Vancouver Foundation’s Equity Matrix provides practical tool for funders to distinguish organizations serving equity-denied communities from those actually led by affected communities, addressing how well-intentioned funding often supports service providers rather than community self-determination. The matrix creates clear framework examining organizational leadership, decision-making power, and proximity to issues—recognizing that genuine equity requires resources flowing to communities defining their own solutions not professionals providing services to passive beneficiaries. Adapted from indigenous-led work, the tool embeds self-determination and community authority as foundational rather than optional considerations in equity funding.
Key Highlights
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Leadership Distinction: The matrix distinguishes serving communities from being led by communities—organizations can provide good services without redistributing power, while community-led initiatives center affected people in governance and decision-making.
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Proximity as Criterion: Vancouver Foundation emphasizes proximity to issue—those experiencing inequity understand problems and solutions better than distant experts—making proximity fundamental equity consideration not peripheral add-on.
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Self-Determination Centered: The tool positions community self-determination as core equity goal rather than improved services delivered by others, showing how funding choices either enable or undermine communities defining their own futures.
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Practical Application: The matrix provides concrete assessment framework funders can use when evaluating organizations, moving beyond abstract equity rhetoric to specific criteria about leadership, power, and proximity.
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Indigenous-Led Foundation: Vancouver Foundation explicitly credits indigenous organizers for developing framework, modeling how settler institutions should acknowledge and compensate indigenous knowledge rather than appropriating without attribution.
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Power-Aware Funding: The tool makes power visible in funding decisions, creating accountability around whether resources actually redistribute authority or maintain professional/expert control despite equity language.
Practical Applications
This matrix enables equity-centered funding:
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Funders can use the matrix when assessing grant applications, evaluating whether organizations genuinely center community leadership and proximity or primarily employ professional staff serving passive clients
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Community foundations can adopt the framework to ensure equity funding actually reaches community-led initiatives rather than exclusively supporting service providers with proximity to funders but distance from affected communities
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Organizations can self-assess using the matrix, understanding where they fall on spectrum from community-led to serving community and making intentional choices about governance and power distribution
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Advocates can reference the tool when demanding funding transformation, showing concrete criteria for evaluating whether philanthropy genuinely supports self-determination versus maintaining expert control
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Researchers can study how proximity and leadership affect organizational effectiveness, examining whether community-led initiatives achieve better outcomes than service providers for comparable resources
Connection With SuperBenefit
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Vancouver Foundation’s emphasis on community leadership versus service provision provides framework for SuperBenefit to evaluate whether coordination primitives enable genuine community self-determination or merely improve service delivery within unchanged power structures—showing that effective DAO governance requires centering those affected by decisions not just efficient implementation.
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The matrix’s focus on proximity validates SuperBenefit’s conviction that those experiencing challenges understand solutions better than distant experts, suggesting that coordination tools should amplify community wisdom rather than imposing predetermined frameworks claiming universal applicability—demonstrating that effective primitives enable communities to define their own coordination approaches.
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Vancouver Foundation’s indigenous attribution models how SuperBenefit should acknowledge knowledge sources and compensate wisdom-holders rather than appropriating frameworks without credit—showing that genuinely regenerative development requires honoring intellectual sovereignty and providing meaningful acknowledgment beyond nominal citation.
Related Concepts
- Power - Dynamics in funding and resource distribution
- Community - Organizations and movements being funded
- Coordination - Mechanisms for collective resource allocation
- Impact - Outcomes and effectiveness measures
- Governance - Decision-making in funding contexts