Theory of Change: #13: Is it OK to take 'tainted money'?

In the latest episode of the Theory of Change podcast, human rights activist Kavita Nandini Ramdas discussed the deep systemic contradictions of modern philanthropy, its uneasy relationship with grassroots activism, and why nonprofit organizations must stop playing quiet to keep elite funding.

Ramdas, currently a senior strategic adviser at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, has spent years fighting both inside and outside major philanthropy — including as a close adviser to some of the world’s most prominent foundation leaders.

What she sees today is a philanthropic sector that is “running afraid from Trump” and recipient organizations that rarely challenge their funders.

“It’s really as though we’ve gone back to the medieval ages and Lady Bountiful is riding on her white horse and throwing crumbs to the masses below and we're scurrying around saying, ‘Thank you so much, thank you so much,’” she said. “It’s as though we’ve gone back to feudal times.”

The argument: Nonprofits must replace groveling with accountability. “Take the money, but have the damn courage to stand up and say, ‘This action was racist. This intervention is not acceptable,’” Ramdas said. Taking elite funding creates a direct “obligation to voice” — not a mandate for silence.

On the Gates Foundation: Ramdas directly called out Bill Gates over his foundation’s agricultural strategy in Africa during a meeting. She pointed out that the Green Revolution had already been an environmental disaster in India — destroying topsoil and drying up aquifers in Punjab — and asked why they were selling the exact same flawed model to Africa. As a result, they brought her in as an adviser.

On Adele Simmons, former head of the MacArthur Foundation: “Here she was, this extraordinary person with three young kids — and what she had to deal with, this casual sexism that I saw thrown at her.”

On Darren Walker, former head of the Ford Foundation: He told Ramdas that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” — a truth she applies now to philanthropy, noting that no matter how progressive a foundation’s strategy claims to be, it is constantly swallowed by the surrounding patriarchal and capitalist culture.