This collaboration of six funds aims to address the lack of mechanisms for building sustainable funding ecosystems among women’s funds (WFs). The goal is to strengthen their growth strategies through mentoring, learning spaces, and meaningful engagement within the WF community.
Tag: English
Theory of Transformation
Our Theory of Transformation captures how we see the Fenomenal Funds model contributing to change in philanthropic ecosystems. Transformation in our case is framed by feminist values and ethics centering on the needs of women’s funds.
Reimagining Power to Build Resilience
Reimagining Power to Build Resilience is a report that shares highlights and learnings from the Fenomenal Funds’ model capacity to disrupt the traditional power relationships of philanthropy – particularly focusing on how our 2021-2022 Resilience Grants supported Fenomenal Funds to respond to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that would not have been possible under a different kind of model.
The Four Outcomes
So what does it mean to catalyze change in an ecosystem? When the board of the Hewlett Foundation invited their Global and Development team (since renamed to Gender Equity and Governance) to submit a concept for a special initiative, they joined forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to commission research to inform the […]
Decolonizing knowledge in philanthropy
By Shama Dossa What does it mean to use power-building and feminist approaches to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) in philanthropy? This is the question we Shama Dossa, [Fenomenal Funds] and fellow feminist practitioners Clara Desalvo [FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund], Boikanyo Modungwa [Purposeful], and Ramatu Bangura [CRIF]) posed to funders at the […]
2022: A Year Living Into Our Values
Fenomenal Funds is a feminist funder collaborative that aims to strengthen the resilience and visibility of women’s funds members of the Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds (Prospera INWF). Fenomenal Funds is predicated on the recognition that, while feminist movements across the globe continue to make gains in challenging the norms, systems, and structures of […]
Fenomenal Funds Awards $5.2M in Grants to Strengthen the Feminist Funding Ecosystem
Fenomenal Funds is pleased to announce the award of $5,247,744 to 13 collaboration groups formed by 37 women’s funds members of the Prospera International Network of Womenʼs Funds. The Collaboration Grants support women’s funds to form deeper connections and stronger partnerships with each other. As they work to co-create solutions, they harness the community’s collective power, wisdom, and creativity to reimagine practices, […]
Lessons in Real Time
Drawing on Emergent Learning in Feminist Philanthropy by Shama Dossa When I joined Fenomenal Funds (FF) last year in September 2022 as Feminist Manager Learning and Evaluation I was excited to be tasked with the challenge of how to put together a learning agenda for this unique initiative through a participatory process. FF had already […]
FemFund Poland on the power of Core Grants
“Staying flexible and responsive to what feminist movements truly need by offering core support is a profound gesture of genuine solidarity.” Magdalena Pochek, FemFund Established in 2018 in response to the growing backlash against women’s rights in Poland, the Feminist Fund (FemFund) is the only grantmaking organization in Poland that focuses on feminist philanthropy. FemFund […]
FRIDA on the impact of flexible funding
When we receive flexible funding that supports us to carry out important organizational strengthening processes, it contributes to FRIDA’s long-term sustainability and resilience, and our ability to effectively serve the young feminist movements that we support.” Majandra Rodriguez Acha, FRIDA | Young Feminist Fund Founded in 2010, FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund is the […]