PARTICIPANTS-LED CONFERENCE SESSIONS
Monday, 28 April, 2025
Tuesday, 29 April, 2025
Flip the script – embodying the contradictions of philanthropy
Aenderwerk + LeapCollective
This interactive role-play session invites participants to switch roles within the philanthropy sector, with funders taking on the position of those seeking funding and vice versa, using assigned roles and poker chips to simulate real-world decision-making. Through this experiential exercise, followed by group reflections and a discussion led by Leap, the session aims to deepen understanding of philanthropy’s power dynamics and inspire shifts in perspective and behavior.
Room : 2.1
Redefining Power: Systems, Resources, and Collective Action
Dasra + Thousand Currents + Anubhuti Trust and Payana + FENSUAGRO
This session explores accountability in philanthropy by examining how funders can shift power dynamics through redistributive justice and trust in grassroots leadership. Through real-world case studies from Dasra’s Rebuild India Fund and Thousand Currents’ partnerships, participants will engage with movement leaders to learn how funders can challenge traditional hierarchies and support systemic social change.
Room : S1
Accountability by Design - Reflections and Questions from the Global Statelessness Fund
Blue Sky Social Justice Fund + Family Frontiers + Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion
This session explores the “accountability by design” approach of the Global Statelessness Fund, a grant-making initiative co-created by stateless activists, civil society, and donors to shift power and remove barriers to funding. Through discussion and interaction, participants will be invited to reflect on the tensions and trade-offs that need to be navigated when centering accountability in funding practices - balancing participatory decision-making and efficiency, flexible funding and accompaniment, all while being responsive to the needs and realities of the movements that we serve.
Room : 3.2
Rooting Accountability: Survivor-Centered Reforms, Intersectional Frameworks, and Philanthropy's Role in Systemic Change
SAHR + Women Help Women + Las Comadres
This session will explore innovative approaches to accountability by centering survivor-informed, community-driven models and examining philanthropy's role in enabling long-term, systemic change. It will also propose bold, systemic alternatives, such as trauma-informed, survivor-centered activist-centered legal frameworks, that challenge existing patriarchal structures in justice systems.
Room : 2.2
What do we leave behind when the grant ends? Building solidarity and breaking philanthropic dependency
Nuumun Fund + Dalal Fund + Weaving Liberation + Whose Knowledge?
Co-organised by Weaving Liberation, Dalan Fund, Numun Fund and Whose Knowledge? This session explores how philanthropy can move beyond short-term grants to build sustainable infrastructure for movement resilience in the face of rising political and financial instability. Participants will be invited to explore and contribute to a collective mapping of knowledge and practice on reparatory funding models, solidarity economies, and collective infrastructure strategies to foster long-term movement sustainability and resource justice.
Room : 2.3
Supporting Just Transition Strategies Led by Frontline Workers and Communities
Just Transition Alliance + Global Greengrants + Grassroot International
This session explores Just Transition as a grassroots-driven framework led by labor unions, Indigenous Peoples, and environmental justice communities to counter corporate co-optation and drive systemic change. Featuring insights from frontline leaders and funders, it highlights place-based strategies tackling poverty and pollution while calling on philanthropy to realign its practices to support regenerative economies and frontline self-determination.
Room : S3B
Liberation and the Long Game: Four philanthropic leaders share how they are working to transform systems, shift power, and advance racial justice amidst the current socio-political climate
ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities + Lambent Foundation + Racial Equity + National Performance Network
This session brings together four philanthropic leaders from local, national, and international contexts to discuss strategies for transforming systems, shifting power, and advancing racial justice in today’s socio-political climate. Through insights from ABFE, Lambent Foundation, The Skillman Foundation, and the National Performance Network, participants will explore solidarity-building, risk-taking, and long-term approaches to fostering equity and systemic change
Room : S4
Values in Practice: Applying Lessons from Org. Transitions to Shift Mindsets, Change Cultures & Embed
Voqal + BYP100
This session explores how organizational transitions can serve as opportunities to embed accountability and shift cultures by rooting in values of respect, trust, and solidarity. Through lessons from Voqal Partners and BYP100, participants will collaboratively define core values and develop actionable frameworks to challenge traditional philanthropic models and cultivate transformative, values-driven partnerships.
Room : 3.1
When funding is not enough: what does holistic support for leaders with lived experience look like ?
Freedom Fund + Disability Rights Fund
This session examines how funders can be accountable to both individuals with lived experience and the broader social movements they engage with, using examples from the anti-trafficking and disability rights sectors. Through discussion and shared experiences, participants will explore strategies for resourcing lived experience leadership while fostering more inclusive, diverse movements that center and value their expertise.
