Decolonizing Wealth · Aperio book club
By Trang Nguyen
“Some may say it’s tiresome to dwell on the hurt—after all, there’s a relentless (if artificial) drive to Stay Positive! in America, to focus only on solutions—yet an essential step in the process of decolonization is hearing the painful stories of the colonized and the exploited, respectfully and with an open heart.”
– Edgar Villanueva, Decolonizing Wealth
In nonprofits, an overdue reckoning is underway: We are part of the problem.
In many ways, nonprofits are on the frontlines in the fight to dismantle systemic racism and create communities where everyone can thrive. At the same time, that same systemic racism is woven into the very fabric of how we operate, how we fund our work, how we engage the communities we serve, and even how we think.
Edgar Villanueva caught our attention with the declaration: “Philanthropy, honey, it’s time for an intervention.”
Our Aperio book club group dove in. We read and discussed Villanueva’s book, Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance.
Why decolonize?
Decolonizing Wealth explores our history of colonialism and its lasting effects on philanthropy today. Broken into two parts, Villanueva first analyzes the flaws in philanthropy and then offers his solutions to fixing these systemic imbalances.
The conversation about how to improve philanthropy—especially institutional philanthropy—is not new. People have pointed to all kinds of issues from cumbersome processes to lack of transparency to lack of understanding of what the real needs are.
According to Villaneuva, these issues are symptoms of the real problem: colonialism.
“Almost without exception,” he says, “funders reinforce the colonial division of Us vs. Them, Haves vs. Have Nots, and mostly white saviors and white experts vs. poor, needy, disadvantaged, marginalized, at-risk people (take your pick of euphemisms for people of color).”
I, myself, have encountered the dysfunctional colonial dynamics within philanthropy. I experienced it in my upbringing as a child of immigrants when I was taught (you could say, misled) to believe that white people are the saviors. I questioned it when every scholarship award I received was presented to me by a white male. Are white (usually) men the only Americans with money?
To break it down:
Funds are overwhelmingly controlled by white people, and white men specifically: 92 percent of foundation CEOs are white and 89 percent of foundation boards are white.
People of color must apply for access to that wealth. “We must prove ourselves worthy,” Villanueva says. “We are demeaned for our lack of resources, scrutinized, and often denied access after all.”
When funds are granted, it is the funder who is celebrated as the ‘savior.’ Often the funder, rather than the recipients, directs how funds are spent—reinforcing the colonial mindset that those with means know more and better than those without.
The result? On balance, philanthropy is perpetuating a colonial approach: divide, control, and exploit.
And this occurs even without explicit malintent. “People can’t see or understand,” a fundraiser shared during our book club. “They can’t hear. They imagine poverty in a romanticized sense. They don’t want to unpack it. They don’t come to charities for discomfort. They come to feel good and for tax breaks.”
Decolonizing wealth—what does this even mean?
So, how do we break the cycle? Villanueva says: ‘decolonize’ philanthropy. Replace systems that divide, control, and exploit with ones that enable us all to connect, relate, and belong.
We asked our book club group: What would it look like to ‘decolonize’ philanthropy?
One fundraiser said that it would start with “recognizing how all the disparities came about and tracking it back—and the impact the colonial mentality has.” A first step is to really understand the colonial roots of our industry. We need to look with clear eyes at ourselves and our donors. We need to acknowledge that all accumulated wealth can be tracked back to division, control, and exploitation in some form. And most of our nonprofit institutions were born out of a colonial ‘savior mentality.’
With that recognition, another fundraiser said, we can begin “putting wealth into the hands of people who have decision-making power at a community level.”
We need to heal before we can change
In our current world, we are surrounded by a heightened awareness of the need for changes—changes in our systems and in our ways of thinking. It’s one thing to speak of change. It’s another to do it. How do we look at and implement change in a realistic way?
Villanueva believes the same money that currently divides can be used to heal. Money, he says, can be ‘medicine’. “Money,” he says, “should be a tool of love, to facilitate relationships, to help us thrive, rather than to hurt and divide us. If it’s used for sacred, life-giving, restorative purposes, it can be medicine.”
He outlines a seven-step process for getting there:
Grieve
Apologize
Listen
Relate
Represent
Invest
Repair
In talking through this process, especially in the current moment, our book club felt hopeful—but also daunted by the scale of the work ahead.
After the turmoil of the past few years across so many aspects of our lives, one fundraiser shared: “It’s really exciting for me, but I don’t feel like I have the capacity and tools to build that. I’m burnt out on envisioning a better world.”
We discussed, for white allies especially, it will be important to step out of our tendency to solve problems and solve them alone. There will be no savior in this work.
“Part of the reimagining,” a fundraiser said, “has to be done in the collective. It’s hard to do when you’re white. We’ve been in the water all this time, and now we’re stepping out. It’s a retraining of the mind. It takes a long time and a huge amount of humility.”
Fortunately, we are not the first generation to undertake transformational change to our society. “We can look at changes that have come before,” a fundraiser said, “like civil rights and feminism. Look to champions from those. Look at our ancestors and how they moved forward.”
Decolonizing wealth as fundraisers
Practically speaking, as fundraisers, we can be part of the solution. Our group discussed a few steps we can take:
Start with yourself. Go through the process that Villanueva outlines in his book for your own life and community.
Notice the colonial mindset and power dynamics at work in your organization and community of supporters. How are they showing up? What are the consequences?
Get to know the community your organization serves. In collaboration with your colleagues, really examine: Who are we listening to? Who are we treating as experts? Who is missing at the table?
Have the honest conversations internally, and have them often. Decolonization is not a one-time quick fix. It is a daily practice. And it can only be done as a collective.
And finally, be honest with your donors. Don’t paint reality with rose-colored glasses. Don’t spare them the nitty-gritty. Don’t be afraid of the discomfort. Yes, some funders and donors may be disappointed. Some may end up not being aligned with your vision, mission, and values. But overall, you will find that real partners appreciate real partnership. When we tell the truth, we give people opportunities to be part of true solutions—to be part of that collective that pursues connecting, relating, and belonging.
Above all, allow yourself and others to heal. This may take time, but with enough of us leading the way, we will get there.
“Decolonizing our thinking, whether that’s in philanthropy or other sectors of doing good, is a lifelong commitment.” – Edgar Villanueva
Trang Nguyen
Trang is a project manager, specializing in digital marketing and fundraising. Before joining Aperio, she served nonprofits including Children’s Museum of Phoenix, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, and the Desert Botanical Garden.