Ariadne News & Events

ARIADNE’S ANNUAL REPORT 2021/22: It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it? There’s been so much going on, we thought we’d reflect back and share with you what we’ve been proudest of in 2021/22. Click here for the full report.

CLIMATE JUSTICE AND DIGITAL RIGHTS – READING GROUP – 19 SEPTEMBER: Don’t miss the opportunity to join our last community reading group! We will discuss ‘Cultivating healthy information environments to tackle climate mis- and dis-information’ with our guest speaker Lale Tekisalp (BSR). RSVP here: https://forms.gle/UPuUgofejkifFJ2S8

The reading groups were created as an invitation to respond to the research on climate justice and digital rights that we published on June 12th. In addition to Ariadne, this research was supported by Ford Foundation and Mozilla Foundation, it is part of a larger project that aims to integrate climate as part of digital rights philanthropic funding strategies.

SAVE THE DATE – ARIADNE’S GREAT RECONNECT 2023: We loved seeing many of you in Lille in April and are excited to announce the dates for next year’s Ariadne’s Great Reconnect in Berlin : 28–30 March 2023. While we are working hard on developing a rich program that will include something for everyone, we ask you to save the date!

Racial Justice X Philanthropy Dialogues for Europe: We are excited to share that together with Gender Funders Co-Lab and EDGE Funders Alliance we have started a new program that is committed to building a community of European funders and organisers that will support a long-term approach to equity and justice centered around anti-racist philanthropy.

ARIADNE’S PORTAL: Still not familiar with Ariadne’s new portal? Log in here. Do you have a colleague that doesn’t yet have access to the portal? They can sign up here.

Need assistance? Take a look at our guide or email ariadneoffice@ariadne-network.eu.

REGISTER: ARIADNE’S GRANT SKILLS WEEK 2022: What does accountability mean for social justice funders? This year, the event will explore what accountability means for funders and how philanthropy can be more accountable as a sector, building on the commitment to accountability. During the Grant Skills Week 2022 taking place online from 25 to 27 October 2022, we will examine questions about philanthropy’s role in the accumulation and distribution of wealth and its relationship with the movements that it seeks to support. Check out the detailed agenda and register here!

NEW BLOG: What happens when a feminist fund based in the Global North listens to migrant and antiracist activists? Ariadne’s member Calala Women’s Fund shared their journey into examining power relations in philanthropy, and the responsibility to build decolonial philanthropy while reflecting on the programs and portfolios of the organization. Check it out here. This is the first blog of our new Human Rights Grantmaking Principles blog series produced in collaboration with the Human Rights Funders Network and Gender Funders CoLab.

UNDERSTANDING AND UPROOTING RACISM IN GRANTMAKING INSTITUTIONS: Since the middle of 2020, at Ariadne, we have been working with Healing Solidarity to create a space for you to have more “uncomfortable” conversations about race and ethnicity, and especially racial justice issues within European foundations. During 2021, drop-in sessions were offered for all those who participated in that process. Earlier this year we provided a new series of cohort sessions for those who did not participate previously. The next webinar will take place on 20 September, at 13:00 PM (CET). Dates for subsequent sessions throughout the year are as follows:
October: Mixed drop-in session: Tues 18 Oct, 1-2.30 pm CEST
November: Cohort drop-in session: Tues 15 Nov, 1-2.3o pm CET
December: Mixed drop-in session: Tues 6 Dec, 1-2.30 pm CEST

WEBINAR on 10 October from 14:00 – 15:00 CET/ 13:00 – 14:00 GMT – An introduction to the 2022 EU Rule of Law Report: context and opportunities for philanthropy. As philanthropy networks and collaborative initiatives deeply committed to and actively promoting human rights, the rule of law, democracy and civic space in Europe, Ariadne, Philea and Civitates are jointly organising this discussion about the rule of law and the role that philanthropy can play to support it in Europe. Register now!
Speakers:
Annegret Kempf, Policy Officer, Rule of Law Unit, DG Justice, European Commission.
Mira Luthe-Xu, Project Manager, Mercator Stiftung
Natacha Kazatchkine, Programme Officer, Civic Space, Open Society Foundations
Balazs Denes, Director, Civil Liberties Union for Europe, Liberties
Speaker TBC, Stefan Batory Foundation
Moderator: Hanna Hanses, Policy Manager, Philea – Philanthropy Europe Association

All these resources and more can be found on Ariadne’s website and Member-only portal.

