Building relationships across geographies, experiences, and portfolios is at the core of being a global network and sparking meaningful social change. HRFN’s Funding Futures Festivals create opportunities for funders to do just that–and this year was no different. In the midst of challenging global contexts, from war and genocide to climate crisis to attacks on women and LGBTQI people, gatherings like the Festival are critical to share learnings, build solidarity, and strategize about how to better support movements.

Here are just a few of the powerful collaborative spaces attendees created this year, both to address the key challenges movements are facing, and to foster new philanthropic approaches.

Global Philanthropy Project (GPP) hosted a half-day in-person meeting (24 April), attended by more than 100 grantmakers, to shape philanthropic responses to anti-gender ideology and anti-right movements. The meeting’s objective was to contribute to ongoing coordination and mobilization efforts to accelerate discussions that coordinate and de-silo philanthropic work for a more robust and coordinated response to anti-gender and anti-rights movements. The meeting focused on strategic funding discussions with tangible outcomes. It provided a dedicated time and space for grantmakers to share information, co-create or hone strategies, and develop and strengthen relationships. The meeting was arranged in consultation with GPP’s Responding to Anti-Gender Ideology Task Force.

On 26 April, we hosted an evening of storytelling and dancing in collaboration with four organizations that collaborate closely with artists and cultural workers: Stories of Girls’ Resistance, Giuvlipen Theatre Company, Our Collective Practice, and Urgent Action Sister Funds. Art is a form of resistance, survival, healing, and a political agenda against the systems seeking to erase our very existence, making it pivotal to any social change gathering. Grounded in the power and revolutionary force of feminist art and storytelling, the evening included multiple ways to interact, from immersive exhibits to performances to dancing. It highlighted how important art and culture–as well as joy and celebration–are to social change.

As funders who hope to shift global systems and power structures, none of us can do this work alone. Even as we take different approaches, our collaborations are our strength. This idea is at the heart of the Funding Futures Festival. We helped to foster this collaboration by offering attendees the space to share learnings and spark their own conversations through discovery journeys and lightning talks.