Plaza del Jubileo
Conspiring and constellating: how intermediaries uphold accountability to movements
FRIDA + ADD International + Both Ends + HIP + Corporate Accountability
This session explores the vital role of intermediary donors in redistributing resources and upholding accountability to movements, ensuring funding reaches communities resisting systems of power. Through discussions on resource activism and non-financial support, it highlights how intermediaries foster alliances, adaptability, and collective sensemaking while advancing the decolonization of philanthropy.
S3A
Indigenous Peoples’ and Indigenous Women’s Movements: Reclaiming Power and Accountability in Philanthropy
CONAMI Mexico + CHIRAPAQ + ECMIA
This session examines how Indigenous Peoples' and Indigenous women’s movements are reclaiming power in philanthropy by establishing self-determined financial governance structures that ensure direct, long-term, and unrestricted funding. Through insights from ECMIA, CONAMI, CHIRAPAQ, and the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples, participants will explore how philanthropy can move beyond donor-driven models to uphold true accountability, autonomy, and Indigenous-led decision-making.
Plaza del Jubileo
The Nyéléni Call to Action: Mobilising Globally for Justice and Food Sovereignty
GRAIN - La Via Campesina - World March of Women - Growing Culture - Grassroots International
This session highlights the 3rd Nyéléni Forum as a pivotal global gathering for food sovereignty, uniting social movements and funders to advance systemic change. Through discussions with movement leaders and funders, it will explore how philanthropy can align with grassroots solutions, strengthen the Nyéléni Process, and support transformative, community-led efforts for social, economic, and climate justice.
Room : S3B
Alternative community protections for migrants, asylum seekers, and migrants in contexts of conflicts
Panta Rhea Foundation + Asylum Access Mexico + Hispanics in Philanthropy + Conrad N Hilton Foundation
This session explores how organizations and funders can collaborate to create alternative community protections for migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees facing increasing threats and conflicts. Through expert discussions and breakout dialogues, participants will examine innovative, community-led approaches in Mexico, Colombia, and the U.S., identifying strategic philanthropic opportunities to strengthen local ecosystems and long-term protections for vulnerable communities.
Room : 2.3
Rethinking Accountability in Philanthropy: Strengthening Values-Aligned Relationships for Systemic Change
Global Fund for Children + Dalan Fund + Ruleli Corporación Social y Cultural + Whose Knowledge - Disability Rights Fund
This session explores accountability as the foundation for values-aligned relationships in philanthropy, inviting participants to reflect on reciprocal accountability and its tensions. Through insights from participatory grantmakers and movement representatives, the session will foster dialogue, build a visual accountability map, and create a collective tool to strengthen accountability practices for systemic change
Room : S4
Cross-pollinating knowledge: A decolonial feminist practice in philanthropy
Urgent Action Fund LAC + Fenomenal Funds + Fondo Semillas
This session explores decolonial feminist approaches to knowledge and MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) in philanthropy, challenging donor-driven, Global North-centric practices that reinforce power imbalances. Through insights from feminist funds in the Global South, participants will examine alternative MEAL frameworks that center marginalized voices, foster reciprocal learning, and reimagine accountability beyond extractive reporting requirements.
Room : S1
A Just Energy Transition Starts with Workers: The Responsibility of Philanthropy
FORGE + Avina + Sembada Bersama + CUT Brazil + Ford Foundation
This session examines philanthropy’s role in funding a just energy transition that prioritizes workers, particularly in the Global South, where flexible, long-term support remains scarce. Through insights from FORGE and the Democracy at Work Fund, participants will explore how funders can align resources with labor and climate justice, ensuring that frontline workers, especially women and migrants, are at the center of transition strategies
Room : 2.2
Challenging Oppressive Funding: Palestinian Resistance and Grassroots Independence
Rawa + Dalia + Funding Freedom+Funder4Palestine
Led by Palestinian initiatives Rawa and Dalia, and flanked by funder organizing efforts Funding Freedom and Funders4Palestine, this session examines philanthropy’s weaponization to contain Palestinian liberation movements and the solidarity-based alternatives offered by Palestinian grassroots groups and funder allies. Participants will explore how philanthropy can support grassroots movements’ liberation, dignity, and self-determination, even if this means funders investing in their own irrelevance so that movements can reclaim agency and power.
