At Zoom, we are obsessed with a customer-first approach to all that we do. This mentality drives our social impact efforts — including how we select and fund organizations. In the same way our customers know what they need to operate and deliver their services effectively, nonprofit leaders and issue area experts know what solutions they need to make positive change happen in their community.
This is exactly why we turned to seven individuals with lived experience and career knowledge in addressing mental health challenges to advise us in moving $2 million to support the well-being of young people disproportionately impacted by both COVID-19 and systemic racism. These advisors brought an intersectional lens of geographic diversity, cultural and racial identity, funder and classroom expertise, entrepreneurship, and firsthand understanding of marginalized communities around the world. Not only did the group select the organizations, they communally determined the allocation of funding as well.
This approach is oftentimes referenced as trust-based or participatory grantmaking and was facilitated by Forward Movement Consulting. The goal in ceding decision-making power to our advisors was to achieve greater impact than if we went about this work on our own. We trusted that their proximity to, and understanding of, the deeply rooted, centuries-old challenges affecting underserved populations would lead to more informed and more impactful funding outcomes.