Ethnic Philanthropy Extends Its Reach: A Conversation with Maha Freij of the Center for Arab American Philanthropy - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Ethnic Philanthropy Extends Its Reach: A Conversation with Maha Freij of the Center for Arab American Philanthropy - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: How important are charitable or philanthropic funds established by ethnic or racial groups? Has the development of middle classes in the African American, Asian American, and Latino communities reduced the pressure on groups to generate capital to fund the needs of their own communities? Have comparatively newer ethnic or racial groups in the U.S. begun to develop their own charitable grantmaking mechanisms?

These questions were prompted by a chance coincidence, a get-to-know-you conversation with Maha Freij, the founder of the Center for Arab American Philanthropy, that turned into a two-hour exploration of the importance and implications of philanthropy identified with and controlled by emerging and longstanding ethnic and racial groups.