June 23, 2026
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Press Release
Boston, MA – June 23, 2026 – Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) hosted its inaugural Reparative Philanthropy Awards honoring the Bush Foundation (St. Paul, MN) and Weingart Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ (GEO) 2026 National Conference in Boston. The award recognizes foundations that have boldly taken action toward embodying the power of truth and repair. Presented during DWP’s “Good Medicine” activation at the GEO opening reception, DWP’s Reparative Philanthropy Award recognized both foundations for their deep engagement with reparative philanthropic practices that have shifted both internal operations and external giving practices, leading to more transparency and authentic relationships with the communities they serve.
"We are honored to have worked with and now recognize the Bush Foundation and Weingart Foundation with DWP’s Reparative Philanthropy Award," said Edgar Villanueva, Founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project. "By first holding up the mirror and acknowledging history and truth, they have been able to take significant steps towards healing and repair, allowing for more authentic community engagement and to distribute capital in new and reparative ways to address systemic inequalities that have resulted in significant, persistent racial wealth gaps."
Since 2018, DWP's Reparative Philanthropy™ Framework, undergirded by the Seven Steps to Healing introduced in Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth (2018, 2021), has offered a clear path forward for the philanthropic industry to deliver on its purpose of using money as medicine. This reparative journey begins with acknowledging the harmful origins of wealth, then doing the work to build authentic relationships with the communities most harmed, and then moving resources to heal the harms caused. Using its framework, DWP has unlocked over $1 billion in new reparative giving through direct engagement with individuals and organizations. The Framework is recognized as a leading best practice in philanthropy and is shaping the future of giving.
"It has been an honor to be a part of Bush Foundation’s work in reparative philanthropy," said Jackie Statum Allen, program operations director at Bush Foundation. "We have done deep work to address racial wealth disparities - and shine a light on the lasting impacts of centuries of policy that has profoundly hurt Black and Native Americans in their efforts to build generational wealth - as well as understand the origins of Bush Foundation's own wealth and its impacts. What we’ve learned has led us to take reparative action and share power with the community to find solutions and focus our funding commitments to address those issues.
"We hope both of these examples of reparative philanthropy will inspire other foundations to see how they can be a part of this important work."
"Receiving one of the inaugural DWP Reparative Philanthropy Awards from Decolonizing Wealth Project is a profound honor for me and the entire Weingart Foundation team. We recognize that the wealth that established our foundation was created through policies and practices that excluded communities of color from wealth-building opportunities. By standing in solidarity with front-line leaders and shifting real power to communities, we have the opportunity to contribute towards repair as we collectively build new systems rooted in justice and dignity for all," shared Joanna Jackson, President and CEO at Weingart Foundation.
DWP’s Good Medicine activation and awards ceremony included a participatory art experience in collaboration with Artists for Humanity. Throughout the evening, attendees gathered in celebration of leaders and organizations working to reshape philanthropy through practices rooted in truth, healing, and repair. Earlier in the day, Decolonizing Wealth Project hosted a GEO conference panel titled, Reparative Philanthropy, An Urgent Healing Force in a Fractured Political Landscape, with Bush Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Weingart Foundation.
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ABOUT DECOLONIZING WEALTH PROJECT
Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is transforming wealth into collective wellbeing. Established in 2018 and led by Edgar Villanueva, an Indigenous award-winning author and expert on wealth, spirituality, and social justice, DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. DWP’s work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for social justice efforts. Through its fund and giving community, Liberated Capital, DWP has granted over $30 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by Black and Indigenous communities. In May 2025, DWP launched its 10-year Moonshot strategy to influence $1 trillion in reparative giving by 2035.
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