Fenomenal Funds is focused on providing resources directly to women’s funds members of Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds (INWF).
Women’s funds are feminist funding institutions that support the transformative work of feminist movements worldwide.
Women’s funds have a long track record of knowing where and how to support organizations working to achieve gender justice in their communities, countries, and regions. Today, they are reaching women’s rights movements in some of the most challenging contexts and are at the leading edge of the most pressing human rights issues.
Distinct from traditional foundations, and historically overlooked by private philanthropy, women’s funds are born out of the movements they support — focused on mobilizing and distributing resources to grassroots movements and collectives led by women, girls, and trans* people worldwide. Women’s funds build deep relationships of trust and partnership with grassroots feminist leaders, so when critical needs arise, they have the resources to meet them when, where, and how movements require those resources.
As a collaborative, Fenomenal Funds uses an ecosystem approach to resource and support the 44 autonomous and international women’s funds who are members of the Prospera INWF. Prospera INWF is a network with more than 20 years of experience of collective work to strengthen the feminist funding ecosystem in the Global South and East, and to influence the philanthropic sector. The network brings together women’s funds to connect and learn from one another, share strategies and solutions, and to build a powerful collective voice for feminist philanthropy. Prospera INWF aims to shift philanthropy by centering the power and potential of women, youth, and trans* activists who are transforming our communities, our countries, and our world.
We believe that women’s funds are uniquely positioned to channel resources directly to feminist movements. When women’s funds have access to abundant resourcing to match the ambition of feminist movements worldwide, they can effectively support gender justice movements to create profound and long-lasting structural change.