Give It Up: Direct Giving as a Critical Engagement and Base Building Strategy
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Friday, Jul. 12 1:30 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Friday, Jul. 12 2:30 PM (Eastern)
Poverty and lack of access to the means to exit from poverty disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx folks, LGBT and gender non-confirming folks, those with disabilities and single parents. Seventy percent of the country believes that redistribution of wealth should be part of our tax and social policy. While we should support these policies, we needn’t wait to act on the local level. Join us to hear strategies for developing a donor base, coordinating direct giving and demonstrating how everyday people with an internet connection can help provide for their communities on small and large scales. The panelists will share how they have fed thousands, housed hundreds, bailed out many and continue to use their voices and platforms to help the most marginalized.
Moderator
Panelists
Creighton Leigh
Creighton Leigh is Philly born and raised, but she is currently a New York-based writer, speaker and organizer working and advocating at the intersections of Blackness, femmehood, queerness and fatness. She is a wife of an amazing woman, and mother of two of the most beautiful tiny humans.
Creighton is a former sexual health educator who specialized in HIV counseling and testing. During pregnancy, Creighton suffered from Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), which led to a traumatic life-changing pregnancy, labor and delivery. After becoming a mother, she continued to suffer setbacks that were not taking serious due to medical racism. She was finally given a diagnosis one year too late which led to a three-month hospitalization and loss of major organs. She was unable to return to work full-time. This led her to become more vocal about the effects of racism and sexism. Misogynoir.
Creighton founded Voix Noire to create content that exposed misogynoir. As Voix grew, Creighton saw the disparities within her community, and it was clear that her mission needed to shift from writing to organizing. Creighton paused Voix Noire and used her social media platforms to organize. The demand was so great she knew Voix Noire needed to shift and became a reparations-based platform. Her mission is to fill the gap and fulfill the needs and wants of Black women, marginalized genders and children. From housing assistance, to grocery deliveries to movie theater buyouts, Creighton works tirelessly securing funding to support and serve the community.
Creighton’s mission is to continue meeting the needs of those most marginalized within the Black community by doing the work. Voix Noire’s mission to become the most successful, unapologetic reparations-based platform.
Leslie Mac
Leslie Mac is a Brooklyn born & raised activist who founded the Ferguson Response tumblr to connect nationwide efforts supporting Black organizers working to create lasting social change.
Projects include the Movement for Black Lives Convening & Women’s Freedom Conference She attended Northwestern University and is the founding Board Chair of the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Organizing Collective and was recently nominated to the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees.
In 2016 Leslie co-founded Safety Pin Box, which was featured in NY Magazine The Daily Show, Vice News & more. She was named to Essence Magazine’s list of 100 Woke Women and BlogHer’s 2017 Voice of the Year of Impact.
A seasoned Digital Strategist, Leslie helps her clients create diverse campaigns that focus on inclusivity and justice-minded content. She speaks nationally & conducts anti-racism training to supports institutions in the work of dismantling white supremacy. She recently launched Resist University, a real world & online anti-racism learning platform that includes the groundbreaking #AlliesInAction Intensive Bootcamp.