New Research, Articles and Judgements

Research: Funding in Conflict-Affected Environments: A note for Grantmakers: With more than a billion people living in areas ravaged by conflict, severe poverty, and increasing numbers of refugees fleeing violence, the human suffering caused by conflict cries out for action. The Social Change Initiative presents this report which aims to highlight the positive contribution that independent grantmaking Trusts and Foundations can make to peacebuilding.

ARTICLE: Ten efforts to decolonise aid – Changing practices around funding, leadership, narrative, and identity: This article discusses what decolonising aid means in practice, with a focus on specific initiatives underway to further the decolonising agenda in practical ways. Click here to read about 10 practices moving money in progressive ways.

ARTICLE: Civil society urges the EU to guarantee an enabling visa framework for human rights defenders: Human rights defenders (HRDs) often carry out their work at great personal risk, in addition to being subjected to repression, restrictive legislation, and judicial harassment. As a response, ProtectDefenders.eu and other organisations are calling on all EU actors to implement all appropriate measures to develop and promote an enabling framework for human rights defenders to access visas for the EU, one that guarantees predictability, consistency, and protection for those who are most at-risk HRDs.

RESOLUTION: UN passes historic resolution recognising survivors of sexual violence following survivor-led movement: The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously voted to pass a standalone resolution ‘International cooperation for access to justice, remedies and assistance for survivors of sexual violence’, recognising rape in peacetime and condemning all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. It urges all countries to take effective measures in providing victims and survivors access to justice, reparations, and assistance.

RESEARCH: What Wellcome Trust’s anti-racism struggles reveal about DEI efforts: “Efforts to reverse a history of racism at Wellcome, one of largest global nonprofit funders for scientific research and global health, reveal some of the challenges many philanthropic organizations are facing as they make diversity, equity, and inclusion — or DEI — more central to their missions.” Click here to read more.

REPORT: Global Estimates of Modern Slavery – Forced Labour and Forced Marriage: “One in every 150 people are trapped in modern slavery”. The International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Walk Free published a new report stating that, according to new global estimates, fifty million people around the world are trapped in modern slavery, either forced to work against their will or forced into a marriage, marking a significant rise over the past five years.

ARTICLE: The world needs a renewed push for human rights: Eamon Gilmore, the European Union’s special representative for human rights, in this article shares his perspective on the state of human rights globally and what steps have to be taken so that freedom, equality and dignity are not just aspirations and ambitions, but actions.

Blogs and Other Sites of Interest

MAGAZINE: Magazine for a Sustainable and Just Internet for All – This issue asks: How is sustainable tech tied to community governance + sovereignty? How can we bridge knowledge commons, climate justice + open movements? How might a craft approach teach us to nurture the commons + make sustainable internet/data infrastructures?

INTERACTIVE STORY: WhatsApp, Lebanon? Click to read these interactive stories of how 5 people lived through one of the world’s worst-ever economic crises, as told through their WhatsApp messages.

PAPER: Understanding Resilience in International Development: How much of what development calls resilience is really resilience? How much is survival, endurance & making the best of what we have? A new paper by Impact Trust, Philanthropy for Social Justice & Peace, TrustAfrica, and Global Greengrants Fund explores these questions.

BLOG: Data for Peace and Humanitarian Response? The Case of the Ukraine-Russia War by Behruz Davletov, Uma Kalkar, Salwa Mansuri, Marine Ragnet, and Stefaan Verhulst: The blog analyses data and data science’s importance in tailoring, conducting, and monitoring emergency responses in conflict zones. It focuses on data’s role in crisis response and peacebuilding related to the Russian-Ukrainian war to demonstrate how data can be used for peace.

BLOG: Earning & Extending Trust: Lessons from First-Time Grantmakers: Sonya Childress from Color Congress shares inspiring examples and lessons from first-time grantmakers while unpacking accountability to communities and transparency.

