VIRTUAL Feminist Organizing School for Funders: Application Due Date has passed – Friday August 14
(Scroll to the bottom of the page to see Frequently Asked Questions)
Throughout history women, gender-oppressed Black, Indigenous & people of color across the globe have had to fight for our safety, livelihood, and basic human rights. We have shouldered the disproportionate burdens of a global economy that relies on the exploitation of gendered reproductive labor and of our planet’s natural resources. The current moment represents an escalation in the continued attack on social, economic, and climate justice. In the age of Trump and the global rise of the right wing, among many other issues, misogyny is becoming normalized, reproductive rights are being threatened, and hate crimes are increasing.
2020 is a critical year as we demand that Black Lives Matter and to #DefundThePolice; as we fight to ensure that our safety is considered and our immediate needs are met during a global pandemic. And the fight against neofascism inside the US and the results of the presidential election will have repercussions for social movements and all those who fight for justice throughout the world. In this context and rooted in a commitment to ground U.S.-based philanthropy in a grassroots anti-racist feminist perspective, Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) and EDGE Funders Alliance will coordinate a series of three virtual meetings as a complement to the various funder learning initiatives that are currently happening online in this period.
In 2016 Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ) began developing the Feminist Organizing School (FOS) model. In collaboration with grassroots organizers and leaders, the curriculum was developed drawing from the existing expertise of women of color, gender non conforming people and queer identified membership in the US-based grassroots organizing sector and from our relationship with other feminist movements across the US and internationally. The FOS model is designed to be a space for grassroots leaders to create a shared vision for the grassroots internationalist feminist movement we hope to build.
We are excited to announce our first Feminist Organizing School (FOS) for Funders now being held online, Sept 3, Sept 17 and Sept 24.
In September 2020, GGJ is partnering with EDGE Funders Alliance to bring this first-ever online Feminist Organizing School for Funders (FOS-F) to our allies in philanthropy. We are excited to collaborate with Grassroots Policy Project on updated curriculum for the FOS-F.
In the face of this political moment, the FOS will provide a space for philanthropic leaders to come together and create a shared vision for feminist funding frameworks and practices. Through three online sessions, we will delve into a theoretical and historical consideration of the intersections of patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, white supremacy and climate change, and will support each other in the task of bringing a feminist approach to our daily work within progressive philanthropy.
The online version of the FOS for Funders will take place on three Thursdays in September, with 4-hour sessions (including breaks) from 9am-1pm Alaska / 10am-2pm Pacific / 11am-3pm Mountain / 12pm-4pm Central / 1-5pm Eastern:
- Thurs Sept 3, Workshop Session 1: Grassroots Feminism Framework led by Cindy Wiesner of Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and María Poblet of Grassroots Policy Project.
- Thurs Sept 17, Workshop Session 2: Feminist Economy Framework led by Sandra Morán of GGJ and the World March of Women and M Adams of Freedom, Inc.
- Thurs Sept 24, Workshop Session 3: Strategy Session – What does it look like to put Feminist Philanthropy into practice? designed and convened by members of the FOS-F Advisory Committee: Arianne Shaffer of EDGE Funders Alliance, Chung-Wha Hong of Grassroots International, and Mónica Enríquez of Foundation for a Just Society.
Applications were accepted through August 14, 2020
Applicants must be able to commit to the FULL 3 sessions.
Application Deadline: Friday, August 14, 2020 by 11:59 pm PT. Applicants will be notified by: Friday, August 21, 2020.
Fees per participant:
- Standard Full Rate = $1,000 (We ask that participants pay at least this full cost fee, especially if your organizational assets are over $1 million.)
- Solidarity Rate = $1,500 to $15,000 Solidarity Rate (We encourage you to pay in this range especially if your organizational assets are $5 million or more, or if you are independently wealthy. Any amount in excess of the full rate will be contributed toward GGJ’s FOS model for grassroots movements, and GGJ’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.)
- Reduced Rate = $600 (limited spots available) – We offer a limited number of these spots for people and organizations who play influential roles in philanthropy but do not have the capacity to cover the full cost. Consider this fee if your organizational assets are below $750,000 or if you are paying out of your own income.
If you would like to learn more about reduced rates, please email allison@dragonfly-partners.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to:
- Allison Erdneka Budschalow, GGJ FOS-F Organizer, allison@dragonfly-partners.com
- Sha Grogan-Brown, GGJ Deputy Director, sha@ggjalliance.org
- Arianne Shaffer, EDGE Funders Alliance Co-Executive Director, arianne@edgefunders.org
Frequently Asked Questions
What will be the format and platform for participation?
