Unlocking possibilities at the intersections of climate, technology, and human rights funding.
OPEN SUMMIT
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
New York, United States
A daylong summit hosted by HRFN
Co-Sponsored by CS Fund, Foundation for a Just Society, and Luminate
HRFN’s Open Summit on 23 September aimed to spark inspiration, learning, and philanthropic action through a day-long exchange among funders working across critical issues such as climate justice, democracy, closing civic space, and digital rights and technology.
Conversations throughout the day addressed the urgency of using a systemic and structural analysis to inform future-building funding strategies.
Mapping the Terrain
In the keynote session, speakers explored how deeply intertwined the anti-democratic and anti-environmental agendas are at the global level. The discussion ranged from the consolidation of economic power to the widespread experience of economic precarity globally; from the rise of anti-rights movements to the roles tech companies and the fossil fuel industry play in influencing political landscapes and facilitating authoritarian regimes. The session concluded with a clarion assessment of strategies that, over the long arc of history, have led to successful resistance against authoritarianism.
Speakers:
- Tarso Luis Ramos, Paraset Advisory
- Prachi Patankar, Foundation for a Just Society
Tarso Luis Ramos and Prachi Patankar during the “Mapping the Terrain” panel.
Message from Volker Türk,
United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, described his office’s innovative approach to human rights, climate, and technology. He emphasized the crucial role of alliances, specifically in their efforts to form a broad coalition of member states, philanthropies, civil society, and other partners to defend international human rights law and strengthen the human rights ecosystem.
Leadership Discussion: Future-Proofing Our Visions in the Face of Rapid Change
This panel brought forward the call for cross-sector alliances to address the future of climate and technology in ways that not only center but actively strengthen human rights. Speakers explored the new visions needed to retool our fields – from philanthropy to multilateralism – for a future impacted by rapidly expanding technological capacities, a climate crisis already at our doorsteps, and global efforts to undermine democracy and human rights. In candid dialogue, the speakers reflected on what our institutions and movements must shift to meet this moment.
Speakers:
- Melanie Hui, CEO, Luminate
- Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in New York
- Moderator: Dr. Kellea Miller, Executive Director, Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN)
From left to right: Ilze Brands Kehris, Melanie Hui, and moderator Kellea Miller during the panel “Leadership Discussion: Future-Proofing Our Visions in the Face of Rapid Change”.
Shifting Narratives
This panel conversation explored the ethics of AI and renewable energies, highlighting the serious implications for social and environmental responsibility and the potential of these technologies and industries to drive the acceleration of systems of conflict, war, and genocide. The conversation underscored opportunities to support movement organizing, showcasing inspiring examples, from fighting data centers and using strategic litigation, to ensuring a rights-centric energy transition and centering Indigenous communities.
Speakers:
- Galina Angarova, SIRGE Coalition
- Michael Clements, Business & Human Rights Resource Center
- Alli Finn, AI Now
- Jacinta González, MediaJustice
- Cristi Nozawa, Samdhana Institute
- Moderator: Laura García, Global Greengrants Fund
From left to right: Galina Angarova, Alli Finn, Cristi Nozawa, Jacinta González, Michael Clements, and moderator Laura García during the “Shifting Narratives” panel.
Lightning Talks
A series of presentations from funders and civil society representatives to further illustrate the threats and opportunities for funding at the intersections of human rights, climate, and technology. The closing presentations brought in perspectives that reinforce how building justice-oriented futures is possible and achievable.
Speakers:
1. Paz Peña
2. Nathan Méténier, Youth Climate Justice Fund
3. Nikita Kekana, Digital Freedom Fund
4. Will Alpine, Enabled Emissions
5. Reem Al-Masri, independent journalist
6. Sofia Marcia, Urgent Action Fund – Latin America and the Caribbean
7. Lori Regattieri, Green Screen Coalition
8. Anwar Mahfoudh, United Nations Human Rights
9. KD Chavez, Climate Justice Alliance
10. Tynesha McHarris, Black Feminist Fund
11. Paola Mosso, The Engine Room
12. Sara Mersha, Grassroots International
13. Josimara Melgueiro, Conselho Indígena de Roraima, Fundo Indígena Rutî, membro da Rede de Fundos Comunitários da Amazônia Brasileira, The Global South House
14. Hanan Elmasu and Michael Brennan, Catalyst Fund
15. Essma Bengabsia, Racial Justice Investing Coalition
Josimara Melgueiro, Conselho Indígena de Roraima, Fundo Indígena Rutî, membro da Rede de Fundos Comunitários da Amazônia Brasileira, The Global South House
Will Alpine, Enabled Emissions
Sara Mersha, Grassroots International
Nathan Méténier, Youth Climate Justice Fund
Sponsors
Advisors
B de Gersigny, Global Greengrants Fund
Juliana Veléz, Foundation for a Just Society
Maya Richman, Green Screen Coalition
Michelle Thorne, Green Web Foundation
Mónica Enriquez, Foundation for a Just Society
Nathan Méténier, Youth Climate Justice Fund
Nikita Kekana, Digital Freedom Fund
Samir Doshi, CS Fund
Saulo Araujo, Grassroots International
