Nonprofit leaders ready to collaborate with Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of communities across the nation
(WASHINGTON, November 9, 2020) – Daniel J. Cardinali, President and CEO of Independent Sector, issues the following statement:
“Independent Sector congratulates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on making history and winning the race to the White House as president and vice president. We also congratulate and look forward to working with members of the new Congress.
We’re encouraged by President-elect Biden’s call for unity and pledge to represent everyone in the United States – regardless of political party. Vice President-elect Harris’s words of ‘leading with conviction’ inspire us as does her groundbreaking path. She is the first woman, Black American, and South Asian to become vice president.
We’re heartened to see the historic number of U.S. citizens casting ballots in 2020 – more than 158.8 million votes, making for a turnout rate of more than 66 percent. All future elections must be safe and secure so that voices are heard in our democracy.
The work before us is unprecedented. It will take leadership, a commitment to racial equity, and trusted partnership if we are to stabilize and rebuild communities across the United States, especially those disproportionately affected by the health, economic, and racial crises of 2020. Independent Sector, and the charitable nonprofit sector we represent, is ready to do that work with the White House, Congress, and communities nationwide.
Working together with the administration and Congress, we made important progress ensuring that COVID-19 relief legislation accounted for the real and growing needs of nonprofits – the ‘frontline’ of relief to communities across the nation. That work is not done. One of our highest priorities remains securing adequate federal resources for nonprofits in future COVID-19 recovery legislation so they can do the work their communities urgently need from them right now. Specifically, this means improvements to the Paycheck Protection Program and expansion of the universal charitable deduction to further promote desperately needed charitable giving.
As we turn from the response to the crises of 2020 to rebuilding communities across the nation, we also look to partner with the White House and Congress to ensure that nonprofits survive and strengthen the civic infrastructure that holds our cities and neighborhoods together. Investments in traditional infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, must be matched by investments in our civic infrastructure, things like uniquely American practices such as volunteerism and service that unify people and the parks, cultural institutions, and access to broadband that ensure that all people can grow and thrive.
This will be, for all of us, some of the most challenging and critical work of our lives. It is the work of changing systems, not using Band-Aids and looking away. It will take a requirement to put past divisions behind us. It will take a shared spirit of optimism, and unparalleled collaboration among our sector, this new administration, and this new Congress.
We are inclusive, reliable changemakers. We live by a core belief: We will not give up on our communities and people who contribute to them daily. People make places strong and vibrant. When the underserved and the under-represented thrive, we all do.
Independent Sector and the nation’s 1.5 million nonprofits are partners for the common good and our national progress. We’re ready to engage with the president, vice president, and Congress as partners in building a more just and equitable nation. It’s time for all of us to make history.”
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Independent Sector is the only national membership organization that brings together a diverse community of changemakers at nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs working to ensure all people in the United States thrive. Learn more at independentsector.org.
Media Contact:
Bradley Wong
202-467-6122
media@independentsector.org
