Axios Giving Tuesday: The Future of Philanthropy

The big picture: As the world looks for answers to pressing problems, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility have taken on an even more important role in the U.S. and globally.

Zoom in: On Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28, Axios senior reporter Erica Pandey hosted intimate conversations with:

• Misty Copeland, founder, Misty Copeland Foundation and principal dancer, American Ballet Theatre
• Caryn Campbell, executive director, Misty Copeland Foundation

1 big thing: The Misty Copeland Foundation focuses on bringing greater ballet diversity and accessibility to the underserved communities through an afterschool program called BE BOLD.

Copeland shared her vision behind creating the foundation:

• "...Ballet for so long has had these...microaggressions, you know, something as simple as the color of the pointe shoes, the color of the tights and the color of the ballet slippers. And as a black woman, I've always had to pancake my pointe shoes because there was nothing offered to black and brown dancers in their color...And it seems like such a small thing, but that's the first thing you get and receive as a young dancer...Learning about so many generations of other black and brown dancers who haven't felt that they were included was really the motivation behind starting the foundation."

Campbell discussed the gap in availability of afterschool programs for children:

• "It's troubling for many reasons...because kids in under-resourced communities don't have access to afterschool programming, and in particular after the pandemic. So there's a shortage. And we've seen through studies that having a strong afterschool program for these children helps them in school, as well as creating a whole child that learns in a completely different way. So it's very important..."

Sponsored content:

Kimelyn Harris, SVP of Bank of America Charitable Foundation, on how they discern which companies to partner with and invest in:

• "There's a lot of issues and a lot of...things that require attention. And so we are thoughtful in the ways that we invest and in the organizations that we partner with. We have four key pillars that we're focused on they're health, jobs, small business and community development...What we do is we think about what are the organizations that are really making impactful change, those that are proximate to the issues that matter to Bank of America, and those that align with our strategy and mission to really advance economic opportunity?"

Thank you to Bank of America for sponsoring this event.