Who We Are

Advancing Racial Equity In the Field of Philanthropy, Non-Profit, and Fundraising

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ABOUT Breakin' It Down

MISSION

Breakin' It Down is dedicated to advancing racial equity in nonprofit, philanthropy, and fundraising.

Breakin' It Down, a fiscal sponsorship project of Mujeres Latinas En Accion, is volunteer-led. BID endeavors to contribute to economic empowerment and inclusive mobility in under-recognizerd. under-represented, and underserved communities in the Chicago area and career quality of diverse professionals and volunteers in the field who serve them, through relevant programming to actively strengthen their fundraising capabilities, fund development and resources, and mission impact.

VISION

To be the pivotal platform that focuses on advancing racial equity in the field and provides communication, cooperation, and collaboration among diverse fund development professionals who want to serve under-represented and underserved communities .

PURPOSE

To engage participants in dialogue about key challenges in the nonprofit, philanthropy, and fundraising sector and explore best practices and different revenue-generating and sustainability strategies, as well as how to meaningfully respond to the state of our society and shape it moving forward, inspired by a racial equity framework and lens of the practice of healing.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

GOAL 1. Serve Our Communities.

To provide learning, communication, and dialogue that focuses on the professional growth, opportunity, and advancement for the fund development professional in support of the communities we serve.
To encourage cooperative collaboration among diverse communities who share with us the goal of serving the under-represented and underserved.
To stimulate community engagement and leadership aimed at the achievement of racial equity as we participate in programs that already exist in the communities to which we belong.

GOAL 2. Improve Our Profession

Provide programming which promote professional growth and opportunity.
Provide quality learning which educates and develops skills and resources for the benefit of the community served.
Promote competence, ethical conduct, and professionalism.
Strengthen professional networking across different areas of expertise in the field.

GOAL 3. Eliminate Bias and Advance Diversity, Racial Equity, and Inclusion

Promote full and equal participation in the our profession and racial equity giving and grant making.
Promote agreement on the centrality of diversity and inclusion.
Eliminate implicit bias in the nonprofit profession and the philanthropic sector through promotion of intersectional racial equity lens and self-reflection.
Encourage new approaches and commitment to healing to seemingly intractable problems.

Breakin' It Down History

OUR HISTORY

For twenty years, the Breakin' It Down Planning Committee has held conferences focused on engaging diverse nonprofit and fundraising professionals in empowering conversations about the present state and future of the nonprofit, philanthropic, and fundraising sector and its impact on under-represented and underserved communities in the Chicago area. At that time, the field of nonprofit, philanthropy, and fundraising was undergoing noticeable professionalization, making nonprofits and the under-represented and underserved they sought to help more vulnerable to new institutional pressures and expectations as well as goal displacement, resource dependencies, and career quality of BIPOC professionals in the field. A group of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders spearheaded an inaugural conference in 2003.

The history and success of the Breakin' It Down conference are grounded in the culture of volunteerism and empathy embodied by its founders and committee members over the years. Over the years, BID has dedicated ourselves to partnering with diverse nonprofit, philanthropic, and community leaders in the city, to plan and execute our conference programs. We believe this is the best way to help our communities thrive, and to continue to provide our nonprofit professionals with opportunities to build acumen and strengthen networks integral to organization success.

The event brings together seasoned and emerging nonprofit professionals and administrators, academics, community activists, students, and other stakeholders who serve under-represented and underserved communities, with experts and distinguished philanthropic, nonprofit, and community leaders for a day of speakers, plenary panels, workshops, and professional speed networking with funders. It uses an interactive agenda that seeks to bring balance to expressive and instrumental elements and focuses on key challenges in the field, encouraging professional excellence, promoting professional opportunity through networking and collaboration, and exploring best practices and different sustainability strategies. Participants leave with an increased understanding of a substantive range of pertinent issues and an increased ability to be agents of change in our field.

FOUNDING PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

ASIAN AMERICANS & PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN PHILANTHROPY (AAPIP)

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS IN DEVELOPMENT (APAID)

BLACKS IN DEVELOPMENT (BID)

CENTER FOR ARAB AMERICAN PHILANTHROPY (CAAP)

CHICAGO AFRICAN AMERICANS IN PHILANTHROPY (CAAIP)

CHICAGO LATINOS IN PHILANTHROPY (CLIP)

LATINOS IN DEVELOPMENT (LID)