Black Philanthropy Month Spotlight: Natashia Holmes

Natashia L. Holmes is the founder of McMillan Holmes LLC, a law firm specializing in real estate and property law. Prior to starting her firm, she served as Alderman for the City of Chicago’s 7th Ward from 2013 to 2015. In her 20+ years career, she has worked at the local, state, and federal level as a senior advisor and in the nonprofit sector on issues related to public policy. Holmes was recently appointed co-chair of African American Legacy (AAL), an affinity fund advancing philanthropy in the Black community since 2003. 

In this Q&A, she discusses why she got involved in AAL, the most pressing issues facing Chicago, and the Black leaders who inspire her.  

Why were you interested in getting involved with AAL? 

A former colleague, good friend, and past Chair of the Advisory Board, Andreason Brown, asked me to submit my resume for consideration and review by the Board’s Development Committee. I didn’t know much about AAL at the time, but after learning about the mission and goal of funding Black-led, Black-serving organizations, I quickly realized it was aligned with my own personal values of supporting community building. The particular focus on bridging the wealth gap through programming that focuses on education, science, technology, arts, mental health, and entrepreneurship, made me eager to be part of a collective of like-minded individuals who wanted to support these efforts.  

What would be your pitch to people who might be interested in getting involved with AAL? 

AAL was the brainchild of Donald Stewart, a career educator and former President and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust. He felt it was important to engage Black leaders in the business, civic and philanthropic community on ways to address the needs of community-based organizations that served Black Chicagoans. His vision birthed AAL and twenty years later, that vision lives on.  

The pitch is simple: if you want to be part of this growing coalition of Black thought leaders who support the work of advocacy and grassroots organizations; who create safe spaces to discuss in-depth the issues that plague Black Chicago; and coupled with programming that educates, uplifts and supports wealth creation in Black neighborhoods across Chicagoland, AAL is where you should start. It is also important to understand that our grants are not meant to be long-term funding sources, but a mechanism to increase capacity, grow programming, and better position these organizations to leverage relationships and access other funding opportunities.   

We want to engage other like-minded professional, civic, business, and philanthropic leaders to come to the table to help in two ways. Obviously we want to continue raising funds toward our mission and our goals, but also we want people at the table who have worked in the community in different areas, been engaged in different capacities, who have a broader eye out there on some of the ills that are affecting Black communities in Chicagoland , and bring them to the table so they’re part of the conversation. 

What do you think are some of the most important issues facing Chicago right now? 

If you look at it from a city and regional perspective, there’s a lack of parity in education, economic development, and access to resources like healthcare, mental health services, and services for veterans and underserved populations. When you look comparatively at neighborhoods on the South Side and North Side and the similarities in the infrastructure of a built neighborhood –access to public transportation, and access to parks and open space – you must ask, what’s missing? Well, the South Side neighborhoods tend to be lacking in what is most impactful – economic opportunities. There is a clear distinction in the availability of smaller, locally owned retail establishments, restaurants, grocery stores, and public amusement. Yes, you can access these options in other neighborhoods, but it means that dollars that could have been spent in proximity to where I live, are benefiting the vitality of other neighborhoods. 

Addressing those elements of economic disadvantages will allow us to address the other issues, particularly education.  When we talk about wealth creation, we need to think about what opportunities are being made available so that it can happen. And that building generational wealth is not just talked about it – it is an actionable goal.  

This is the essence of AAL: providing funding to organizations doing this work daily at the micro level, with the goal of making an impact on a macro level.  

In the spirit of Black Philanthropy Month, are there icons – past or present – who inspire you? 

There are three people who I think embody what it means to be a black philanthropist.  The first would be Mary McLeod Bethune.  Her life’s work was dedicated to education.  Her goal and work of educating young black women, was the predecessor of what is now Bethune-Cookman University. Reading about her unselfishness and the sacrifices she made to give what she had to ensure that young people could have access to education has been impactful. 

My present-day icons are Mary Patillo and Graham Grady.  I deem them as philanthropic mentors. They are both AAL life directors, and Graham is also a founding member. I describe them as “action with purpose.” They have remained committed to AAL personally, professionally, financially, and serve as a resource to the Board.