The actress says that launching her KW Foundation with the Social Impact Fund, which oversees finances for partner celebrity nonprofits,meased worries about using her voice for change as an entertainer: “It’s scary when you’re in the public eye.”
“People wanted this imaginary character to fix their problems, and I felt like this was a moment of real disconnect because we’re living in a democracy; we’re the people who hold the power to unlock the change that’s most important, but we keep passing that power off to characters on television,” explains Washington. “I wanted to use my platform to remind people that they’re the fixers in their communities. They’re the change-makers and the problem-solvers in their lives, in their families, in their neighborhoods, in their school boards and in their states.”
“Social Impact Fund has allowed me to do the work in the field without being responsible for receiving donations and grants and all the legal and fiduciary responsibilities that are absolutely necessary,” Washington explains. “My core team gets to focus on changing the world instead of accounting and tax filings and insurance.”
A challenge over the course of her career has been making sure she doesn’t give up her voice as she becomes more famous. “It’s scary when you’re in the public eye to go out there and say things and create change, because you’re so vulnerable,” she admits.
Working with Social Impact Fund, which has a decade of experience managing philanthropic projects for celebrities in the entertainment world, has eased her worries about speaking up and taking action. “A lot of people don’t do this work; they don’t step in more deeply because they’re paralyzed with fear. Can I manage a foundation? Do I know everything I need to know to do this? To be guided by a fiscal sponsor who has a proven track record in the nonprofit space means I don’t have to give up my whole career in the arts or in production in order to do this work.”
