Ariadne's Thread

Dear Ariadne community,

Greetings from a very warm European summer. As many of us in Europe begin to slow down for the holiday period, while colleagues and partners elsewhere continue through different seasons, we wanted to share a few updates from across the Ariadne community before The Thread takes its summer break. We will be back in your inbox in September.

Earlier this week, we published the Ariadne Forecast 2026, our latest strategic brief for philanthropy. Rather than attempting to predict the future, it invites us to think together about how philanthropy can prepare for uncertainty, strengthen democratic resilience, and continue supporting civil society in a rapidly changing environment. We hope that in the coming months it will become a practical resource for reflection, conversation and action within our community and across philanthropy.

The theme of resilience will also shape much of our work this autumn. We are looking forward to welcoming members and partners to two in-person gatherings.

Our Tech & Society Meeting (Brussels, 15–16 October) will explore the growing interconnections between technology, human rights and social change, creating space for shared learning across these increasingly interconnected fields.

Then, on 17 November in London, we will bring our community together for Building Resilience, this year’s Grant Skills Day: an event dedicated to learning, collaboration and practical tools for funders. Together, we will explore how philanthropy can strengthen its own resilience while helping build the resilience of civil society, democratic resilience and the wider ecosystems that sustain rights and social change.

Whether you are taking a break in the coming weeks or continuing through a busy season, we hope you find moments to pause and recharge. We look forward to writing to you again in September and to seeing many of you in the autumn.

With my best wishes,

Maja Spanu
Director, Ariadne

• Save the date: Soutenir la démocratie aujourd’hui : état des lieux et leviers d’action philanthropiques (event in French) in collaboration with the Fonds pour la Démocratie, 15th Sept 17:30-21:00, Paris. More details to come.
• Ariadne Network in collaboration with the European AI & Society Fund, invites you to our next Funders’ Briefing “To ban or not to ban: protecting children from AI in Europe” on 15 September at 14:00-15:00 CET. We will be joined by Imogen Parker, Associate Director, Social and Economic Policy at the Ada Lovelace Institute, and Leandra Voss, youth digital activist and Advocacy Lead at ctrl+alt+reclaim. This is a funders-only briefing, sign-up via the Community Hub, or contact us.

• Ariadne Network, the Global Philanthropy Project (GPP) and TGEU Trans Europe and Central Asia invite you to join an invitation-only gathering of philanthropic and public funders investing in LGBTI movements in the Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central and North Asia (CEECCNA) region from 8 to 10 September in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The meeting will be structured to create the conditions for deep donor inquiry and collaboration. Register here by August 31.

• Registration now open – European Tech and Society Funders Annual Meeting 2026 (15–16 October, Brussels): Join Ariadne and Aspiration in bringing together funders working across digital rights, technology governance, democracy, media, climate justice, racial gender and social justice, public-interest technology and related fields to collectively reflect on the challenges and opportunities shaping our future. Learn more and register here. 
• Registration now open – Building Resilience: Join us on 17 November in London for Ariadne’s Annual Grant Skills Day, dedicated to learning, collaboration and practical tools for funders. Learn more and register here.
• Save the date: Ariadne’s 2027 Annual Reconnect will take place from 13-15 April 2027 – Location to be announced soon!

Ariadne is taking a summer break! The next Thread will go out on Thursday,  17th September. We would love to hear from you! Please contact us by Tuesday 15th September if you would like to share announcements, events, or resources for the next issue. 

All resources can be found on Ariadne’s website and Member-only Community Hub. Are you a member of Ariadne but don’t have access to the Community Hub? Sign-up here or email jana.stardelova@ariadne-network.eu.

The Global Justice Report attempts to set out a new vision for global progress in the 21^st century: grounding human development and equality in planetary habitability. It explores the conditions under which the world could move toward this horizon and traces an economically and ecologically consistent transition path from 2026 to 2100.

Philea – Proven Practices in Gender Mainstreaming: Foundations in Conversation: This report brings together reflective pieces and concrete examples from foundations putting gender equality into practice. Rooted in Philea’s Equality Framework, it offers practical guidance and lived experience to support funders ready to make progress in 2026 and beyond.

