Session Submissions
Key dates:
- 15 August: Discovery Journey and Open Gallery submissions open.
- 1 Sept: Registration opens
- 19 September at 9 am ET: Deadline to submit proposals (Discovery Journey + Open Gallery)
- 29 September: Notification of submission status
Open Gallery:
Curated live gallery space to share ideas, resources, reports, and visuals.
We invite you to share resources, reports, and projects. Please provide a link and/or upload an image, report, or other materials if you have a specific document or site you’d like to reference. If it’s an idea, artistic act, or other type of contribution, provide a description.
The type and range of submissions will determine how the space is curated. Please make this your own.
Discovery Journey:
Small group sessions focused on strategic questions.
We invite you to raise hard questions, propose solutions, and work across areas of human rights in small, focused sessions (10-15 people). Journeys will be 90 minutes long.
What sample topics might you have for your journey:
- What am I most afraid we’re missing in our grantmaking?
- How can we survive if our planet is burning? Can we move climate justice from a program to the center of all we do?
- How should we pivot when in crisis? How much do we reorient our funding when our partners are fleeing conflict?
- How do I bridge racial justice with my trustees/leadership?
- What would happen if we dared to completely redo our model of grantmaking? What would we dream up?
- What is the point of philanthropy? Can philanthropy be truly open and justice-oriented?
- I keep collaborating with the same partners. Who am I missing? How do I shift my own perspectives and networks?
- What work are we doing to bridge the trust gap across Global South and North funders? How are we accountable to our partners?
We encourage you to approach these sessions as engaging and dynamic spaces, so fellow participants leave feeling inspired and motivated. You can even get creative with the physical space and bring the participants along as if on a real journey out in nature!
If selected, HRFN’s team will be in touch to support with facilitation, materials, translation, and any follow-up after the session.
Note about language:
- Sessions can be submitted in English or Spanish.
- Simultaneous interpretation from/to English and Spanish will be available during the Festival. The availability of additional languages, including sign language interpretation, will be based on demand.
To apply, submit a proposal form using the links below.
- Discovery Journey (English) – CLOSED
- Jornada de Descubrimiento (Español) – CLOSED
- Open Gallery (English) – CLOSED
- Galería Abierta (Español) – CLOSED
Questions? Email us at conference@hrfn.org.