The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation says funding cuts tied to the anti-DEI movement threaten its 26-year mission to research, educate and advocate.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Research. Educate. Advocate.
For 26 years, that has been the mission of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation (OLBCF). But these days, their president, Shayla L. Davis, says they’re also focused on finding the funding to stay afloat.
“We’re underwater in terms of funding and being able to do the work that we do simply because a lot of corporations, grant makers and individuals have pulled back,” she said, “A lot of the reason is because of the anti-DEI movement that’s happening and sweeping across the nation.”
To help balance their bottom line they got rid of their office space in Columbus.
In January, the Trump administration issued an executive order ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI programs. The order described them as discriminatory – calling them “illegal and immoral.”
Davis tells 10TV they’re not a DEI organization. Instead, she said they advocate for issues like maternal health or voting rights that ultimately benefit everyone.
“If we talk about voter participation or voter suppression, and we talk about how that impacts the black community, what we’re actually talking about is how it impacts anyone else who’s also subjected or oppressed by those issues as well,” she said.
Now, Davis and the OLBCF board are putting out a call to the community to help them keep up their work.
“I say all the time an under-resourced community cannot be serviced by an under-resourced provider so for the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation to continue to be that resource, advocacy organization, we have to have the additional resources to support this underserved community,” said OLBCF board member Monica Womack.