CAF – World Giving Report, Donor Insights 2026: The World Giving Report seeks to explore two aspects of giving — the attitudes and behaviours of the public and the trends and challenges within the social sector. The Donor Insights, digs deeper into what the public thinks and does, to reveal ground-breaking insights on the nature of generosity across 105 countries around the world (up from the 101 covered in 2025).

The Front Line Defenders Global Analysis 2025/26 gives a detailed panorama of the violations against HRDs at risk in countries around the world last year. The report also reveals statistics gathered and verified by the HRD Memorial – which Front Line Defenders coordinates – documenting the killings of at least 357 HRDs in 27 countries in 2025.

Rising Repression Meets Global Resistance: Internet Shutdowns in 2025: This #KeepItOn report looks at incidents of internet shutdowns documented by Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition in 2025. This report is a publication of Access Now for the #KeepItOn coalition and was written by Zach Rosson and Felicia Anthonio, in collaboration with the Access Now team. The #KeepItOn campaign unites and organizes global organizations and efforts to end
internet shutdowns. The coalition consists of 366 members from 106 countries around the world.

Philanthropy For Climate: State of the Movement Report 2026: This first progress report on the Philanthropy For Climate movement, which complements annual progress reports for individual commitments, demonstrates that Philanthropy For Climate functions as a catalytic mechanism enabling foundations to move from awareness and intention to embedding climate action in their work.

The report “Digital Identity and Migration” by Caribou, partner of Robert Bosch Stiftung, analyses how emerging digital identity systems affect migrants, refugees, and other marginalized groups. It shows that new technologies such as digital wallets can improve access to essential services but also risk reinforcing existing forms of exclusions when safeguards and inclusive design are lacking. Drawing on case studies and fieldwork in Kenya and Germany, the report highlights gaps between policy ambitions and practical realities and provides evidence-based insights for designing more accessible, rights focused identity systems.

Fundamental Rights Agency, Fundamental Rights Report – Challenges and achievements in 2025: The Fundamental Rights Report: Challenges and Achievements in 2025 is FRA’s flagship annual publication. It provides an overview of the state of fundamental rights in the EU and highlights selected critical developments from 2025. This year, it focuses on four areas: rights protection in a rapidly changing digital environment; the housing crisis and rising homelessness rates; employment challenges for people from non-EU countries; and the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Dictionary of Radical Alternatives: Building on earlier works such as Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Post-Development Reader, and A Post-Development Dictionary among many others, this dictionary continues and expands a long lineage of embodied projects of resistance and re-existence across the Global South. It highlights the voices and practices of Indigenous, peasant, rural, and marginalized communities that have been silenced under the monologue of development.

Spring Strategies Podcast Bouncing back: Leading your team from panic to pivot with Ganesh Ramachandran: Lucía Carrasco, sits down with Ganesh, a finance expert who has dedicated his life to untangling finances to support civil society organizations in achieving their missions. Having worked with Oxfam, Christian Aid, and Care, Ganesh shares what worked for him during his first hundred days as a new finance leader and how he dealt with new colleagues, his own vulnerabilities, and unexpected shifts in funding.

D-Hub launched its Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit, it is organised into thematic volumes, each with a set of specific strategies and tactics. It offers practical tools for politicians, civil society organizations, activists, journalists, content creators, and citizens committed to democratic action.

ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map annually ranks 49 European countries on a scale between 0% and 100% based on laws and policies that have a direct impact on LGBTI people’s human rights. ILGA-Europe’s 18th annual Rainbow Map ends Malta’s ten-year reign with Spain taking the top position. Yet a top ranking on the Rainbow Map measures laws and policies, not lived reality. In Spain, as elsewhere, the gap between legal progress and daily experience remains stark.

‘I love it, but I hate it’ – Young people’s experiences and expectations of growing up digital, report by Ada Lovelace Institute and Nuffield Foundation centres the voices of 14-to-24-year-olds growing up in the UK today. Peer researchers spoke to teenagers and young adults, building evidence about their experiences coexisting with these powerful and pervasive technologies. This report is part of the Nuffield Foundation’s ‘Grown up? Journeys into adulthood’ programme.

