When co-interim CEOs Maegan Scott and Jessica Venegas of Funders Together for Housing Justice (FTHJ) meet to reflect on their time leading the organization, their conversation reveals deep alignment on values, shared purpose, and an unwavering commitment to housing justice. What follows is an excerpt from that exchange about leadership, lived experience, and hope for the movement.

By Rachelle A. Matthews (RAM), Director of Membership and Programs

At Funders Together for Housing Justice, we know that advancing housing justice requires both courage and clarity. We are living in a political moment where attacks on racial justice, equity, and democracy are constant—and where philanthropy must decide not only what to fund, but also what to fight. 

That’s why we’ve embraced the Block & Build framework, first shared in Convergence Magazine as an advocacy and grantmaking strategy  The framework challenges us to block harmful systems, narratives, and policies that perpetuate injustices, while simultaneously building new structures, practices, and pathways toward liberation, justice, and thriving communities. 

Not all political violence is physical—it can also come in the form of brutal and harmful rhetoric, policies, and the erasure of truthful histories and stories. However, words shape ideas and worlds. Language matters and moves violence from abstract to targeted action.  

In May 2025, Funders Together for Housing Justice and the Democratizing Development Program co-hosted the webinar Cultivating Philanthropic Champions to Drive Real Solutions in Today’s Threatening Climate. Featuring leaders from the National Homelessness Law Center, VOCAL-US, and the Drug Policy Alliance, the conversation was recapped in a blog post by the Neighborhood Funders Group.

On the heels of the leadership transition announcement--and as we begin our next chapter as Funders Together for Housing Justice--the board and staff engaged in transition planning centered on our mission, values, and community. From that process emerged an interim leadership structure grounded in stability, strategy, and solidarity. 

In the work for housing justice and a liberated world, we are often called to hold the “both/and” to make room for complexity and to honor grief and gratitude, endings and beginnings, loss and growth—all at once.  Today, we share a transition moment that holds all of those truths.  

On July 24, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order that strips people of their basic rights, forces unhoused individuals into “treatment centers” and detention camps and undermines real solutions to homelessness. Funders Together for Housing Justice strongly condemns this executive order alongside our national advocacy partners. 

On June 30 and July 1, funders convened in Washington, D.C. during our 2025 Funders Institute. During the event, participants learned from movement leaders about what is needed from philanthropy in this moment and why showing up and working differently is essential to move towards the future we want to see.

By Tony Richardson, Funders Together Board Chair and Bianca Alston, Funders Together Vice Board Chair

After deep reflection on our values and conversations across the organization, Funders Together to End Homelessness is now called Funders Together for Housing Justice. This change reflects our ongoing commitment to addressing unstable housing, accessibility and affordability as well as ending homelessness in all its forms, especially for people who have been historically oppressed and marginalized. 

We are excited to welcome Joshua Perrin (he/him/his) as our Communications and Program Manager. He joins Funders Together in this role after serving as Senior Communications Manager at the Center for the Study of Social Policy.