As the Equality Fund’s second grantmaking stream, Activate is designed to support a community of our peers: feminist funds fueling grassroots change in the Global South and beyond. A total of 23 feminist funds working across five continents are now receiving $14 million CAD in flexible funding through this stream.
Together, they are moving resources to hundreds of local women’s rights and feminist organizations holding the line against rising threats to girls, women, and trans people—including a surge in authoritarianism and crackdowns on women’s and LGBTQI+ human rights defenders, an explosion of violence and conflict, the ongoing pandemic, and climate disasters.
The Activate grants are also the result of a radical experiment. Inspired by feedback from feminist activists and moved by the wisdom of our sister funds and allies, we invited our community to work with us to turn the traditional grantmaking model on its head. Our goal was to design an approach to grantmaking that puts feminist values of relationship and community first—one that reflects the collaboration and dynamism already modeled by feminist funds across the globe. To learn more about this process, read this co-authored blog post and our full report: Step Up, Step Back: Reimagining Non-Competitive Grantmaking in Community.
QUICK STATS
Supporting change across five continents
- Twenty-three partnerships with feminist funds (see full list at bottom)
- Regions of operation
- Africa: 6
- Latin America: 5
- Asia and the Pacific: 4
- Eastern Europe: 3
- Middle East and North Africa: 1
- Global: 4
- Seven funds are less than 5 years old
- Ten are national funds supporting movements at national, sub-national, and community levels within particular countries (for example: Bolivia, Brazil, Nepal, DRC, and Armenia). These funds have in-depth local knowledge and connections to movements.
- Seventeen funds are members of the Prospera-INWF network, where we work together as peers to drive change for women, girls, trans people, and their communities.
THEMATIC AREAS
On the frontlines of feminism
- Five of the funds work exclusively with particularly marginalized communities, such as: sex workers (Red Umbrella); LGBTQI+ communities (ISDAO); adolescent and young women (FRIDA); Indigenous women (FIMI); and Black and Afro-descendant women (Vida Afrolatina).
- Two rapid response funds (Urgent Action Fund–Africa and Urgent Action Fund, Asia & Pacific) play a critical role in the ecosystem by supporting women human rights defenders and activists facing harassment for their work, working in crisis contexts, and responding to urgent needs and strategic opportunities.
- One thematic Fund (Numun Fund) works at the intersection of feminist technology and philanthropy; and prioritizes communities that have limited access to digital technologies and experience surveillance and intimidation in digital spaces.
THE 23 FEMINIST FUNDS
United by feminist values and a vision of justice
Fondo Lunaria Mujer | Website
Fundación Apthapi Jopueti – Fondo de Mujeres | Website
Fundo Angela Borba de Recursos para Mulheres (ELAS+ Brazilian Women’s Fund) | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
UHAI – East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative (UHAI EASHRI) | Website
Women’s Fund in Georgia (WFG) + TASO Women’s Foundation | WFG Website | WFG Facebook | WFG Twitter | WFG Instagram | WFG YouTube | Taso Foundation Website | Taso Foundation Twitter | Taso Foundation Instagram
