FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund

It's here! The FRIDA 2023 Annual Report is out! For FRIDA, 2023 was a year full of change both internally and externally. Our 2023 Annual Report, “A Constant Becoming, A Year of Transformation and Generative Growth” tells the story of our ever-evolving organization in a way that is reflective not only of our organisational experiences but also those of our grantee partners. The 2023 annual report is a journey through big shifts, deep listening, hard truths, hard work and new challenges. From our holistic work beyond traditional grantmaking to big organizational transitions, every aspect of the organization has had to dig deep, reflect and change. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dZjc3PBb #Philanthropy #AnnualReport

"Globally, young feminist movements are in the same position across various sectors as they work towards galvanizing change in the midst of difficult and competing crises (the roots of which are grown from capitalism and colonialism). It was important that we listened deeply to ourselves and the communities we support and generated resources and resourcing strategies that had the flexibility that was clearly needed" Read more in our 2023 Annual Report, sprouting next week!

Join our Chief of Programs, Paige Andrew, Kat Cadungog, Joshua Amponsem, and Hilary Pennington at NY Climate Week next week Monday!

"....In the face of the triple planetary crisis – climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss – community-led solutions are emerging as a beacon of hope for just climate action. Among these, youth-led grassroots movements are not only contributing significantly to these solutions, they are often leading the charge." Make sure you add this to your #ReadingList in anticipation of #EarthWeek! In a recent article from Alliance magazine, activists and experts discuss the importance of centering and funding youth voices and movements in Climate Justice work. Article written by Joshua Amponsem the Co-Director at The Youth Climate Justice Fund, Kat Cadungog the Executive Director at The Youth Harbor — Foundation for Environmental Stewardship, Uma Mishra-Newberry the Interim Executive Director at FRIDA, the Young Feminist Fund, and Nathan Metenier the Co-Director at The Youth Climate Justice Fund. https://lnkd.in/g9b9x5iw

In the world of philanthropy, the ending or termination of a grant contract with a grantee partner often reverberates far beyond the immediate financial impact. Whether driven by the conclusion of a funding cycle, operational changes or shifts in strategic priorities, the loss of a funding relationship, even an anticipated one, can inadvertently destabilize the very movements funders aim to uplift. And alternative resources and support, especially in the funding environment today, are often hard to come by, especially for feminist, women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights as funding priorities change. FRIDA has crafted a transition strategy that aims to mitigate against this by being responsive to grantee partners’ unique journeys and quests for sustainability. Find out more in the link below

Thank you to our Festival advisor Mariam Gagoshashvili for her incisive reflections on the role of philanthropy in the South Caucasus: 💸 “Will the global funding ecosystem meet the challenge of funding grassroots-led intersectional resistance and response strategies that address the root cause of anti-gender opposition?” 🗣️“Will funders (re)prioritise and/or step up their commitment to Caucasus, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe to support movements, crushed between Russian and Western Imperialisms, in choosing a third path – a path towards themselves?” Read more: https://bit.ly/3AWQYyO #DecolonizePhilanthropy #SouthCaucasus #Georgia #LGBTQIRights

So to recap, the 🇪🇺European elections saw major wins for far-right parties, racist and islamophobic attacks erupted across the 🇬🇧UK, 🇫🇷 France’s parliament dissolution led to a legislative election with results Macron refuses to accept , and as of last weekend, 🇩🇪 Germany’s state elections revealed that surprise surprise, the far-right is on top. And again, that's just a quick recap 😥 These are illustration of a bigger, deeper and older set of problems that we are aiming to analyse from Black feminist perspectives. In exactly one week we'll be hosting the first webinar of our Black Feminist Politics Series - kicking off on September 11th with a brilliant set of speakers from Mama Cash, Periferia Cimarronas, Mwasi collective and Reproductive Justice Initiative. The webinar will last 1h30 and offer interpretation in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Sign-up here and see you then! https://lnkd.in/d78Yw2Ww

