Philanthropic Roots

"Poverty isn't only a lack of financial resources, it is an isolation from the kind of people that can help you make more of yourself." -Keith Ferrazzi

I have been thinking a lot lately about what foundations are doing to address the root causes of injustice and poverty in our communities. At a Black men and boys conference that I attended Alvin Starks of the Open Society Institute had an important thought about this issue, he said the question shouldn't be what is wrong with Black men and boys, the question should be what is wrong with a society that would completely write off a whole section of its population?

What are we doing as a field to address root causes of problems? Are we just skimming the surface and avoiding the real questions because they are too hard?