The Full Story

The Granby Racial Reconciliation (GRR) Opportunity Fund is a financial resource established to address historical injustices and systemic discrimination within our community. 

Our mission is to foster economic equity and promote social healing by funding initiatives that promote education, housing, business development, and other opportunities for marginalized people in and around Granby, Connecticut.

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Why an Opportunity Fund?

More than 150 years since the Civil War, 50 years since passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, Black citizens and People of Color still face enormous obstacles in achieving basic social and economic security. 

• Income: Black people continue to face discrimination in jobs [1,2], education [3.4], housing and health care

• Justice:  Black communities continue to be devastated by unequal treatment by law enforcement, the judicial system [5] and prisons [6]

• Wealth: Black households have on average only an eighth of the net worth of average white families – and the gap is getting larger. [7]

The United States is often called “the land of opportunity.” Imagine if opportunity is genuinely shared equally across our society, regardless of differences. There would be no racially based difference between the incomes, housing patterns, employment, education and health care of racial and ethnic groups in our society. There would be no racial or ethnic differences in incarceration rates or other measures of how people are treated in criminal justice in our nation. Every racial and ethnic group in our society would have the opportunity for wealth accumulation. 

These are worthy goals to work toward as we create “a more perfect union.” GRR sees the Opportunity Fund as a tool to make progress toward these goals. 

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The challenge of achieving socioeconomic equity is immense, but possible. And it starts with individuals like you. The Granby Racial Reconciliation group was founded with the goal of being a channel and resource for growth in areas like this. We exist as an organization to help you get started as an activist for causes that will support equity and justice here in Connecticut. So, where to begin? The nationally-renowned organization, Reparations4Slavery, recommends the following four steps for engaging in direct community repair: 

1. Fearlessness in facing shared history

2. Willingness to examine and reimagine our family and community narratives

3. Commit to working together to identify and unwind harm 

4. Using our personal resources to invest in repair 

To bring these visions to life here in Granby, the GRR created the Opportunity Fund to add a funding component to our organization that allows people to contribute — in money and action — to the effort. For the first phase of this fund, we have set three objectives that inform our goals and decision making: 

1. Support Black business and educational opportunities

2. Improve equity of public decision making systems (real estate/housing, voting, criminal justice, financing, etc.)

3. Showcase Black culture

Ultimately, we here at GRR aim to support the success of Black residents in our Granby community and invest in the contributions that they make to our economy and culture. In short, the GRR Opportunity Fund is an active way to explain and support racial reconciliation in our community. 

How Does the Opportunity Fund Work?

10% of all donations made to GRR are automatically allocated to the Opportunity Fund.  However, you may use the Donate to the GRR Opportunity Fund button on the sidebar of this page to allocate 100% of your donation to the Opportunity Fund.   Our multi-racial advisory committee then works with the GRR board, membership, and sponsors to translate these donations into resources that help Black residents thrive. For example, past and potential projects include: 

• Sponsoring and showcasing Black-owned businesses at the Granby annual Racial Unity Festival 

• Giving presentations at local chamber of commerce and HR industry events about equitable DEI practices and policies

• Coordinating the purchase and display of art created by local artists to represent Black culture in public buildings

• Researching and investigating historical harms and injustices committed in Granby and/or Hartford County, CT 

• Providing grants and scholarships to local People of Color residents working to achieve ambitious goals in education and business

So, what can YOU do to support local equity through the GRR Opportunity Fund? Here are some simple ideas:

• Consider reallocating a percentage of your monthly or annual philanthropic giving to the GRR Opportunity Fund (see sidebar)

• Join the GRR Opportunity Fund Advisory Committee. In less than two hours per month, you can help approve projects, mentor grant recipients, and measure fund impact. (see sidebar)

• Shop at Black-owned businesses. You can find businesses through our partner, ShopBlackCT, and mention GRR during checkout for additional discounts and/or rewards. 

• Donate your skills, talents, and services to the cause of GRR Opportunity Fund by emailing OppFund@GranbyRacialReconciliation.com. Event staffing, copywriting, public speaking, graphic design, bookkeeping — no matter what your area of expertise is, we have a place for you here!

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Footnotes:

 1.  $23/hour on average in Connecticut in 2020 for people of color, vs. $32/hour for whites.  https://nationalequityatlas.org/research/data_summary?geo=02000000000009000 

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 2.  People with white sounding names are more likely to get interviews - Bertrand, Marianne and Sendhil Mullaina than People of Color. "Are Emily And Greg More Employable Than Lakisha And Jamal? A Field Experiment On Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, 2004, v94(4,Sep), 991-1013

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 3.  About half the schools in Greater Hartford and Connecticut, are segregated, according to the Century Foundation - https://tcf.org/content/data/school-segregation-in-cities-across-america-mapped/ 

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 4.  For example, in 2017 22% of Black adults in Connecticut had college degrees, vs. 46% of white adults. Black college graduates earn 80% of what white college grads earn.  https://nationalequityatlas.org/lab/blackprosperity 

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 5.  https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/correctionalcontrol2023.html

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 6.   For example, Black Connecticut residents are nearly 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than white residents, according to The Sentencing Project -- https://www.sentencingproject.org/research/us-criminal-justice-data/?state=connecticut 

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 7.   https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-Ever-Growing-Gap-CFED_IPS-Final-1.pdf

Join the Opportunity Fund Advisory Committee