This will be a set of three, 4-hour day sessions on Zoom, spread across the month of September—Thursday, 9/3, 9/17, and 9/24—from 1 to 5 pm EDT. We know that long Zoom meetings are tough, so there will be breaks and interactive components. Each of the three sessions are designed to build off of each other, so applicants must commit to the work of all three days and may not selectively attend only some sections.
Will these sessions be live or recorded?
Each of the sessions will be live and interactive, so it is important that you can make all three of the times listed above.
What are the preparation requirements?
We are committed to bringing critical information and knowledge to participants of the FOS-F. The training team is working hard to build a transformative curriculum and to create an online setting that is a supportive learning environment for all. As such, participation in the FOS-F will include some pre-session reading and work, as well as a commitment to deeply engage with the material during each session. We will provide reading materials which will be required for each of the three sessions. Participants will need access to stable internet connection and the latest version of the Zoom video conference application. If you do not have stable internet there will also be an option to call in, but for the greatest level of engagement we encourage everyone to participate via video.
Can more than one person per organization apply?
Yes, more than one person per foundation/institution can apply, and in fact we encourage at least two people per organization so that you can use this school as an opportunity to build and strategize with each other about shifts you may be wanting to make together. We encourage multiple levels and layers of staff and members of a foundation or funding institution to apply, for example Program Officers, Executive Directors, Presidents, CEOs, Board Members, and Trustees.
Our Advisory Committee will be reviewing and accepting applications the week of August 17. If we are not able to accept all applicants, we may have to make difficult decisions about how many people per organization are accepted, with an eye toward inclusion of participants at different decision making levels inside of foundations and an eye towards overall diversity of the cohort.
Can funders from outside the US apply? Will the curriculum address international funding contexts or is the focus on the US funding context?
The FOS-F curriculum content comes from internationalist feminist perspectives, however this first FOS-F content is most focused on strategy and conditions within U.S.-based philanthropy. The primary audience we are prepared to address with this online FOS-F is U.S.-based philanthropy, including those who fund internationally. Our team is also most equipped to support U.S.-based participants in terms of language access and time zones. That said, we do accept applicants from outside the US context as long as they understand that the organizing strategy will be specific to the US funding context, and are able to make the live sessions in their equivalent time zone.
Can people still attend if they cannot commit to all three full sessions?
Full participation in all three sessions is required, which means a commitment to be present for the full four hours and not take other meetings, write emails or do other work during that time. The FOS-F curriculum will be interactive and participatory and will require your full attention. We understand that due to the global COVID19 pandemic (and/or other life circumstances!) some people may have children with them, which is welcome.
However, we do understand that some applicants may already have scheduling conflicts with one of the sessions. We will be prioritizing the applicants who can commit to all three full sessions. If there is room to accept people who have to miss a small portion, we will ask that you watch the recording of the session you missed and to do some homework before the following session. If you are applying and have a scheduling conflict with one of the sessions that absolutely cannot be moved, please indicate that in your application.
What languages will the FOS-F be accessible in?
We will provide simultaneous interpretation between English & Spanish for all three sessions of the school, with the option to participate fully in either language. We are not able to accommodate interpretation of other languages for this program.
Who is on the Advisory Committee?
- Arianne Shaffer, EDGE Funders Alliance
- Betsy Hoody, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
- Brenda Salas Neves, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
- Chung-Wha Hong, Grassroots International
- Cuong P. Hoang, Chorus Foundation
- Jessie Greenspan, Open Society Foundations – US
- Katrin Wilde, Channel Foundation
- Kellea Miller, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
- Mónica Enríquez, Foundation for a Just Society
- Rachel Gore Freed, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
- Sofia Arroyo Martin del Campo, EDGE Funders Alliance
- Solomé Lemma, Thousand Currents
What is the role of the Advisory Committee?
The primary roles and responsibilities of the Advisory Committee are to provide input into the overall planning process, the criteria for participants, and to support the outreach plan to ensure a diverse participant cohort. Additionally the Advisory Committee was set up to give feedback and co-shape elements of the Feminist Organizing School curriculum so that it is esspeically applicable to funders.
Who is funding this Feminist Organizing School for Funders?
Our goal is to cover the costs of this online version through registration fees, which is why we are asking all participants to consider paying at the appropriate fee level for your organization size and capacity. We are excited to have received seed funding for the in-person version of this school from Chorus Foundation, Open Society Foundations and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.