NORTHAMPTON — Though they may be headquartered in small offices under one roof in downtown Northampton, two social justice nonprofits have their eyes focused several thousand miles away in political hot spots like Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina where voting rights are under attack.
But it’s from those offices at 150 Main St. where the leaders of the Solidago Foundation and the See Forward Fund are making critical decisions about what organizations they will fund that will work to uphold voter rights in states far away from Massachusetts and New England.
It’s a mission — to uphold democracy in the wake of recent political turmoil, specifically the 2020 election cycle — that newly appointed Executive Director Linda Stout aims to continue.
“As the South does, so does the rest of the country,” says Stout, explaining why Massachusetts residents should be concerned with the funding efforts of these organizations.
To clarify her point, Stout, who is overseeing both foundations, spoke of the civil rights movement, stating that voices from northern states were needed to make changes happen in the South. In her opinion, the same support is required now.
The Solidago Foundation was founded by Joseph and David Rosenmiller in 1996 to fund social, environmental and racial grassroots campaigns. It has awarded over 3,600 grants across the country, including funding community organizers in Georgia who were working to raise voting numbers for the 2020 election.
In 2006, the Rosenmillers founded the See Forward Fund, which provides funding to nonprofit organizations in low-income communities.
Stout said that these foundations are linked because “it’s how we fund.” In other words, the sister organizations allow the people behind the Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund to donate more money to causes they care about.
Stout currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina, a growing arts hub nestled in North Carolina’s Blue Hill Mountains. Though she lived in western Massachusetts for many years, she will carry out her duties from her home in North Carolina, allowing her to accomplish the work that the Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund are aiming to do in person.
Stout met David Rosenmiller when she lived in Amherst and joined the board of the Solidago Foundation in 2005. Additionally, she founded the organization Spirit in Action while in western Massachusetts, a group that has since relocated to North Carolina and works to support community growth.
From North Carolina, Stout said she can identify with many of the issues that the Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund hope to address from personal experience. For example, she recalled an incident when she drove to her polling station in Asheville and was greeted by men in a pickup truck brandishing weapons and Confederate flags. Despite how outlandish this might sound to a person living in Northampton, it was not very surprising to Stout.
“They use it to intimidate voters,” she claimed, similarly referring to local sheriffs bringing military tanks and helicopters to polling stations.
Along the same lines, Stout spoke of a law that banned organizations from passing out water at polling stations to voters standing in hourslong lines.
The Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund are not associated with any political party, but Stout said they are concerned with voters who have been “left out of the democratic system.” Additionally, she referenced “control of women’s bodies,” “gerrymandering of our [North Carolina’s] districts,” and “a lot of right-wing extremists,” when asked why the Solidago Foundation’s website claims that there have been recent “assaults on our democratic system.”
Stout said the Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund have not only powered innovative, grassroots programs for decades but they’ve also consistently defined new best practices along the way. She said she is “honored and excited to take on the next phase of this work and partner with funders across the country to build the progressive movement we all want to see.”
The Rev. Dr. John Vaughn, the executive pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a member of the board at Solidago, said in a statement that the board chose Stout because she “brings the experience and vision we need to meet the frontline challenges we face to be truly inclusive of all voices.” He also acknowledged her expertise in grantmaking and campaign strategy as other reasons for her recent hire.
“Linda has a remarkable ability to unite diverse voices in the fight for progress and justice,” David Rosenmiller said in the statement.
Stout has more than 40 years of experience as a community organizer and is the author of four books, including her most recent “Building Power to Win.” She also has been honored with the Freedom Fighter Award of the Equal Rights Congress.