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Calling all Black and Indigenous owned businesses: If you need a space for photoshoots, classes, or workshops, The Garden, Strathcona is offering you their studio space for free. To inquire about space, contact them at [email protected]

Within a generation, every Indigenous student will graduate. Driven by this vision, Indspire invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students across Canada for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. More and more Indigenous students are attending or wanting to attend post-secondary education but aren’t able to access the funds and resources they need. Indspire provides financial awards, programs, and resources to help them achieve their highest potential. DONATE to support their work in making this vision a reality (you will get a tax receipt for your contribution): https://indspire.ca/

This weekend, discover local Black-owned businesses with the AfroBiz directory. It’s great to see quite a few listed for Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond and Burnaby already. Be sure to add your own business if it's not already on here! Visit Afrobiz here: https://www.afrobiz.ca/

Ni Wakati supports African immigrant and refugee women in making informed choices about their health and social needs. Navigating a new healthcare system as an African newcomer can pose several challenges, such as language barriers and stigma around your health conditions from your own community. Ni Wakati (also known as African Women's Health Services Society) addresses and advocates for these issues that affect newcomer women as they settle here. DONATE to support their work through the link in our bio. You will get a tax receipt for your contribution. http://niwakati.org/

Adriana Laurent wants to create policies that enable people to migrate safely to Canada when they have been impacted by climate change. She also sees the importance of such policies with the people most impacted at the center, in a way that acknowledges their experiences. "Within BIPOC communities, there are also other ways to be marginalized, whether we talk about sexuality, immigration status, genderto be able to take an intersectional approach is important," she says. Get to know Adriana on the LEVEL blog: https://levelvf.ca//ypp2020-spotlight-why-intersectionali/

Take Harvard University’s Implicit Association Test to measure your biases and how strongly your positive or negative associations are with different groups of people. All of us hold biases that we aren’t aware of. It doesn’t mean we are a bad person since much of this is learned from media, education, and the world around us. But if we do not become aware of and adjust for them, then we continue to unknowingly perpetuate racism in our every day actions.... Take the test here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/canada/takeatest.html

Through the pandemic, Black Women Connect has continued to host events for their community to connect. Listen to a few live interviews with their members. Learn more about their work here. Be sure to make a donation if you like what they do:

"I may collaborate with people on projects whose impact I will not live to see fully, but I have to set an intention that this work will be kind to people and planet in the long term." Njoki Mburu is a LEVEL Youth Policy Program participant passionate about advocating for the rights of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Get to know Njoki on our blog. #bcnonprofit #philanthropy https://levelvf.ca//ypp2020-spotlight-driving-social-chan/

Daily Dose of Blackness is a podcast and blog run by Black youth living in Surrey, BC. Listen to their interview with Minnijean Brown-Trickey, a civil rights activist and one of the Little Rock Nine. Little Rock Nine was a group of nine Black students enrolled in a then-racially segregated high school in Arkansas in 1957. Minnijean has spent much of her life living in Canada, and this interview surfaces her thoughts on current issues in both the US and Canada. LISTEN to this... episode here. If you loved the episode, you can also support their work by donating: https://www.dailydoseofblackness.com/podcasts #blackyouth #bcbipoc #podcast

Eid mubarak to our friends and colleagues celebrating Eid al-Adha (or the "Festival of Sacrifice")! We love hearing about how people are adapting celebrations this year for physical distancing. Thanks for bringing us this story, The Tyee! #bipoc https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2020/07/29/Bring-Eid-Home/

The Black Therapy & Advocacy Fund has helped 25 Black people living in the Lower Mainland are access five months of therapy at no cost. Their next fundraising goal is $200,000. #bipoc #mentalhealth Support them here: https://ca.gofundme.com/f/vancouver-black-therapy-amp-advoc

Here are some nonprofits and charities advancing racial equity by investing in Indigenous and racialized newcomer youth to become leaders in sector. Many are doing this by creating new paid positions, bringing on new board members, and nurturing new community leaders. We are so thrilled to support the future of nonprofit leadership with the LEVEL Youth Grant program. https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca//18-organizations-advan

It has been disappointing and hurtful to see and experience the growing number of attacks and hate against people who are visibly Asian in correlation to the COVID-19 crisis, says Julia Chai, a LEVEL Youth Policy Program Participant. In the time of a global pandemic, community and solidarity should be used as a method of healing and support. The continuing rise of anti-Asian racism in the midst of the pandemic makes these words especially meaningful. Read more: https://levelvf.ca//ypp2020-participant-spotlight-racial-/ #YPP2020

Lindsay Keegitah Borrows of Chippewas of Nawash First Nations is a lawyer and researcher who supports Indigenous communities with revitalizing their traditional laws for a contemporary context and traditional languages for storytelling. We’re grateful to have her as part of #YPP2020 faculty where she shares her wisdom on the important relationship between Indigenous laws and languages. To support her work and learn more, check out her book: Otter’s Journey through Indigenous Language and Law: http://www.ubcpress.ca/otters-journey-through-indigenous-la #NationalIndigenousPeoplesDay

On #WorldRefugeeDay, we want to highlight Byron Cruz who has worked tirelessly in grassroots communities to support migrant communities. He arrived in Canada more than 25 years ago as a refugee from Guatemala. Now, he brings his lived experience and passion to his work to ensure safe working conditions and access to health services and essential needs for ALL migrants, including undocumented communities and migrant farm workers. As a Youth Policy Program faculty member, we’re grateful for the wisdom and support he shares with LEVEL. Learn more about his work in community: http://ow.ly/FfuX50AcTZp

One of the many great charities supporting refugees is Rainbow Refugees. If you are wondering about more ways to participate in #WorldRefugeeDay this Saturday (June 20), you can consider donating to Rainbow Refugee. DONATE here: https://www.rainbowrefugee.com/donate

Vancouver Foundation launched LEVEL in 2018. LEVEL's existence does not excuse Vancouver Foundation from being held accountable to how our organization has perpetuated racism, and from acknowledging that we need to do better. As such, Vancouver Foundation and LEVEL make five commitments to showing up for Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities by ongoing learning, investment, and advocacy. Thank you to our community for challenging us, always. #bcnonprofit

"COVID-19 put a harsh spotlight on the anti-Asian racism that has always existed in Canada," says Rachel Cheang, a LEVEL Youth Public Policy participant. "While many racist attacks of late have targeted Chinese-Canadians, there is no better time for us to address anti-Blackness within and towards Indigenous, Black and other Asian communities in Vancouver." Rachel's words are timely, given that today was declared the Day of Action Against Racism in Vancouver. ... https://levelvf.ca//ypp2020-participant-spotlight-bipoc-s/

Racial equity and justice are in short supply. Funders are coming together Jun 23-24 for the Racial Equity & Justice in Philanthropy Funders' Summit to learn how to further racial justice with philanthropy. With speaker Lori Villarosa, founder of Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, and more speakers to be announced. This summit is in partnership with The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Real Estate Foundation and Vancouver Foundation.... Learn more here: https://levelvf.ca/about/events-key-dates/

Site visits can open doors for stronger funder/grantee relationships and the chance to learn from each other, especially in doing racial equity work. From how to set the tone to acknowledging power, LEVEL grant coordinator, Abeer Yusuf offers ways that helped LEVEL create space for this. While we're unable to meet in person right now, we want to share what we've learned with other funders interested in this practice. Read more: https://levelvf.ca//how-to-build-grantee-relationships-th/