On May 25th, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin. Since then, protests across the nation have risen up en masse to demand real, immediate action against this brutal crime, and against the continued discrimination and terror Black Americans have faced for generations.

At Tides, we stand against this act of violence. We stand in solidarity with our Black sisters and brothers who are marching in the streets alongside their allies to demand systems change. This isn’t a time to be silent —this is a time to listen, rise up, raise your voice, and demand action. Read more about our condemnation of racism and what you can do to contribute to the fight for justice here.

This month, we also want to take a moment to lift up Pride and the LGBTQ community. In honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in NYC, each June, Pride celebrates the tipping point for gay rights in the United States. This is an important reminder that all societal change starts with taking a stand. An ally to the National AIDS Memorial Grove since 1996, Tides is proud to continually support the movement. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our lives, learn more about how AIDS memorial mask makers are using their skills to support communities most in need.

Since the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, protests have risen up across the United States⁠—and the world⁠—demanding acountability and concrete action against police brutality and the cycle of oppression against Black Americans. In light of the most recent police killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and David McAtee, Tides stands in solidarity with our Black sisters and brothers—but we know that is not enough. We must also act. Read more.

A longtime ally to the National AIDS Memorial (NAM), which became a Tides’ social venture partner in 1996, Tides is proud to fund NAM’s new mask-making project through our Stronger Together COVID-19 Response Fund. Read more about how, in the six weeks since they started, NAM volunteers have produced over 2,000 masks and counting!

Want to support the protests? One way is to support local bail funds across the country. Bail fees further repress and cause harm to communities of color already suffering from structural racism in the legal system. During protests and their aftermath, pretrial detention is often used to suppress dissent and disrupt community organizing. To combat this, the National Bail Fund Network, managed by Tides partner Community Justice Exchange, works with organizers, advocates, and legal providers across the country using community bail funds as part of efforts to radically change local bail systems and reduce incarceration, as well as to support protest arrest. Donate now to your local bail fund to support protestors or to the central Emergency Response Fund to support local protest bail funds.

On June 2nd, the Public Rights Project, a Tides social venture, worked with the City of Los Angeles in filing an amicus brief on behalf of cities, mayors, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The amicus brief supports a challenge to stop the Trump Administration from allowing states to turn away refugees from resettling in their communities, even if cities in those states want to welcome refugees. The brief emphasized that the Trump Administration's Executive Order seeks to undermine the Refugee Act's original intent to settle refugees in communities in which they will thrive and to allow cities, which are responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of their communities, to provide meaningful input into the process. Permitting the Administration to ignore the historic and current benefit of refugees to cities ignores Congress’ intent and undermines cities’ ability to match local support to refugee resettlement. Learn more about the Public Rights Project.

Tides partner Twilio.org announced $2 million in grants for the Twilio Impact Fund, a Tides Foundation fund that supports people impacted by COVID-19 through organizations that operate crisis hotlines and helplines that connect people with information and resources. With a deadline that passed earlier this month, Twilio will soon make decisions to fund organizations that help more people in crisis by scaling program services using cloud technology, providing life changing support through digital engagement, maintaining staffing capacity by adapting to remote work for employees and volunteers, and reporting on program outcomes using modern analytics tools. Learn more about the Twilio Impact Fund.

Tides Center and Tides Foundation distributed a momentous 1,380 grants for a total of $164 million grants to 50 countries globally in the first three months of 2020. This represents a 55% increase from the same period last year and includes a portion of the $38 million granted through the Tides COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, which ran from March through April. We’re honored to support our partners, grantees, and global communities in this unprecedented time. Annually, Tides makes more than 4,000 grants around the world on behalf of our partners. Learn how Tides can support your grantmaking.

Sephora, a Tides partner since 2017, is making it easy for their customers to accelerate social change. In this creative partnership launched in June, Sephora’s Beauty Insider members can now redeem their points to make a difference with the Rewards Bazaar’s newest Charity Rewards offering. Sephora will donate a corresponding amount to benefit a featured charity. Charities will be selected on a rotating basis, starting with the National Black Justice Coalition in June and Project Glimmer in July. In addition, Sephora will be donating $5 for every face mask sold to the Tides Stronger Together Fund.

• Tides Foundation is proud to be part of the top 10 foundation funders of LGBTQ issues globally, per the newly released 2017-2018 Global Resources Report: Government and Philanthropic Support for LGBTQ Communities. Learn insights about the $560 million awarded via 19K+ grants for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex issues around the world.
  
  
• Did you know that about half of all climate-change-related funding goes to only 20 organizations, overwhelmingly led by white men? Inside Philanthropy subscribers, read about the new Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, which seeks to mitigate this trend by increasing funding for organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and other women of color leaders in the U.S. South.