endangered language funders alliance
Centering Language in Philanthropy
Social justice, empowerment, community vitality, the arts, health, and education are of increasing importance in modern philanthropy as we invest in de-colonization and community self-determination. Underlying in each of these focus areas is language, yet language is under-represented in philanthropic conversations.
Language, as tied to identity, holds a pivotal position in positive health, education, literacy, career, and overall community vitality measures. Suicide rates, for example have been reported at ⅙ the rate in communities where Indigenous languages are spoken by a majority of members, as compared to communities where less than 50% of members are conversational in the language. Research on educational attainment, similarly, also shows that students who engage in culturally and linguistically representative education perform better on standardized tests and are more likely to pursue higher education, in turn affecting career opportunities and overall community vitality.
Considering the inherent value of language to worldview and cultural identity, as well as its positionality–interwoven in almost every tenet of modern philanthropy–ELFA seeks to broaden our collective understanding of the need to build partnerships that uplift and bring awareness to endangered languages and language development programs.
Our Goal
The Endangered Language Funders Alliance exists to hold space for the increasingly important dialogue between communities and philanthropists to build partnerships for linguistic self-determination. We seek to engage community leaders, organizations, language learners, and philanthropists in an open forum to better understand, uplift, and build partnerships that enable communities to reclaim endangered languages.
Outcomes
Expanding awareness of and broadening the conversation around endangered language reclamation’s long term effects on global issues like education, health, cultural vitality and more will allow communities and philanthropic organizations to continually align partnerships and set community-centered language development goals
Join us!
Endangered Language Funders Alliance holds space for a dialogue that is yet to be widely explored in modern philanthropic forums. We welcome you to join us in person or virtually to share your expertise and learn more from peers who are interested and engaged in the work of language reclamation.