When we first covered the Pillars Fund in 2017, Muslim Americans were under a lot of fire from the right-wing media, not to mention the president. While Islamophobic rhetoric has declined recently (at least from those quarters), Muslim communities’ potential need for rapid response funding won’t go away anytime soon.
At the same time, Pillars isn’t content to remain in rapid response mode forever. The Muslim-led collaborative giving organization is looking toward the long term these days. “There will always be something to react or respond to, and that work will remain important,” said Pillars’ executive director and co-founder Kashif Shaikh. “But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that we need to take the time we need to reimagine the society and country we want and invest what it takes to build that.”
