An Advancing Racial Justice Fund for Scotland

This week marks a significant moment in our Equity, Diversity, Participation, and Rights (EDPR) journey. We are pleased to launch the search for a Funding Officer to lead the delivery of our upcoming Advancing Racial Justice Fund - a key pillar of our EDPR commitment.

Co-developed by The Robertson Trust, this fund will support Black and People of Colour (PoC) communities in dismantling systemic racism, driving lasting social change, and achieving racial justice in Scotland.

Since 2022, we have been on a journey to deepen our understanding of power, justice, and equity, including what this means for our work, our funding, and the communities we are here to serve. We have embraced a whole organisational approach to anti-racism, trauma-informed practice and a stronger commitment to involving those with lived experience in decision-making.

The Advancing Racial Justice Fund has been shaped through a discovery phase, during which we listened closely to people and organisations leading grassroots work by and for Black communities and people of colour in Scotland. What we heard was clear: there is a gap in Scotland for flexible, accessible funding that enables community-led action on racism, poverty, and trauma. 

Even though data on race in Scotland is limited, the evidence that we do have paints a clear picture of systemic racial inequality leading to disproportionate rates of poverty. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s 2024 report found that people in Bangladeshi, Black African, and Pakistani households are around 3 times more likely to move into very deep poverty each year, with incomes far below the poverty line, compared to people in white households. The Scottish Government’s Best Start Bright Futures plan (2022–2026) also highlights how child poverty is highest in Black and minority ethnic households, lone parent households, and households that include disabled people.

Behind these statistics are real lives and experiences, which call for thoughtful, urgent, and collective action - one where power holders, including funders, work in partnership with community organisations and anti-racist leaders to develop new ways of working that:

• Share power along anti-racist, intersectional, anti-oppressive lines;
• Centre lived experience and antiracist knowledge in decision-making; and
• Sustain movements for change by dismantling the scarcity framework of funding.

While we have been able to convene the discovery and co-design phases of the Advancing Racial Justice Fund so far, we recognise that we do not have the range of lived experience and cultural competence to carry this work forward alone.

We know that we have the greatest chance of success if our staff teams draw upon a wide range of experience and knowledge. We see this role as critical to contributing to our ability to shift power in how we fund and support Black and PoC community organisations and groups.  This role will bring the expertise, capacity, and cultural insight we need to do this work well, and in genuine partnership with the communities it is designed to support.

We particularly welcome applications from those with lived experience, anti-racist knowledge (especially in the funding sector), and an understanding and track record of working with Black and PoC Community organisations at a grassroots level.

Earlier this year, we were pleased to support the Foundation Practice Rating’s #ThreeCommitments campaign, a call for foundations to publicly commit to improving transparency, accountability, and diversity. For 2025, we have committed to:

• Publishing a breakdown of the diversity of our staff and trustees with respect to gender, ethnicity, and disability.
• Publishing data about the diversity of our grant holders.
• Regularly providing our data on awarded grants in a downloadable (open) format.

These commitments reflect our ongoing effort to become a more transparent, accountable, and diverse organisation, and we will share updates on our progress throughout the year.

We look forward to sharing more details about the Advancing Racial Justice Fund, including the specific funding priorities and what will be in and out of scope for funding. In the meantime, you can sign up for our mailing list to keep informed on updates relating to this work.