Bringing a Racial Justice lens to Corra’s Henry Duncan Grants
By Corra Foundation
Corra’s Henry Duncan Grants offer multi-year, unrestricted funding to organisations across Scotland. Since 2021, we have reserved 30% of funds in each funding round for organisations led by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic people and communities.
The Henry Duncan Project Grants: Bringing a Racial Justice lens to our grantmaking report provides an overview of the key changes to our grant making aproach in 2021. It shares learning from Corra staff  involved in the design, delivery and decision making of Henry Duncan Project Grants for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. The report looks at the 2021 funding round which supported organisations working within mental health.
Implementing a funding approach with a racial justice lens meant we had to listen, be responsive to gaps in our knowledge, and accept critique.
Two staff led the work – a Grants Advisor and the DEI and Engagement Officer.
An additional small team was established to support this work, made up of staff from across Corra with a range of expertise and backgrounds. This included staff with lived experience of racism and racial injustice.
All elements of the application journey from criteria, materials, marketing, pre-application support and reviewing applications were considered and changed with a focused racial justice lens. These changes are explored in the report in full.
Feedback from groups we work alongside and staff has been positive but recognises that we have more to do. In 2023, we developed a 10 point Anti-Racism action plan to further embed racial equity across our work. You can read more about this on the Racial Equity page.
Insights on taking a racial justice lens in grant making
- Develop a clear plan from that start that gives enough time to map out activities and a timeline for each step of the journey.
- Invest in relationships both internally and externally. We learnt that working across different teams in Corra helped to create a more rounded programme.
- Consider capacity building needs additional to money and how to help organisations to be sustainable and flourish in their communities.
- Allocate resource to help engage and reach the communities you are seeking to support.