Victoria Foundation began 2020 with a commitment to learning and organizational transformation. The foundation entered this year asking what they can do differently to attack the root causes of intergenerational poverty and community disinvestment. What can be done to shift the dynamics that reproduce them, year after year? Strongly believing history teaches us these dynamics stem from structural and institutional racism and segregation, a critical first step for Victoria Foundation was hearing from and learning about the perspectives of their grantees and other external stakeholders of these important questions. To do this, Victoria Foundation undertook an extensive survey and interview process of grantees and key community leaders and stakeholders. Creed Strategies administered the Victoria Foundation Grantee Survey in January 2020 and conducted 26 one-on-one interviews with a combination of grantee leaders and other external stakeholders in March 2020.

This inquiry of Victoria Foundation grantees took place prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread social protests. The severe impact of COVID-19, as well as those of the racial justice protests, on the City of Newark and its residents make these findings, and their implications for grantees, even more timely and consequential to the dynamics Victoria Foundation seeks to understand.

Download the 2020 Community Survey and Gathering to learn more.