Studies show that income disparity worldwide is a crucial impediment to economic growth, wealth creation, political development, and social cohesion.
We have identified four underlying causes that drive inequality, inequity, and injustice.
Reducing
We believe all people have the right to basic needs, safety, and education irrespective of social, economic, or political influences. Today, many are denied this right.
With many historical advances, fundamental issues of inequality, inequity, and injustice remain and are our real challenge, limiting all aspects of potential achievement worldwide. Our primary focus in all our work is to reduce these imbalances wherever they exist.
These threats exist today here, in the United States. In other parts of the world, they are magnified such that deep-rooted and continuous discrimination make life unbearable. Beyond basic needs, we aim to provide safety and education so that people can understand, develop, and use their abilities to fulfill their potential.
What causes socioeconomic imbalances?
PERPETUAL AND PERVASIVE DISCRIMINATION
particularly against women and minorities
FAILURE TO INVEST AND PROTECT EDUCATION
including essential public services and goods
FAILURE OF ECONOMIC FAIRNESS AND EQUAL POLITICAL ACCESS
that intensify differences in living standards among nations
FAILURE TO EFFECTIVELY TACKLE DISASTERS
poorly handled natural and man-made – disasters prolongs suffering and weaken efforts to save lives
What do we work on?
To defeat these causes, we work and make grants with these themes in mind.
Our teams, partners, and volunteers combine the various program themes to engage our mission to reduce injustice innovatively.
How do we work?
Our philosophy of how we work is as important as the work we do. The foundation’s approach is to build systems and solutions continuously.
Systems
We support exceptional individuals and organizations so that they can be more successful.
Solutions
We invest in ideas and insight to create the most effective catalysts for positive change.
As we evolve through learning and study – so does our grantmaking process – and the foundation’s commitment to its cause has only become more resolute. We passionately believe that a diverse and robust community dedicated to challenging injustice can drive consequential social change.
Building systems and solutions
Progress in reducing injustice relies on combining the right system with the right solution, uniting innovative solutions with outstanding individuals and organizations who can implement them.
Solutions can be wide-ranging and can either prevail indefinitely or, with continual focus, grow each day. That is why, with each grant, we also look towards making our partners more successful in their initiatives so that our work continues after the project.
We expect the highest standards of transparency and accountability within our foundation and all our external contacts. Similarly, we expect the same of our partners, but without micromanagement. We support our partners because we believe they are extraordinary in what they do, so we aim to invest to further their success. We may provide additional multi-year or multi-generational support and even offer additional overhead funding for scalable or expanding projects.
Our focus is to provide both specific project support and strong core infrastructures. Support must be sustainable for a reduction of injustice. As opportunities for change arise, we do this because our partner organizations can move quickly to activate change. With the proper infrastructures and support, individual initiatives have a more significant impact and deliver continual progress.
What do organizations need?
To continually improve our thinking, we look to deepen our learning and knowledge to understand better how and which type of support will make the most difference. Every day we look to learn how non-profit organizations can become healthier and more resilient, both in the United States and worldwide.
We work closely with a diverse mix of partners and continually research core capabilities. We often ask ourselves the following questions:
- Which operational areas have been under-emphasized due to insufficient resources?
- Which fundraising areas have gone unaddressed?
- Which innovative ideas and programs have been pushed back in favor of more urgent needs and priorities?
At Sikhi Alpha, we ask our partners to lead the way in deciding how to improve core capabilities, whether adding more staff, improving systems, strengthening management teams and boards, or fundraising. Mutual learning benefits our organization and all our partners.