Press release from Tzedek Social Justice Fund:
(Asheville, NC) – The Tzedek Social Justice Fund (Tzedek) is excited to announce that Rasheeda Hall and Philip Cooper are the winners of the Tzedek Brilliance Awards.
Tzedek Brilliance Awards honor Asheville’s leaders who have engaged in impactful, intersectional efforts to further racial justice and LGBTQ equality or to combat antisemitism. As opposed to the majority of Tzedek’s grantmaking that funds organizational work, Brilliance Awards are designed to cultivate the well-being of individual brilliant community leaders by recognizing and rewarding their past work to make Asheville a place where everyone can thrive.
The Tzedek Brilliance Awards are a one-time no-strings-attached grant of $50,000.
Rasheeda Hall received the Ella Baker Brilliance Award in honor of a Black community leader in Asheville who has empowered and organized others to address systemic oppression.
Philip Cooper received the Pauli Murray Brilliance Award in honor of a community leader who, like Pauli Murray, has been involved in a wide variety of social justice efforts and who leads with the knowing that all struggles for liberation are connected.
Inspired by transformative grantmaking models that change the power dynamics between funders and grantees, the Tzedek Brilliance Awards represent a practice of trust-based and community-based grantmaking.
“The struggle against systemic oppression requires many strategies and approaches. Conventional philanthropy often supports organizations, while ignoring the many strides made by individual leaders who have dedicated their lives to growing communities and who often work behind the scenes to keep the more visible collective work moving. The Brilliance Awards are a move to acknowledge and resource these efforts, in addition to collective work.” says Tzedek Executive Director Marsha Davis.
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