PODCAST: The Global Development Primer. The podcast is about all issues in International Development Studies. Listen to the episode ‘We Say No! How a Feminist Development Organization in Sierra Leone is turning the Development Industry on its head’ in which the host speaks to Chernor Bah a feminist leader, activist, and Co-founder of Purposeful.

TOOLKIT AND RESOURCES:  International Safe Abortion Day, 28 September: Each year, on September 28 – International Safe Abortion Day activists around the world take action and speak out for access to safe and legal abortions. Here you can access the tools designed to support campaigning this September 28.

BLOG: Connecting ethical storytelling and narrative change: In this blog, author Brett Davidson, Narrative Lead at the International Resource for Impact and Storytelling, discusses how to pay more attention to the process of storytelling, if we want it to be a truly powerful tool for social justice activism.

Do you have a great blog post, case study, or podcast you’d like to contribute? We would love to feature it. Contact us.

Grant-Making

How Can Donors Best Support Nonviolent Movements? This article addresses questions such as ‘Why does such a small percentage of human rights funding support grassroots organizing and nonviolent movements? Why and how have some donors chosen to support the work of grassroots organizers and nonviolent social movements? What can we learn from their experiences?’

To Accelerate Social Change, Approach Philanthropy With a Feminist Lens: The work that feminist movements do is vital—yet only 0.42% of foundation grants are allocated to women’s rights. The authors, Angelika Arutyunova and Leila Hessini argue that donors who want to contribute to solving the biggest challenges today should fund them deeply and without restrictions. Click to read.

Examining anti-racism and anti-colonialism in the Baring Foundation’s International Development programme: The Baring Foundation published an independent review of their International Development programme through the lens of anti-racism and anti-colonialism.

FRIDA’s Trans Strategy: Resourcing and Engaging Trans Youth: Looking for ways to support and show up for the trans movement? FRIDA has developed a ‘Strategy for Resourcing and Engaging Young Trans Feminist Movements’ That can help funders on their journey to better resourcing and engaging with trans-led and centered groups.

Open letter from Ukrainian CSOs: An open letter was written by the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development – If not now, when? which outlines what could be done immediately to shift the power toward local organizations including solidarity-based funding, decreased bureaucratic burden, narrative shifts, and more. The aim is to reach those who need to hear the positing of Ukrainian civil society as it’s been 6 months into the war.

Wildfire philanthropy: From relief to resilience: This article reflects on wildfire’s philanthropy move toward resilience, why it is a juggling act, why it must include Indigenous voices and what awaits looking forward. Visit this link to read more.

The next Thread will go out on Thursday 20th October. We would love to hear from you! Please contact us by Tuesday 18th October if you would like to share announcements, events, or resources for the next issue. 

