The Social Justice Approach in Philanthropy

What is social justice philanthropy? How does social justice philanthropy challenge traditional giving models? Can power dynamics between funders and communities be re-shaped?

Social justice philanthropy seems at once more necessary, more contested and more threatened in these politically unstable times. Join us for a discussion of this landscape with Swatee Deepak and Priya Gupta, chaired by Professor Jonathan Roberts.

The event celebrates the publication of Jonathan Roberts’ and Swatee Deepak’s ground-breaking chapter “The Social Justice Approach to Philanthropy”, published in the new Handbook of Philanthropy and Social Policy, edited by Roosa Lambin, Jonathan Roberts and Rebecca Surender.

Meet our speakers

Jonathan Roberts

Jonathan Roberts is Teaching Director and Professor (Education) in Civil Society and Public Policy at the Marshall Institute. He leads the development of teaching activities at the Institute, where he has designed and developed the ground-breaking executive MSc programme in Social Business and Entrepreneurship (from 2018) and a Marshall Institute

specialism within LSE’s Master of Public Administration programme, the MPA in Social Impact. He is currently researching collaboration and coordination between philanthropic foundations. His work has been published in social policy, education, sociology and public administration journals.

Swatee Deepak

Swatee currently works with private and public foundations in strategy development and design, with individuals and families of wealth on their redistribution strategies and oversees a portfolio of businesses and start-ups across philanthropy, socially minded businesses and the arts. Swatee was previously Director of the With and For Girls Collective, a participatory fund by and for adolescent girls and prior was Director of Stars Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation focused on funding grassroots organisations working with children and young people around the world. She is a founding member of several collectives working across philanthropy and social justice movements including Closer Than You Think and Shake the Table and is Co-Chair of the Global Fund for Children and EMpower - The Emerging Markets Foundation, Advisory Member of L'Oreal Fund for Women and a Visiting Fellow of LSE's Marshall Institute.

Priya Gupta

Priya and her husband are co-founders of a charitable trust, which moves resources globally in service of racial, economic and gender justice goals. In this work, they seek to shift power to grassroots communities, uplift proximate leadership and catalyse private and public sector investment. Priya is also a Trustee of the Friends Provident Foundation, which makes grants and uses its endowment to move towards a fair and sustainable economic system that serves people and planet. Priya is the founder of a coaching and facilitation company, focused on creating more equitable and collaborative organisations, where everyone can thrive, and an anti-racism trainer. For 10 years, she ran strategic initiatives for US nonprofits at the forefront of equity initiatives in the affordable housing, foster youth, juvenile justice, education and health sectors. She began her career as an economist at the Bank of England and at Save the Children UK.

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