you are closed off from community, when you make top-down decisions that don't include their voices, you're most likely going to get it wrong. Philanthropic institutions have traditionally been gatekeepers to wealth, but that wealth, when we really think about it, that's wealth that belongs to the community. That wealth is made off the backs of Black and brown people, and that wealth needs to flow freely without restrictions into communities, and specifically communities of color.

I always say that philanthropic redlining exists just as much as the wealth gap exists, and the reason why I came to the Black Future Co-op Fund is because we are specifically focusing on closing that gap of philanthropic dollars into Black communities.

We’re excited to have you join in supporting our work to make a liberated future real for Black Washingtonians and for generations to come. What does a liberated future look like to you?

A liberated future means a lot of different things. I think a future where you don't have to worry about where you're going to rest your head at night. A future where you know you're going to be safe when you move around in community. A liberated future feels like one where you don't have to worry about eating and feeding your children; when you're sending them off to school, they will be educated and supported; and where you can send them into the world knowing that they'll be taken care of.

A liberated future means that you have access to power. Some people think power is a bad thing. Power is a good thing if it's used well and it's shared. So, a liberated future is one where we have power and say in how our communities thrive and move. A liberated future is one where we are experiencing joy and rest.

What inspires you about the Fund and this work?

One thing that's super inspirational for me is the fact that this fund was built by four very dynamic Black women. When it launched, I wanted to immediately know, "Who are these folks so boldly creating this fund in the Pacific Northwest? Who is really trying to think about and do philanthropy differently? Who is flipping the narrative and approach to the way you engage in community, and wanting to make sure our Black communities are well-resourced?" Thank goodness they saw a window of opportunity and jumped right through it to create this fund.

It also really inspired me the way in which money came into the fund and they immediately infused that money back into the Black community throughout the state of Washington. While other funders kind of struggled with getting money out into community, the Black Future Co-op Fund seeded nearly $3 million in their first two years.

The way the Fund architects were so thoughtful, responsive, and well-networked to be able to support the Black community, it was really something dynamic, and even more exciting to be a part of it now. It feels like a blessing, actually.

Why does this work feel like a blessing?

I am a cancer thriver. In 2017, I had leukemia and I was working in southwest Washington at a more conservative community foundation. As one of their very first program officers, also the first Black person on staff, it was quite challenging to enter a culture that was so vastly different than previous ones in which I’d worked. I had to exercise a different muscle that I hadn't exercised in quite a bit of time, and it was a little shocking and exhausting.

In the middle of all of that, I was diagnosed with leukemia and had to step away from work for a couple of years. When I went through a bone marrow transplant, then healing and isolation until I was fully vaccinated with all of the vaccines that you need to get again, I had time to reflect and gain clarity, realizing "I want something that is more aligned with my morals and values. I want to work for a place that recognizes that Black women need rest and repair." I wanted to work for an organization, like the Black Future Co-op Fund, that explicitly, in an interview process, talked about, "We don't want to exploit Black people in this work. We have enough of that happening in community."

It's still hard work, but it's good, hard work. You don't have to start at the place of, "What is equity?" or "What does systemic racism look like, and how does it play out in community?" Everyone who comes to the table already knows that we might all still be under a system of white supremacy, but we are all on a journey of unlearning behaviors that no longer serve us.

What brings you joy?

I'm a natural introvert, but I think after my health experience, I'm much more perceptive of the things that bring me joy.

Actually, because I was so near to death, life brings me joy. Just being able to be in space with people brings me joy. The love of family and friends and food, being able to eat food that you can feel healing your body.

I like to be outside in nature and experience nature, whether it's on the water, on a mountain, or in my backyard surrounded by my fruit trees and fruit plants. I'm so much more connected to nature. It's the thing that centered me, and also healed me as I was coming out of my treatment. So I do a lot of hiking and boating. Just simply walking my dog brings me joy.

I travel quite a bit. I love experiencing other cultures, and learning about other people and their ways of life and their challenges. So many things that bring me joy.