SA2020, the non-profit that bills itself as shaping the community vision for San Antonio, is dissolving after 12 years. Its board of directors voted in December to wrap up and end operations.
The decision to close down was not based on funding but instead on a lack of support from city and local leaders, its executive director said, among other factors. The 501(c)3 non-profit was the brainchild of former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, created to map out a vision for San Antonio by the year 2020. Each year the non-profit released a report on where certain metrics, like poverty rates, physical and mental health, and transportation, stand among residents.
Executive Director Kiran Kaur Bains said that there was not a single issue that led to SA2020 dissolving, but instead pointed to the data not being used to further goals from elected leaders and institutions.
“In recent years, we have seen that local leaders, leaders of local institutions have really shown that they are more interested in the community vision as a talking point rather than a practice, and that hurts the ability to create and strengthen policymaking or put out philanthropy in such a way that allows for a nonprofit like SA2020 to sustain itself,” she said.
Although Kaur Bains said it was not due to a lack of funding, the statement on SA2020’s website regarding its closure mentions that several funders relented on fulfilling commitments after it issued a statement supporting a ceasefire in the Israel/Gaza war last fall.
“In the wake of our statement on Palestine, local funders withheld payment on existing grant contracts, threatened our 501c3 status, sought to control our public communications, and pressured us to remain silent. Twenty percent of our nonprofit partners withdrew their partnership with SA2020, many citing a desire to remain “politically neutral,’” it read.
However, Kaur Baines added that funding was ultimately secured.
“No one retracted their funding, and the funding came through existing contracts, and we also were making the recommendation to dissolve so our fundraising had come to a halt,” she said.
SA2020 had also put out support for citizen driven city charter amendments. In 2021, it supported “Proposition B,” an amendment to remove collective bargaining from the San Antonio Police Officers Association and City of San Antonio union contract negotiations. It also supported “Proposition A” last year known as the Justice Charter Initiative.
In its statement, SA2020 said dissolving was the most "visionary" thing it could do.
“We refuse to be silenced or to skirt our organizational values of leadership, community, and accountability to secure funding or 'a seat at the table' where decisions are made. That would be a disservice to the shared community vision,” the statement read.
During its 2024 budget planning, the City of San Antonio opted to no longer provide annual funding of about $150,000 to SA2020 citing a desire to use its funding in house to create its own data analyst position in the city’s department of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.
"Their decision abruptly to stop funding SA2020 did not lead towards dissolution,” Kaur Bains said. “This is really not about one issue. The city government is an example of an institution that is not seriously putting equity into practice and not willing to see an independent nonprofit hold a mirror up to its policymaking.”
The announcement from SA2020 coincides with the 2024 release of its annual data report.
The non-profit will continue its operations with its staff of three until March and its data stretching more than a decade will remain online until September 2024.