Check out these two new blogs by the Global Narrative Hive, “Reframing Philanthropy as Kinship: African and Indigenous Strategies” and “Imagining the Otherwise: a writers’ cohort on reimagining safety through story-telling, and collective imagination” by Candelaria Carranza.

Social Change Nest Podcast “Rethinking Funding: Why Put Your Trust in Place-Based Groups”: This podcast episode explores the power of place-based community work with Elijah Williams from Brent Giving and Andy Crosbie and Rich Gibbons from Gateshead Community Bridgebuilders. They discuss how local voices can be brought into decision-making, what it means to fund work that is rooted in communities, and why the impact of this work often reaches far beyond what is easy to measure.

Robert Bosch Stiftung Opinion “Strengthening resilience instead of deepening divides – what integration policy in Germany must deliver now”: RBS migration expert Hannes Einsporn and democracy expert Antje Scheidler discuss what integration policy needs now and share what they are doing as a foundation.

“From Belief to Practice: Why Multiyear Flexible Funding Still Lags Behind Consensus”, in this blog for the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Hannah Smith of Exponent Philanthropy explores how multiyear general operating support is one of the most direct ways to translate philanthropy’s commitments to trust, partnership and equity into practice.

Philanthropy’s Drag Coefficient: When Process Costs More Than Failure by Nicole Marie Bergeron: “Philanthropy has drag. It is the cumulative friction between a funder’s intention and a grantee’s impact. Every step of the grantmaking process that consumes time, energy, or resources without proportionally increasing good—that’s drag.” Read more.

“Africa Is the World’s Most Generous Continent — So Why Isn’t It Showing?” In this article, Henrietta Bankole-Olusina of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) dives deep into the 2025 CAF World Giving Report and outlines the main findings and pathways where RPA can support.

Digital Freedom Fund “One year of community-led grant decision making – how it’s going so far”: Throughout 2025 DFF piloted a new review and decision-making process for their grants with a group representing the wider digital rights community (the Peer Group). In the article you can find their reflections that include the challenges of making decisions in decentralised funding models.

Annual Report 2025 – Global Greengrants Fund channels resources to grassroots leaders worldwide who are protecting ecosystems and advancing climate and environmental justice. By investing in community-led action, they help plant seeds of transformation that grow into resilient futures for people and the planet. In 2025, Global Greengrants made 423 grants totaling $3.61M in 71 countries in support of Indigenous rights.

“€1 million of unrestricted funding: Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity winners on what they’ve accomplished“, Elika Roohi of Alliance Magazine explores Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s annual Prize for Humanity which recognises individuals and organisations driving extraordinary climate action.

Humanity AI, a collaborative philanthropic initiative co-founded by Ford Foundation and dedicated to ensuring that artificial intelligence serves the public good, announced more than $18 million in new pooled grants. This includes grants to 12 organizations whose work spans the most urgent frontiers of AI’s impact on society, including safeguarding democratic institutions, protecting workers’ rights, strengthening journalism, and advancing education.

Luminate – Principal, LatAm.  Luminate is hiring a senior, region-specific role responsible for shaping and delivering Luminate’s funding strategy in practice and articulating the region’s ecosystem value proposition in ways that are credible to partners and funders. The role exists to direct significant resources towards the highest-impact opportunities, steward critical relationships, exercise power-aware stewardship of money and influence, and ensure that learning from the field informs organisational strategy and partnership development. Location: Hybrid/São Paulo, Brazil. Deadline: 19 July 2026.  

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation -Trustee. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is recruiting two new Trustees to join its Board at an important moment as the organisation approaches the final phase of its current strategy and begins shaping its next chapter. The Foundation is particularly interested in candidates with expertise in local or national government, local communities, climate and environment, strategic communications, reputation management, or finance and audit. Salary: Trustee positions are voluntary, with expenses reimbursed. Location: United Kingdom. Deadline: 20 July 2026.  

Green Screen Coalition – Program Assistant. The Green Screen Coalition is recruiting a Program Assistant to support programme coordination, communications, event organisation, and administrative activities across the coalition’s work on sustainable audiovisual production and environmental advocacy. The role involves supporting project implementation and stakeholder engagement across the network. Salary: 300 – 450 EUR per day, depending on relevant experience. Location: Europe (remote). Deadline: 20 July 2026. 

