Community Feature
Rest is Justice
The pressures and challenges facing nonprofits, particularly those led by and serving Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) have only continued to intensify in recent years. Data has shown BIPOC-led organizations historically receive less funding and for many leaders, they are required to be resourceful and innovative with support, oftentimes leading to burnout.
The McGregor Fund says that at the onset of the pandemic, it became clear that nonprofit leaders needed more time for self-care. This led to a reorientation of the Fund’s Eugene A. Miller Fellowship program, which supports McGregor-funded nonprofit organizations in taking time away from their day-to-day responsibilities to focus on rejuvenation.
“What’s been different over this last decade is that the environment in which our nonprofit partners and their leaders operate has changed profoundly,” Kate Levin Markel, president of the McGregor Fund said. “The pandemic experience inflicted unspeakable difficulty into our lives in so many ways, and specifically for the organizations that the McGregor Fund supports. Now we have an existential crisis in terms of federal support for the very essence of what many of our partners do, what’s expected of them, and what funding they receive in order to carry out those expectations.”
The fellowship program provides nonprofit leaders with a sabbatical, not one focused on professional development but rather what Markel says is the “gift of time” to focus on their own wellness and rejuvenation.
In 2024, the fund shared its expanded Rest is Justice work, noting: “Our grant partners have asked us to listen, to trust and to act. We call on our funding colleagues to join us as we respond. We know: Rest is Justice.”
“That rest is justice is a learning that comes out of these experiences of people in leadership roles trying to manage extraordinary expectations that are beyond what a person can typically handle,” Levin Markel said. “I do think it’s important for funders to really center the wellness of their grantee partners, and to truly do that, you have to believe deeply that you exist as a foundation to support your grant partners. That is why you are here.”
Kate Levin Markel
President
McGregor Fund
Monica Marie Jones
Personal and Executive Coach
The Fund also partners with Monica Marie Jones, a personal and executive coach, to work directly with Miller fellows to overcome barriers they may be facing in planning for and truly resting during their sabbaticals and create connections throughout the cohort of fellows.
“One of the beautiful things I’ve seen through this work is the humanity of the leaders because we just see, oh, they’re superheroes, they’re rock stars, look at these awards. But what we don’t see because they created a vulnerable space for them to be with other leaders who understand it, to say, ‘Hey, you know, in addition to what you see in the public, I’m also raising young children, I’m also managing health issues due to the stress and burnout, I’m caring for loved ones.’ That’s what my work has really intersected with, centering humanity and healing and rest, because so often leaders, all we just see is the shiny parts. But we don’t understand that there’s a whole other part they’re managing simultaneously,” Jones said.
Jones created a rest support framework and approach that includes coaching through the fellowship application process, thought partnership for their sabbatical plan and what she calls “loving accountability” to ensure they are focusing on themselves and rejuvenation as well as overall cohort connections and supports.
“When you have time off, and you haven’t had time off in years, and you’ve never rested or prioritized fun or anything, it’s like, ‘how do I actually do this?’ Sometimes it’s just literally me going to the Yoga class with them or sending them a text asking ‘Did you drink that water today?’” Jones said. “It’s reminding them they have permission from themselves to rest.”
Jones said she would tell other funders considering this type of program to do as the Fund has, in embedding a continuous improvement process where you are constantly learning and then adjusting accordingly.
“Even when there are some of the strongest trusting relationships between a funder and a partner, there’s still a power dynamic so it can easily feel like ‘Oh, I have to prove my worthiness for rest,’” Jones said.
The McGregor Fund shares that rest “should not be for a privileged few but liberation for all.”
Levin Markel says philanthropy can and should step in to provide dedicated time for rest and rejuvenation for strained nonprofit leaders.
“You have to really believe and operate as though you are in relationship with these partners because they are your reason for being, and you’re only as useful as you have strong, healthy partners doing good work to support. And in fact, you are accountable to that community you say you’re here to serve.”
Want more?
Learn more about the McGregor Fund’s Miller Fellowship.
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