Jobs and Tenders

Program Associate – Ford Foundation. The Ford Foundation’s Future of Work(ers) (FOW) thematic area seeks a collaborative, strategic, and team-oriented Program Associate to help evolve and implement its strategy focused on building greater economic security, opportunity, and power for workers in the United States and globally. Program Associate’s hold a variety of responsibilities related to the research, analysis and coordination of programmatic activities with a primary focus on the portfolio of grants made to support FOW’s strategy. Program Associates also serve as a strong conduit for shared learning within the team and across the Foundation’s programs and regional offices. The ideal candidate will be grounded in the worker movement, economic justice, and/or future of work issues. The candidate should feel comfortable collaborating with people of all levels and backgrounds, as well as building relationships with internal and external parties. Location: New York, USA. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Senior Development Officer – Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights. As part of the external fundraising team, the Senior Development Officer leads and strengthens the design and implementation of UAF’s resource development work in alignment with the principles of just and community centric philanthropic frameworks. In coordination with the Director of Partnerships, the SDO will be responsible for developing, cultivating, and maintaining strong relationships, primarily but not exclusively, with individual donors, foundation partners, professional advisors, and other representatives to engage individuals, foundations, and corporations in charitable giving, and to help drive revenue opportunities for Urgent Action Fund. Location: remote, with a preference for candidates who are in or could relocate to New York, New York should in-person work resume. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Board Of Directors and Executive Coordinator – Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights. The Coordinator will support the smooth functioning of UAF’s Board of Directors and provide administrative support to the Executive Leadership at Urgent Action Fund. For the Board, the Coordinator will be responsible developing and maintaining an up-to-date calendar of meetings, working with the Executive Director and Board Chair to ensure agendas are developed and board committees run efficiently and effectively, minutes are kept, deadlines are met, and follow up is consistent. For the Executive Leadership (Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director), the Coordinator will be responsible for all administrative support including calendaring. Location: This position is remote, with a preference for candidates who can work during ET hours and could relocate to New York should in person work resume. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Head of External Affairs: Fair by Design – Barrow Cadbury Trust. People in poverty pay more for essentials such as energy, insurance and credit. This is known as the poverty premium. The Fair By Design programme (FBD) is dedicated to ending the extra costs of being poor. FBD is run by  Barrow Cadbury Trust. Please note FBD is an advocacy programme and not a grants programme. Fair By Design is looking for a talented individual with an outstanding track record of successfully delivering impactful communications and public affairs strategies to join its team. Using your skills and experience you will help FBD to achieve its mission of eliminating the poverty premium by ensuring its communications are persuasive and effective and that its messages are heard by policymakers and those in power. Location: London, UK. Deadline for application is 19^th September 2022.

Various positions – Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Various positions – Mozilla Foundation

Various positions – Fondation de France

Project / Policy Officer(s) – Both Ends. Both ENDS is looking for several Project / Policy officers, focusing on the themes of Human Rights and Sustainable Land Use and Governance. Together with environmental justice, women’s rights and climate justice groups worldwide, Both ENDS works towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive world. We facilitate policy discussions between policy-makers and civil society organisations that face the consequences of these policies. This results in critical viewpoints on prevailing forms of environmental management and leads to sustainable and innovative practices and policies. The relationship with our partners is based on equality and is characterised by the exchange of information, fundraising, joint research, advocacy, and mutual capacity building. We are looking for multiple colleagues, so please read the following descriptions of the current vacancies and base your application on the project – policy that speaks to you most. Location: The Netherlands. Deadline for application is 21 September 2022.

Grants Manager – The Disrupt Foundation. You will be based in the UK, but will work closely with both the Managing Director in London and Istishara in Israel/Palestine to build robust compliance and grantmaking pathways. In the UK, as part of a small team, you will be expected to be involved in all levels of grantmaking, including assessment, governance, administration and finance. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will be expected to work in a small and fully interconnected structure with Istishara, as their main conduit and point of contact to the grantmaking process in London. Your work will rely on collaboration, flexibility and the ability to operate within both formal and informal reporting relationships. Location: London, UK. Deadline for application is 25 September 2022.

Legal Business Partner- Comic Relief. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior lawyer to join Comic Relief for six months. As a Legal Business Partner, you will be a key member of the Legal team and will provide legal advice and support to Comic Relief to enable it to deliver its charitable objectives and strategic objectives.  You will help Comic Relief comply with the law; support stakeholders in making informed risk-based decisions; and protect our brand.  The key focus of your work will be on charity and technology related matters, with the possibility of supporting on media related matters. Location: London, UK Deadline for application is Deadline for application is 27^th September 2022.  

Senior Advisor for Impact – Oak Foundation. Oak Foundation is seeking a senior advisor for impact to lead and support activities that meet the monitoring, evaluation, and learning needs of the foundation and its various programmes. The senior advisor will work with colleagues across the foundation to improve foundation effectiveness, help Oak programmes better understand the impact of their grant-making, and learn from results to drive future strategy and decision-making. Location: Geneva, Switzerland. Option to work from home two days per week. Deadline for application is 2 October 2022.

Partnerships Lead, Luminate Strategic Initiatives – Luminate. The Partnerships Lead has a critical role to play on the Luminate Strategic Initiatives team. They will be responsible for building relationships with other foundations, funders and high-net-worth individuals. There are two goals. Firstly, to significantly increase the funding available to the ecosystem of activists, advocacy groups, litigators and technologists who are trying to rein in Big Tech and build a better internet. Secondly, to ensure that the work of funders is more deeply coordinated and aligned so that it has greater impact. Location: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, the Hague, Paris or, London. Deadline for application is 3rd Oct 2022.

