Celebrating Pride Week with Matt Easterwood and Daa’iyah Rahman: The Future of Philanthropy Is Intersectional

We were so wowed by the perspectives of Matthew Easterwood and Daa'iyah Rahman, originally published in AFP Global's Advancing Philanthropy magazine, The Future of Philanthropy Is Intersectional: Leading with Inclusion for Maximum Impact, that we wanted to share their voices with the Donor Boom community.

This article challenges nonprofit leaders to move beyond performative DEI efforts and build fundraising strategies rooted in trust, belonging, and lived experience. Their thought-provoking piece explores how intersectionality can strengthen donor engagement, leadership, program design, and long-term impact. Thank you, Matt and Daa'iyah, for sharing your wisdom. Read the article below! 

Why Intersectionality Is No Longer Optional

The future of philanthropy isn’t theoretical—it’s already here. And it’s demanding that nonprofit leaders confront a difficult truth: the systems many of us rely on were not built for the full diversity of the communities we now serve.

For decades, fundraising has centered comfort, access, and proximity to power. Those systems generated revenue, but they also excluded people whose identities, lived experiences, and leadership styles didn’t fit the mold. Today’s donors, staff, and community members are calling that out. They expect more than symbolic gestures or surface-level DEI statements. They want alignment between values and practice.

Intersectionality gives us a framework to meet that moment. Not as a buzzword, but as a lens for understanding how real people move through real systems and how philanthropy can either reinforce harm or actively disrupt it.

This article draws from a session we co-led at AFP LEAD, focused on helping fundraising and nonprofit leaders move from intention to action. Our goal is simple: to show what intersectional philanthropy looks like in practice and why it is essential to building trust, relevance, and long-term impact.

What Is Intersectional Philanthropy?

Intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, helps us understand how overlapping identities—race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, class, religion, immigration status, geography, and more—shape people’s lived experiences within systems of power.

In philanthropy, intersectionality challenges the idea that donors or communities experience barriers one at a time. It pushes back on one-size-fits-all approaches to fundraising, leadership, and program design. Instead, it asks us to see people as whole and complex and to respond accordingly.

Intersectional philanthropy recognizes that:

• Donors are not just giving vehicles; they are shaped by culture, identity, and history.

• Communities do not experience oppression in silos.

• Fundraising strategies that ignore social and political context often miss the mark.

When we flatten people’s identities, we flatten our impact. Intersectionality restores depth, honesty, and humanity to philanthropy.

The Four Layers Philanthropy Must Account For

A useful way to understand intersectional philanthropy is by looking at four interconnected layers:

1. The Individual

Every donor and community member brings their own story, values, and lived experience. No one is simply a “type” of donor or a demographic box to check.

2. Group Membership

Each of us belongs to multiple communities at once, based on race, gender, sexuality, disability, class, faith, or family structure. These identities overlap and influence how people engage with organizations.

3. Social Context

People live within political, economic, and cultural realities that shape their sense of safety and belonging. Anti-trans legislation, economic instability, community trauma, and threats to civil rights all affect how—and whether—people engage in philanthropy.

4. Systems of Oppression

Racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and classism are not abstract concepts. They show up in hiring practices, donor recognition, board composition, grantmaking criteria, and data systems.

Intersectional philanthropy asks us to design fundraising and leadership strategies that respond to all four layers, not just the most visible one.

Living Intersectionally: From Concept to Practice

Intersectionality only matters if it shows up in real decisions. This is where many organizations struggle—not because they don’t care, but because translating values into practice requires structural change.

We focus on four areas where intersectionality must be actively lived: grantmaking, program design, leadership and representation, and evaluation.

1. Intersectional Grantmaking

Traditional grantmaking often rewards organizations with polish, proximity, and institutional familiarity. Intersectional grantmaking shifts that dynamic by prioritizing proximity to the work and lived experience.

Key practices include:

• Funding organizations led by Queer, BIPOC, disabled, immigrant, and rural communities.

• Providing flexible, multi-year, unrestricted funding.

• Reducing unpaid labor in application and reporting processes.

• Shifting from metrics-only accountability to relationship-based trust.

  
  

This approach isn’t about lowering standards; it’s about redefining impact. Communities facing layered barriers are often the most underfunded, yet closest to the solutions. Intersectional grantmaking recognizes that reality and responds accordingly.

2. Intersectional Program Design

Many organizations unintentionally recreate harm by designing programs for communities rather than with them. Good intentions alone are not enough. Intersectional program design means:

• Co-creating from the beginning, not after decisions are already made.

