Human rights grantmaking recognizes that every person deserves the same rights and seeks to address the root causes of injustice and inequality. This entails applying an intersectional lens to understand how a person’s multiple identities and characteristics—including but not limited to race, caste, age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, class, culture, and disability—can compound discrimination and oppression. As human rights funders, we must strive to deconstruct our biases and be anti-sexist, anti-racist, and anti-classist in all of our work.

In addition to developing grantmaking priorities that center marginalized groups, we should shift resources to institutions and movements that have the least resources (including those based in the Global South and East) and address the ways in which our own institutions fall short with respect to being diverse, equitable, and representative. We must move beyond merely increasing the diversity of voices and perspectives within our institutions to ensuring that there is fair and equal participation and power, particularly at leadership levels—including boards of directors.

Write us at principlesproject@hrfn.org to recommend additional resources.