🌟KICKING OFF OUR BLACK FEMINIST POLITICS SERIES🌟 2024 is the biggest election year and it's been filled with major global events already. Our new Black Feminist Politics Series intends to spotlight the creative power of Black feminist politics and its ongoing commitment to collective liberation, when the interconnection of systems of oppression becomes even more evident. 📣 WHAT’S GOING ON IN EUROPE? A BLACK FEMINIST ANALYSIS 📣 Between the recent racist and islamophobic attacks in the UK, the messy elections in France following the huge far-right surge in the European Elections and the rise of Neo Nazi networks in Germany, Europe has been going through it. To kick off, we're hosting a conversation on September 11th at 5pm CET, focusing on the European context 🌐 from Black feminist perspectives. Here are some of the guiding questions we'll be exploring: 💬 How does the growth of fascist campaigns affect Black women and gender-diverse people from and in Europe? 💬 Are the agendas of Black feminists being taken up by broad-based left-wing projects, parties, and coalitions? 💬 How does the rise of racist and sexist policymakers in Europe impact funding for feminist movements globally and how important is funding Black feminist collective actions when seeking solutions for undemocratic conjectures in Europe? Make sure to sign-up and tell your friend to tell a friend! 🔄🔔🧩 https://lnkd.in/d78Yw2Ww

An Update from the Board and Interim Executive Director of FRIDA: Nearly 15 years ago a group of feminist activists came together under a bold vision and determination to support young women, teenage and young girls, queer and trans youth who were and still are historically underfunded and supported. FRIDA remains rooted in its commitment to support a growing and thriving young feminist ecosystem and In 2023 alone supported 229 grantee partners and distributed over $3,500,000 in resources. As the leadership of FRIDA, we are sharing a difficult update about the current state of the organization and the changes FRIDA has undergone to ensure FRIDA’s future stability. As leadership (who all joined in March 2024) we found ourselves in a position where we must creatively reimagine the way forward given FRIDA’s critical financial state. Current challenges, including acute and devastating shifts within key funding spaces, have resulted in funding loss for women's rights and young feminists worldwide, including 2.5 Million dollars of funding cuts for FRIDA since Quarter 4 of 2023. As a result of our critical financial state and after deep and careful consideration, this week FRIDA moved through an extremely painful and difficult restructuring process which included the redundancies of a number of valuable team members at FRIDA. We hold the pain of all our staff at this time including all staff members who will be leaving FRIDA next week and encourage our LinkedIn community and community of sister and sibling funds to please reach out if you have job openings for dedicated visionary young feminists of the Global Majority. We have put together a PDF of staff impacted (who have consented to be on this list) that we can send to HR Managers or CEOs/EDs who are open to helping support finding new opportunities for our affected staff members. While this restructuring process has been deeply challenging and painful, we believe it is necessary to sustain FRIDA’s work in the years to come. We remain firmly committed to our mission and values and hold that these changes will help us continue to serve and resource our community of young feminist grantee partners effectively. We are grateful for your ongoing support and understanding during this period, and we look forward to continuing to organise alongside you and nourishing the vibrant community of young feminist organisers on this journey. - The FRIDA Board and IED Purity, Divya, Masana, Sharanya, and, Uma

Did you know that August is Black Philanthropy Month 🌟 ? Launched in 2011 by Dr. Jackie “Bouvier” Copeland, its first official global summit commemorated the United Nations Year and Decade of People of African Descent. The theme for 2024 is “Afro-Futures of Giving” and we want to take the opportunity to highlight ways in which we aim to contribute to a better future for Black Feminists as the world’s first global fund devoted to Black women, girls and gender expansive people. We believe that the practices of the past will never lead us to the future we need. So the Black Feminist Fund is unafraid of breaking and transforming philanthropy’s old—and often made-up—rules. It’s the vanguard of a more effective and more courageous philanthropy. We are the solidarity funding that Black women and gender expansive people deserve. If you’re interested in supporting our work, get in touch! We’re looking forward to hearing from you at connect@blackfeministfund.org 💌