Loretta Saunders
Resourcing Feminist Movements
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Around the world, feminist, women’s rights, and allied movements are confronting power and reimagining a politics of liberation. The contributions that fuel this work come in many forms, from financial and political resources to daily acts of resistance and survival.
AWID’s Resourcing Feminist Movements (RFM) Initiative shines a light on the current funding ecosystem, which range from self-generated models of resourcing to more formal funding streams.
Through our research and analysis, we examine how funding practices can better serve our movements. We critically explore the contradictions in “funding” social transformation, especially in the face of increasing political repression, anti-rights agendas, and rising corporate power. Above all, we build collective strategies that support thriving, robust, and resilient movements.
Our Actions
Recognizing the richness of our movements and responding to the current moment, we:
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Create and amplify alternatives: We amplify funding practices that center activists’ own priorities and engage a diverse range of funders and activists in crafting new, dynamic models for resourcing feminist movements, particularly in the context of closing civil society space.
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Build knowledge: We explore, exchange, and strengthen knowledge about how movements are attracting, organizing, and using the resources they need to accomplish meaningful change.
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Advocate: We work in partnerships, such as the Count Me In! Consortium, to influence funding agendas and open space for feminist movements to be in direct dialogue to shift power and money.
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2018: Supporting feminist movements to thrive and disrupt
This report looks back and celebrates the first year of AWID’s new strategic plan as we took our first steps towards our desired outcomes of supporting feminist movements to thrive, challenging anti-rights agendas and co-creating feminist realities.
We worked with feminists to disrupt anti-rights agendas, achieving important victories fought and won within the United Nations system when ground-breaking language on structural discrimination, sexual rights, and states’ obligations were included in a number of resolutions. Yes, the multilateral system is in crisis and in need of serious strengthening but these victories are important as they contribute to the legitimacy of feminist demands, providing feminist movements with more pressure points and momentum to advance our agendas.
We tried and tested different ways to build knowledge with feminist movements through webinars, podcasts and ‘live’ conversations. We developed facilitation guides with popular educators to reclaim knowledge in the interest of social and gender justice, even about a topic as seemingly opaque as illicit funding flows. We commissioned blogs and opinions about how feminist groups fund and resource themselves and threw light on the threats facing our human rights systems.
Within AWID, we practiced and learned from our shared leadership approach, and told the story of the trials and tribulations of co-leading a global, virtual organization. We don’t have a definitive answer to what feminist leadership looks like, but we know, a year on, that a continued commitment to collective experimentation and learning has enabled us to keep building an organization that we are all excited to contribute to.
As we look back on this year, we want to thank all our friends and supporters, colleagues and companions, who have given their time and shared their wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us. We want to thank our members who helped frame our strategic plan and joined us to make feminist demands. We could not do this work without you.
Maria Luisa Posa Dominado
Priscilla Hon
Biography
Priscilla has nearly two decades of experience working in the non-profit sector with social justice organizations that worked on women and youth rights, conservation, peacebuilding and development. Her interests are in setting up progressive processes and systems that will help an organization live to their values and principles and thrive, and finding ways to support organizations and fundraisers to locate and secure the resourcing they need to do good work. . Priscilla joined AWID in 2018 as Resource Mobilization Manager and in July 2023, took on the role of Director of Operations and Funding Partnerships.
Priscilla holds an MSc in International Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), a growing pile of books she is still trying to find time to read, and sits on the Board of Hodan Somali Community, a London-based charity.
Position
Director of Operations and Funding Partnerships
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Nasreen Pervin Huq
Maria Olivo
Biography
Maria is a graphic designer and visual communicator. Maria has worked with NGOs and Human Rights like Profamilia and OXFAM. As a woman of the Global South, she feels especially called to use her skills to work with organizations that help protect the wellbeing, as well the rights of millions of girls and women in Latin America.
Position
Digital Communications Coordinator
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Zaitun Kasim
Jemutai Mercy
Biography
Jemutai is a passionate plant lover who finds inspiration in the natural world and its intricate web of interconnections. This fascination with the universe's interrelatedness is mirrored in their approach to work, community building, care and support.
She believes in the vibrant presence of their ancestors within them and lives to experience, remember, uphold, appreciate and celebrate their struggles, triumphs and values.
As an intersectional queer feminist and human rights activist, Jemutai has dedicated their career to advocating for equity and inclusivity. They are passionate about Organizational Development, with a background in Grants Making and Administration, and now pursuing a path in creating impactful experiences for convenings and providing operational leadership and support, ensuring that spaces are inclusive, safe and curated with precision and care.
Jemutai is also a strong believer in the philosophy of Ubuntu – the idea that "I am because we are." This belief in our shared humanity and mutual interdependence informs their collaborative approach and commitment to fostering a supportive, inclusive environment for all, especially structurally silenced and marginalized people.
Position
Logistics & Administrative Coordinator
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Emilia Quan
I am new to this field and there are lots of terms that I find confusing. Can you help?
Sandra Viviana Cuellar Gallego
