A shift in philanthropy towards decolonization involves redistributing assets. The Swift Foundation initiated a five-year sunsetting process to reallocate its complete endowment to Indigenous stewards and organizations. This includes funding initiatives like the Indigenize Fund and tmixʷ Land Trust that emphasize ancestral land stewardship. Although many foundations aim for perpetual wealth accumulation, the Swift Foundation represents a unique case where sunsetting aligns with its long-term vision and purpose, answering crucial questions about accountability and governance changes necessary for this transformation.
In 2023, the Swift Foundation embarked on a five-year sunsetting process to redistribute the foundation's entire endowment to Indigenous land and knowledge keepers, and allied organizations.
Decolonizing philanthropy by shifting control of assets is possible. The current spend-down of the corpus of the Swift Foundation offers one path.
The actual decision to sunset only happened after these questions were answered, which required making real changes to foundation leadership, governance, and practice.
Questions such as: What is a foundation? What is our foundation's purpose? To whom are we accountable?
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