About

Our Vision

We envision a just and equitable Washington, DC, in which all children and families thrive.

Our Mission

The Horning Family Foundation (HFF) partners with organizations and community-led efforts to strengthen the movements for individual and institutional change that build power, transform systems, and achieve racial justice and equity.

The foundation centers Black people and Black communities in its work and focuses its grantmaking efforts on Washington, DC.

Our Core Beliefs

We are guided by the following beliefs that are vital to the world we seek to co-create and are grounded in the authentic relationships that we strive to build and nurture through this work:

Justice and Power

We are a family foundation created by white people. We acknowledge the harm in centering our whiteness. We recognize that we benefit from the long history of white supremacy and its intention to oppress Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. Justice requires a realignment of power. We share and cede our individual and foundation power as we are led by the ideas, innovations, and aspirations of those who are most adversely affected by racial injustice. Direct services help mitigate the effects of inequity for individuals, but community organizing, advocacy and leadership development are essential elements in creating systemic change and achieving justice.

Equity

Racial, economic, and social inequities are the cumulative result of discriminatory policies and practices that most adversely affect Black people and other people of the Global Majority. By intentionally focusing on anti-Black racism, by centering Black people and Black communities in our work, and by reimagining and creating new equitable policies and practices, including within our foundation, we believe that racial equity can be achieved for all Black people and people of the Global Majority.

Collaboration

The movement for sustainable system change and racial justice requires the coordinated efforts of community members, nonprofits, business, government, and philanthropy; a deep understanding of the unique ways that each of us can contribute to the effort; and a commitment to collectively evaluate our efforts. Together we can create far better outcomes than any one of us can achieve on our own.

Continuous Learning

Advancing racial justice and equity requires a long-term commitment to continuous learning and growth as individuals and as a foundation. We value and promote learning in partnership with others and with the members of our family - including the next generations - as an essential part of the foundation’s role in advancing justice and equity.