Mobilising Money
A conversation with:
Project Tallawah (host)
Derek Bardowell
Stephanie Brobbey
Vanessa Thomas
05/11/2023
15:00 – 17:00
Online
Description
Marai Larasi (Project Tallawah) joins this conversation with Derek Bardowell (Ten Years Time), Stephanie Brobbey (Good Ancestors Movement) and Vanessa Thomas (Decolonising Wealth) chaired by Dr Rebekah Delsol. Panellists will discuss how we can mobilise philanthropy and money in the direction of resourcing and sustaining movements, resistance and radical alternatives. While holding that the revolution will not be funded, panellists will explore the role that philanthropy can play in reparative justice and resourcing racial justice work. They will also discuss the limits of this work.
This event will be BSL interpreted.
Biographies
Marai Larasi is a Black, African-Caribbean-British feminist advocate, community organiser and consultant who has worked in social justice for over 27 years. Much of her work has focused on ending violence against Black / Global Majority women and girls. She was the Executive Director of Imkaan (UK) until May 2019, and she also served as Co-chair of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (UK). Her work has included, and been framed, by alliances with other Black/global majority and Indigenous feminist activists and practitioners in diverse contexts. In her current practice she works across a number of spheres/sectors (women’s sector, international “development”, donors and foundations, regional government, and intergovernmental bodies), providing strategic, policy, practice and training support around decoloniality, intersectionality, racial justice and ending violence against women and girls among other areas. She is also a member of Project Tallawah – an emerging Black feminist collective that is reimagining and building a resourcing and community initiative.
Derek Bardowell is an author, coach and philanthropy advisor. Once a music journalist and youth worker, he is currently the CEO of Ten Years’ Time, which helps ambitious donors and foundations to repair harm and rebalance power by resourcing racial and economic justice with care and confidence. Derek’s first book, No Win Race, explored race and racism in modern Britain through the prism of sport. It was a Sunday Times and Financial Times Book of the Year in 2019. His new book, Giving Back, reimagines philanthropy through a reparative lens. Derek is a Thirty Percy and Mission 44 trustee.
Stephanie Brobbey practised as a private wealth lawyer in the City for a decade before launching the Good Ancestor Movement. She gained an outstanding reputation in the private wealth industry and was named one of eprivate client’s Top 35 Under 35 in 2018 and 2020. Stephanie was also listed as a Rising Star in the Tax and Trust category of the Spear’s indices 2019, and was named in the Spear’s 500 as a recommended tax and trust lawyer in 2020. Shortly before leaving private legal practice, Stephanie was ranked as an “Associate to Watch” in Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2021. Stephanie is a dedicated social sector leader and has served as a trustee of youth charities FAST London and e:merge; and the Funding Network, a charity that hosts live crowdfunding events for not-for-profit organisations pursuing social change.
Dedicated to power shifting philanthropy, justice, and everything Black, Vanessa Thomas has spent her career disrupting philanthropy norms, from single story African narratives in communications, and pervasive anti-Black racism, to the way and who donors fund. She most recently served as the Director for Global Programs at Decolonizing Wealth Project, a foundation disrupting the flow of wealth, and socialising reparative giving to Black and Indigenous social movements.Vanessa currently sits on the Steering Group for the Baobab Foundation, and is the Co-Founder of Diasporic Development, a community for Black professionals working in social justice. A proud feminist, Vanessa also supports Forward, the African women’s led charity and The Black Feminist Fund.
Rebekah Delsol is Healing Justice Ldn’s Executive Co-Director, and has a focus on strategy. She has worked for 20 years on anti-discrimination and racial justice issues, focused on building community and civil society capacity to challenge racial profiling, and changing structures and cultures in police institutions globally. Rebekah managed the Open Society Justice Initiatives’ Fair and Effective Policing (FEP) project, working to improve police relations with diverse communities through dialogue, research, litigation and advocacy.
