Key question: What if we centered our work on collective care and well-being?
The Leading from the South Consortium (LFS) is a feminist resource alliance supporting activism led by women, girls, and trans-led organizations in the Global South. The four regional funds in this collaboration share a commitment to collective care, defined as:
A process where activists’ well-being—mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional—is a shared responsibility rather than an individual task. Collective care protects activists’ well-being in a world that often exploits and is hostile to diverse identities.
Recognized as a crucial component of the global feminist agenda, collective care has gained prominence post-COVID-19. Feminist movements in the Global South increasingly view caring for oneself and others as a political act of resistance and essential for the survival of movements.
The four women’s funds—Women’s Fund Asia, African Women’s Development Fund, Fondo Mujeres del Sur, and International Indigenous Women’s Forum—aim to develop a shared understanding of collective care, well-being, and healing through a feminist lens, integrating these into their politics and practices.
Inspiration
The four funds began discussions on incorporating collective care into their strategies and practices. They recognize that while they can support and promote collective care, they must also embody the politics they advocate. Each fund is at a different stage in integrating collective care but is committed to deepening their understanding and practices to better support feminist movements.
The Process
The collaboration involves several levels of work:
- Fund-Level: Each fund will learn about and institutionalize collective care, well-being, and healing; and engage with feminist movements in their regions. They will assess their systems, policies, and practices to integrate collective care, and connect with movement partners to understand regional meanings and practices of collective care.
- Consortium Level: The funds aim to influence donors and other women’s funds to support sustainable communities for collective care. They will develop a strategic reflection document to share their journey and organize or participate in learning spaces with the Prospera network and the broader donor community.
- Consortium Strengthening: The funds will integrate collective care into their cross-regional thematic convenings.
Ways of Working
The consortium’s work on collective care will be supported by:
- Steering Committee: Composed of Executive Directors and Program Managers/Coordinators from each fund, leading decision-making.
- Coordination: The participants will manage different aspects of the work: conduct interactions with other women’s funds to promote nurturing exchanges, advocate within the donor community for improved resources for collective care, as well as engage with feminist movements.
- Established Working Groups: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), Finances, and Communication will support implementation, supported by a Coordinator working specifically on this collaboration project.
What Does Success Look Like?
- Institutionalized Collective Care: Each fund incorporates collective care into daily practices as a political and ethical issue.
- Sustainable Activism: Feminist movements supported by the funds benefit from more sustainable activism grounded in protection, dignity, and joy.
- Donor Understanding: The donor community recognizes and integrates care practices into their interactions and requirements.
Between the lines
In times of rising authoritarianism, anti-gender sentiments, climate crises, and conflict, there is often pressure to work harder and more strategically. This can lead to burnout rather than effective action.
The question is: What if we centered our work on collective care and well-being? What does it mean to integrate collective care into our daily practices and decision-making?
The four funds in this collaboration are at different stages of exploring this question. There is no single answer, but collective care requires a new way of being and a culture of care for resilience. Women’s funds need time to figure out what this looks like and draw from their contextual wisdom.
With almost eight years of collaborative work, LFS has established strong relationships and practices, guided by values of co-responsibility, diversity, flexibility, and mutual respect. The consortium’s Global South context offers diverse cultural and Indigenous perspectives, enriching their feminist practices and advancing collective learning.
