Moving From Transactional to Relational: How Funders Can Work in Partnership With Black, Indigenous and People of Color Communities.

BACKGROUND: The Racial Equity Coalition (REC) formed to address persistent educational disparities. The coalition was composed of 14 Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) organizations that provide culturally integrative youth services. OBJECTIVES: REC, with support from United Way of King County, engaged in participatory research to identify commonalities and shared struggles to inform collective action. Participatory research aligns with REC's commitment to equitable participatory processes. This article focuses on REC's experiences with funders. The objective was to understand what creates positive and challenging experiences with funders, and to identify recommendations for funders to become more culturally responsive. METHODS: A research committee was formed including representatives of nine REC organizations and United Way of King County staff. The committee conducted interviews with each of the 14 REC organizations and conducted thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Through participatory analysis, the committee drafted narratives that were further refined through a series of research retreats attended by all REC organizations. RESULTS: Recommendations were to incentivize collaboration, listen to communities to create culturally responsive definitions of success and measurement strategies, arrive at mutually agreed upon approaches with organizations, honor the connections BIPOC organizations have with their communities, and provide unrestricted funding to allow BIPOC organizations greater agency. CONCLUSIONS: A major challenge for BIPOC organizations is navigating White dominant culture that too often shows up in funding requirements. Having to fit dominant culture standards stifles BIPOC organizations' abilities to meet community needs and the responsiveness of their approaches. REC identified recommendations for funders to be more culturally responsive and community centered.

Recent Strategies for Detection and Improvement of Brown Planthopper Resistance Genes in Rice: A Review.

Brown planthopper (BPH; Nilaparvata lugens Stal) is considered the main rice insect pest in Asia. Several BPH-resistant varieties of rice have been bred previously and released for large-scale production in various rice-growing regions. However, the frequent surfacing of new BPH biotypes necessitates the evolution of new rice varieties that have a wide genetic base to overcome BPH attacks. Nowadays, with the introduction of molecular approaches in varietal development, it is possible to combine multiple genes from diverse sources into a single genetic background for durable resistance. At present, above 37 BPH-resistant genes/polygenes have been detected from wild species and indica varieties, which are situated on chromosomes 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Five BPH gene clusters have been identified from chromosomes 3, 4, 6, and 12. In addition, eight BPH-resistant genes have been successfully cloned. It is hoped that many more resistance genes will be explored through screening of additional domesticated and undomesticated species in due course.