Thank you.
I think there is a tendency with Black-led organizations, even if the money is being allocated by another Black-led organization, to put a lot of reporting and administrative structures in place. For a $20,000 grant, I have a report that I have to fill out monthly. We have to say to them, “Hey, we're not doing this work every month. We're working with a consultant. We don't have something to report on every single month. Can we report quarterly?”
There is this tendency to over-report and put in a lot of administrative barriers. That's why I think there's a desire to ensure that the funding is allocated to the needs of the organization and not just a funding system that is prescriptive. Having an application, filling it out and then reporting every day until you basically end the six-month project isn't really helpful for the organization in terms of actually learning and putting the efforts in where they're most needed.
I agree that, of course, we have to account for how we're spending public dollars, but there is work to be done in terms of the trust with Black-led organizations and putting in administrative processes that make sense for the kind of work that's being undertaken.