WINGS – Board Nominations 2026. WINGS is inviting nominations for new Board Members to help guide the global philanthropy network’s strategy, governance, and development. The role involves contributing expertise, supporting organisational priorities, and strengthening the global philanthropic ecosystem through Board participation. Location: Global. Deadline: 31 July 2026. 

Ford Foundation – Program Associate, Mission Investments.The Ford Foundation is recruiting a Program Associate to support its Mission Investments team by leading research, analysis, portfolio coordination, and knowledge sharing across grants and impact investments designed to reduce inequality and strengthen inclusive capitalism. Salary: The starting salary for this position is 104,000 USD. Location: New York, United States (hybrid). Deadline: 31 July 2026.  

Open Society Foundations – Program Manager. Open Society Foundations is hiring a Program Manager to support the development and implementation of Open Society’s work in Central Asia and Mongolia, manage relationships with grantees, cultivate new partnerships, and support programme delivery across diverse political contexts. Location: Seoul, South Korea, or Colombo, Sri Lanka (hybrid or remote depending on location). Deadline: 1 August 2026. 

*For more jobs, see the ‘Career Opportunities’ section of Ariadne’s Community Hub. To address pay gaps in the charity sector, we strongly encourage you to #showthesalary in your job adverts.

24-25 July, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

FCAA Global Philanthropy Summit. Registration is now open for the Funders Concerned About AIDS Global Philanthropy Summit, bringing together funders and partners to address key issues in global health and philanthropy. Learn more and register. 

29 July, Online 

Learning about the environmental impacts of data centers in Brazil with Rhavena Madeira and André Fernandes – MERL Tech. As part of their work in Merl Tech’s community of practice, Madhuri Karak and Cathy Richards are co-leading a series of events exploring the global socio-environmental impact of data centres. This session will focus on the environmental impacts of data centers, how they are being regulated and what possibilities exist for resistance. Learn more and register here.  
 
2-7 August, Sao Paulo, Brazil 

Thousand Currents Academy. The Academy is an immersive, in-person experience focused on building solidarity with grassroots movements in the Global South. The goal of the Academy is to support participants to move more unrestricted, long-term, and flexible funding to movements in the Global South, with practices rooted in mutual trust and accountability. Learn more and register here.  
 

17 September, Online  

Global Philanthropy Project – Tilting the Balance Webinar. This webinar will explore how funding global trans organizing to become a beacon of democracy, rather than a scapegoat for authoritarianism, is at a decisive moment. Learn more and register here. 

17 September, 1 October, 15 October, Online 

Seeds of the next economy. The Seeds of the Next Economy invites participants to look beyond the immediate funding challenges of a world of shrinking resources and civic space. During three sessions with experts from Spring and guest practitioners, explore the question: What kinds of economic systems might better support long-term flourishing for people, communities, and the planet? Learn more and register here.   

9-10 October, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Othering & Belonging Conference. An immersive, two-day gathering with leaders from grassroots movements, research and academia, arts and culture, policymaking and government, philanthropy and business – united by a common purpose to fostering inclusive, multiracial, pluralistic democracies and building a bigger “we”. Learn more and register here.

22-23 October, Online

Global Philanthropy Project – Mobilizing for Trans Futures Training. The curriculum is being updated and adapted the curriculum for this cohort from the perspective of democracy and trans rights. The training is aimed exclusively at grantmakers looking to enhance their funding practices to better include trans populations. Learn more and register here. 

28-30 October, Barcelona, Spain 

Mozilla Festival 2026. Mozilla Festival, aka MozFest, is three days of bold conversations, hands-on building, and ideas worth traveling for. This year, MozFest is taking over Barcelona’s Recinte Fabra i Coats – a former industrial complex turned cultural powerhouse – from Wednesday, October 28 through Friday, October 30, 2026. They are partnering with the City of Barcelona and taking part in Open Tech Week – a city-wide celebration of the people shaping a better digital world. Learn more and register here.