Room : S3A
The Future of Funding in the Global North: Resisting Retrenchment and Reimagining Philanthropy
ODG+Calala
This session examines the shifting landscape of philanthropy amid the rise of far-right influence, focusing on the impact of reduced funding for Global North organizations engaged in resistance and solidarity work. Using the case of Open Society Foundations' withdrawal from Western Europe, discussions will explore the role of Global North movements, the contradictions within philanthropic priorities, the colonial background of international aid and the need to sustain grassroots organizing that are building a systemic transition in an interconnected world.
Room : 2.1
Feminist Philanthropic Collaboratives in the face of Backlash - Lessons learned from the Global South
Komboa Consortium + Leading from the South Consortium
This session explores how feminist philanthropic collaboratives in the Global South navigate growing backlash, funding gaps, and restrictive policies while ensuring sustainable resourcing for feminist movements. Through shared lessons, dialogue with funders, and actionable recommendations, participants will examine strategies for resilience, deepen funder accountability, and strengthen feminist-led collaborations that challenge traditional funding paradigms.
Room : 3.2
Resourcing Indigenous Movements: Shifting Power and Strengthening Partnerships in Philanthropy
Corporate Accountability + SAGE Fund+ Acción Ecológica
This session examines how progressive philanthropy can better support Indigenous and frontline movement leaders by addressing power imbalances and funding systemic change. Through firsthand insights from Latin American Indigenous leaders and funders like Corporate Accountability, SAGE Fund, and True Cost Initiative, participants will explore alternative funding models that foster equitable partnerships, flexibility, and long-term movement sustainability.
Room: S4
Cohorts, Convenings and Bridge Building: Lessons and Best Practices in Forging Authentic Collaborations
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) + Urban Movement Innovation Fund (UMI) + Global Greengrant Fund
This session explores best practices in cohort-based funding and network collaborations that strengthen grassroots power and advance climate justice. Featuring insights from UMI Fund, GAIA, and Global Greengrants, participants will learn how funders and movements can build trust, bridge silos, and co-create solutions that drive systemic change in plastic, zero waste, and climate justice efforts.
Room : 2.1
On the Right Track: Cross-Regional Feminist Alliances Against the Global Far-Right
filia. die frauenstiftung + Women’s Fund Armenia + Reconstruction Women’s Fund + Fondo Lunaria + Fondo Alquimia.
This session explores the On the Right Track (OTRT) initiative, a cross-regional alliance of feminist and women’s funds uniting movements across Latin America and Europe to counter anti-gender and far-right forces. Participants will examine how OTRT supports civil society and grassroots initiatives, fostering resilience and strategic resistance against the rise of global far-right networks.
Room : 2.2
What Do Movements Need in This Moment
ThousandCurrents + FENMUCARINAP + FENSUAGRO
This session shares key insights from Thousand Currents’ extensive consultation with 131 social movement partners across 50 countries, highlighting what movements need to thrive in today’s challenging landscape. Through an interactive fireside chat, participants will explore themes of interconnected struggles in climate, food, and economic justice, and discuss actionable ways for funders and allies to meaningfully support movement resilience and transformation.
Room : S1
Resourcing Justice Through Repair: A Playful Exploration of Transformative Philanthropy
Weaving Liberation + Numun Fund and Whose Knowledge
This session, led by Weaving Liberation, Numun Fund, and Whose Knowledge?, explores transformative resourcing systems centered on repair and accountability in philanthropy. Through a gamified strategy, participants will engage with the concept of reparations as an ongoing, relational process, challenging traditional funding models and envisioning resourcing as a tool for systemic justice and collective liberation.
Room : 3.2
Flanking Black Feminist Movements: Strategic Funding for Repair and Crisis Prevention
Black Feminist Fund
This session applies a Black feminist analysis to philanthropy’s role in crisis response, highlighting how funding often arrives too late or in ways that exacerbate harm. Drawing from the report Black Feminist Movements and Crises, participants will engage in critical conversations about how funders can shift from reactive to proactive strategies, investing meaningfully in Black feminist movements to repair past harms and prevent future crises.
Room : 3.1
Movement accountability beyond participatory grantmaking: Integral accompaniment to amplify resources
FRIDA, The Young Feminist Fund + MamaCash
This session challenges the notion that movement accountability ends with participatory grantmaking, advocating for ongoing, integral accompaniment beyond the grant cycle. Participants will explore alternative models in philanthropy that extend beyond funding, leveraging non-financial resources such as allyship, connections, and referrals to deepen movement support and amplify impact.
Room : 2.3