8/7/2017 In a Fearful Moment, This Growing Fund Channels Muslim American Philanthropy — Inside Philanthropy https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/7/25/in-a-fearful-moment-this-growing-fund-channels-muslim-philanthropy?utm_content=buffer0c13d&utm_mediu… 1/10 Explore New Funders with IP's GrantFinder Our Pathbreaking Guide to Top Grantmakers Search Now In a Fearful Moment, This Growing Fund Channels Muslim American Philanthropy Philip Rojc Custom Search Views Left 4
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In a Fearful Moment, This - PIllars FundUSA Today. Pillars is also interested in working with national funders like Unbound Philanthropy and nonprofits like Define American, which
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8/7/2017 In a Fearful Moment, This Growing Fund Channels Muslim American Philanthropy — Inside Philanthropy
If there’s a time for philanthropy to pay attention toAmerica’s Muslim community, that time is now. Underfire from the Trump administration and the right-wingpress, American Muslims are eager to push backagainst caricatures and intolerance and support eachother on the ground. The Pillars Fund is onegrantmaker that’s been leading the charge from withinthe Muslim community.
Founded several years ago, Pillars is the brainchild ofKashif Shaikh. A veteran of Chicago’s philanthropicsector with previous stints at the McCormickFoundation and the Chicago United Way, Shaikh spenthis early career in an environment where AmericanMuslims simply weren’t at the table. “[We] haven’tbeen on the radar, except in unfortunatecircumstances,” he says. “Foundations weren’texplicitly looking at working with Muslims because thetopic was too loaded and cumbersome.”
But it’s not that funders didn’t want to back AmericanMuslims. According to Shaikh, they just didn't knowhow. Making those connections is one reason whyShaikh decided to found Pillars in 2010, along with agroup of well-heeled donors.
Pillars started off with a giving circle model as a donor-advised fund at the Chicago Community Trust. Fromthose humble beginnings, it has grown into one of thenation’s largest funders of Muslim issues.
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8/7/2017 In a Fearful Moment, This Growing Fund Channels Muslim American Philanthropy — Inside Philanthropy
allow those communities to tell their own stories andset the record straight.
The Pillars Fund has given $2 million to these culturechange projects since 2010. They include comedianAasif Mandvi’s web series Halal in the Family andpartnerships with media organizations like Vox andUSA Today. Pillars is also interested in working withnational funders like Unbound Philanthropy andnonprofits like Define American, which are dedicatingresources to cultural initiatives that they hope will shifthow groups like Muslims and immigrants areperceived.
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The exciting thing, according to Shaikh, is that there’salso been a lot more buy-in from top funders likeKellogg, Ford, the Open Society Foundations, and theNathan Cummings Foundation. All four have chosen topartner with Pillars, and Ford recently threw in aparticularly large grant. As the Trump administrationcontinues insisting on versions of its Muslim ban,Pillars has become an “on-the ground voice forfoundations that are starting to get interested inengaging with American Muslims.”
Kellogg, for its part, provided the seed grant that letShaikh launch Pillars as an independent organization.
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8/7/2017 In a Fearful Moment, This Growing Fund Channels Muslim American Philanthropy — Inside Philanthropy