In 2016, we held our first national Feminist Organizing School (FOS) with 40 leaders from 17 grassroots organizations hosted by SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) in Albuquerque, NM. In the context of right-wing attacks on women and social movement gains in the last few decades, we brought together grassroots organizers and leaders to delve into the intersections of patriarchy, white supremacy and climate change, and to imagine the kind of feminist movement we want to build in this moment. The school was focused on a Train the Trainers model where leaders go through the political education curriculum themselves, and get trained on how to replicate the curriculum within their organizations, and basic human rights.
Since then, we have hosted two regional U.S.-based FOSs held in Philadelphia and Florida. Our Indigenous FOS was organized in collaboration with the Black Mesa Water Coalition and Indigenous Environmental Network. In 2020, we held our first FOS for Funders online. These schools have provided space for leaders to come together and create a shared vision for the grassroots feminist movement that we hope to build. Through intensive training, we continue to delve into theoretical and historical consideration of the intersections of patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, white supremacy and climate change, and support each other in the task of bringing a feminist agenda to our daily work. We are creating a vision of a feminist future, which means developing a feminist economy.
The U.S. delegation to our Afro-IFOS in Kenya this year will design our next Feminist Organizing School tentatively planned for 2027 in the lead up to the U.S. elections. Stay tuned for more updates!