May 25, 2020: The murder of George Floyd, in Minneapolis. 

May 27, 2020: The death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, in Toronto. 

May 27, 2021: The recovery of 215 Indigenous children’s unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on the territory of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. 

The philanthropic sector’s immediate collective emotional response was anger, rage and demands for change. Eventually in the aftermath of these three events, companies and organizations put out their DEI statements, pledging to address systemic racism and self-labelled “allies” put up their Black squares on social media. 

The end result? Sadly, a whole lot of nothing. A couple of years later, the passion for systemic change and justice appears to have waned to the point of collective apathy.

The two of us came together to reflect