• Accounting for both visible and invisible barriers: cost, transportation, language access, trauma, cultural erasure, and safety.

• Continually asking: Who is this working least well for?

  
  

Programs should be designed around complexity, not convenience. People’s lives are layered. Effective programs must be, too.

3. Leadership and Representation

Representation without power is not equity, it’s optics.

Intersectional leadership requires examining who holds decision-making authority, who controls resources, and whose voices shape strategy. This includes boards, executive leadership, and fundraising leadership in particular.

If an organization’s public-facing leadership consistently reflects the most privileged identities—while community members do the labor behind the scenes—trust erodes.

Intersectional leadership means:

• Hiring, promoting, and compensating people with lived experience.

• Valuing that experience as leadership expertise.

• Building real pathways to influence, not symbolic seats at the table.

Leadership that reflects the community strengthens credibility, strategy, and long-term sustainability.

4. Intersectional Evaluation and Learning

Evaluation is where values are either reinforced or quietly abandoned. Intersectional evaluation asks:

• Who benefits from this data?

• Who is missing from it?

• What outcomes matter to the community itself?

This means disaggregating data by race, gender identity, disability, and other identities when appropriate. It also means valuing qualitative measures—trust, belonging, relationship, and dignity—alongside traditional outputs.

When organizations prioritize volume over depth, they miss the transformations that matter most.

Intersectionality as a Daily Practice

Living intersectionally is not about having the perfect language or the most polished framework.

It’s about asking better questions and being willing to sit with discomfort. Questions like:

• Whose story are we telling?

• Who is consistently missing from the room?

• Are we designing with people or just about them?

  
  

Our systems often reward ease, familiarity, and proximity to power. Intersectional practice challenges that by choosing nuance over simplicity and honesty over convenience. It asks leaders to slow down, listen more deeply, and resist assumptions.

Why the Future of Philanthropy Depends on This

Donors today are paying attention. They want to know whether an organization’s values show up in its decisions, not just its statements. They are looking for authenticity, alignment, and accountability.

Intersectional philanthropy is not an add-on. It is foundational to building trust with communities whose experiences have long been marginalized or ignored. It allows people to see themselves fully reflected in the mission and to engage more deeply because of it.

A Call to Act Now

The future of philanthropy is intersectional because the future of our communities is intersectional.

Organizations that continue to fundraise for a narrow version of the world will struggle to remain relevant. Those willing to rethink power, redesign systems, and center lived experience will not only raise more money, they will build stronger, more resilient movements.

Intersectionality is not about being perfect. It’s about being present, responsive, and committed to doing better.

The future isn’t waiting. It’s already here, and philanthropy must rise to meet it.

About the Authors

Matthew Easterwood

Matthew Easterwood is the Founder & CEO of Queer For Hire, a Queer-led fundraising and strategy firm advancing intersectional, community-centered philanthropy. In its first year, Queer For Hire supported organizations nationwide that collectively raised more than $15.5 million, helping nonprofits move beyond performative inclusion toward sustainable, values-aligned fundraising.

With more than 13 years in nonprofit leadership, Matthew brings an intersectional lens

to building cultures of philanthropy, engaging LGBTQIA+ supporters across the full

donor lifecycle, and redesigning fundraising systems to center belonging, shared power,

and trust. His work supports Queer nonprofits, educates ally organizations and

fundraising professionals, and coaches LGBTQIA+ people navigating fundraising and

leadership pathways.

Matthew is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, a Certified Fund Raising Executive, and

serves as 2026 President of the AFP Golden Gate Chapter.

Daa'iyah Rahman,

Daa’iyah Rahman (she/her) is a community-centered fundraiser and engagement leader

advancing intersectional, relationship-driven philanthropy. She currently serves as Engagement

Manager at Open Doors Academy, where she focuses on individual giving, storytelling, and

authentic community connection rooted in lived experience. Named to Crain’s Cleveland 2024

40 Under 40, Daa’iyah brings a background in youth advocacy, education, and community

development to her work.

Approaching philanthropy through an intersectional lens, Daa’iyah centers whole people—not

profiles—recognizing how race, gender, faith, family, and social context shape generosity and

belonging. Her leadership emphasizes trust-building, cultural humility, and designing engagement strategies with communities rather than for them. A Howard University alumna,

Daa’iyah began her career in public service on Capitol Hill and continues to bridge policy,

practice, and community voice in her fundraising work.