The values of the Opportunity Fund’s founder, Gerri Kay—as the board best understands, interprets, and extrapolates from them—guide the foundation. They are our North Star and a source of the foundation’s strength.

We focus on the strengths of our partners
Every person who benefits from our funding—those who receive grant funds and those whom the work we fund aims to support—has strengths, talents, and experiences that will help them get where they need to go. We support efforts that invest in people’s talents and skills and experiences to get them where they believe they need to go, rather than impose solutions that we believe will make their lives better. We are not here to “fix” or “save” anyone or to provide cookie cutter solutions. Our work requires trust and humility.

Communities have their own, unique values
We must truly listen and hear what people really want.

Progressive Values
Gerri’s progressive values anchored her actions and informed her vision. We aim to follow in her footsteps and make no pretense about where we stand.

Take Risks, Smartly
Gerri was unafraid to take risks. An idea had to be strategically designed with a compelling plan to achieve desired results, but it did not have to be proven. Her willingness to take risks extended beyond ideas and programs to other people. She invested in emerging artists and leaders when she saw potential. As we see it, making a grant to support an unproven idea is not nearly as risky, for example, as putting oneself on the frontlines of a social movement.

The arts and artists have precious value
Gerri was a lover of the arts. Her appetite for experimental, brave, well-crafted artistic experiences and objects was ravenous: they energized, vitalized, helped her to feel more connected to others’ humanity and, we believe, her own.

She believed that art has precious value, in the lives of individuals and to greater society. Art can break down barriers, build empathy, illuminate new perspectives, criticize existing systems, connect us, humanize us, make the world more beautiful, open our hearts, remind us to strive.

Gerri believed that artists have precious value. She respected the dedication and risk often required for one to persevere as an artist. When she discovered artists or companies she deemed exceptional, she followed their careers and saw as much of their work as she could.

Special interest in artists, productions and arts organizations that challenge
Gerri loved arts and artists that strive to push the boundaries. She had zero interest in art that she deemed to be commercial, saccharine, or fluffy. About the art she would see, she said, “You may love it. You may hate it. But it will be interesting.”

Give to make a big difference
Gerri was results-oriented and strategic. She prioritized supporting small to mid-size organizations, in part, because the contributions there would create greater impact and because, historically, these organizations have not received as much philanthropic support as their larger counterparts.

Diversity and equity make us all stronger
Gerri pushed for greater diversity on every board on which she served: diversity of gender, religion, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and, particularly, of race. This push went beyond mere “representation.” Different experiences form different perspectives. Who can better understand the needs of a particular community than someone from within it?

To understand the centrality of antiblackness in all forms of injustice demands action
Gerri came of age during the Civil Rights Era. It profoundly affected the way she interpreted the world and walked through her life. She sought out art created by African Americans. She was passionate about civil rights for African Americans: the right to vote, fair treatment by the police, and employment non-discrimination, to name a few. She believed that America’s long history of dehumanizing and oppressing Black people is directly connected to the struggles all communities face. We share this belief and it animates our work today.