Various positions – Open Society Foundations

Various positions – AJWS

Various positions – National Lottery Community Fund

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

Public Meetings

ONLINE

25^th to 27^th October

Ariadne’s Grant Skills Week 2022: Ariadne’s annual Grant Skills Week is an opportunity for funders to delve more deeply into their grantmaking practice and to gain practical advice and skills relating to a specific aspect of their work. As one of Ariadne’s flagship events, it is attended by social change and human rights funders from across Europe with an interest in developing their own skills and the practices of their foundation. This year, the event will explore what accountability means for funders and how philanthropy can be more accountable as a sector, building on the commitment to accountability outlined in our Human Rights Grantmaking Principles, co-developed with the Human Rights Funders Network and Gender Funders CoLab. During the Grant Skills Week 2022 taking place online 25 to 27 October 2022, we will examine questions around philanthropy’s role in the accumulation and distribution of wealth and around its relationship with the movements that it seeks to support.Check out the detailed agenda and register here!

10th October

An introduction to the 2022 EU Rule of Law Report: context and opportunities for philanthropy: As philanthropy networks and collaborative initiatives deeply committed to and actively promoting human rights, the rule of law, democracy and civic space in Europe, Ariadne, Philea and Civitates are jointly organising this discussion on 10 October from 14:00 – 15:00 CET/ 13:00 – 14:00 GMT about the rule of law and the role that philanthropy can play to support it in Europe. Rule of law is essential to a stable, resilient, fair and democratic political, economic and social environment across the EU. It is crucial for every EU citizen as it helps guarantee fundamental rights and values and ensures the application of EU law. It is one of the stated six European values upon which the EU is built. Countries in which the Rule of Law is weaker tend to also close civil society and philanthropy space, in particular where those actors stand for defending and promoting European values. In a context of increasing rule of law backsliding within the EU, the European Commission recently published its third annual report reviewing the rule of law situation and developments in 27 Member States in 2021.

This online discussion is meant as a space for knowledge sharing and exchange among grantmakers, both newcomers and those funders already familiar with the topic. Join this webinar to understand better the issues at stake and their relevance for European philanthropy, get an overview of the main recommendations from the report and discuss how to turn the findings into effective action from the philanthropic sector.

Speakers:
Annegret Kempf, Policy Officer, Rule of Law Unit, DG Justice, European Commission.
Mira Luthe-Xu, Project Manager, Mercator Stiftung
Natacha Kazatchkine, Programme Officer, Civic Space, Open Society Foundations
Speaker TBC, Liberties

UNDERSTANDING AND UPROOTING RACISM IN GRANTMAKING INSTITUTIONS: Since the middle of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the resultant #BlackLivesMatter movement uprisings around the world, we at Ariadne have been working with Healing Solidarity to create a space for you to have more “uncomfortable” conversations about race and ethnicity, and especially racial justice issues within European foundations. Initially, in 2020 we offered a process that included shared webinars and racialised cohort sessions to provide a space for learning, sharing, and deepening your practice. During 2021, drop-in sessions were offered for all those who participated in that process, and earlier this year we offered a new series of cohort sessions for those who did not participate previously.  For the rest of 2022 drop-in spaces will be offered to build on this work and continue to support you. Dates for sessions throughout the year are as follows:
Senior Leaders’ session: Tues 20 Sept, 1- 2.30 pm CEST
October: Mixed drop-in session: Tues 18 Oct, 1-2.30 pm CEST
November: Cohort drop-in session: Tues 15 Nov, 1-2.3o pm CET
December: Mixed drop-in session: Tues 6 Dec, 1-2.30 pm CEST

New York/Online

22nd September

UNFPA Foundations and Philanthropy Role in SRHR – hybrid Roundtable Event at UNGA: Philanthropy is a critical partner in order to realize the vision of the ICPD for women and girls globally. Foundations and philanthropic organizations also bring a wealth of knowledge, perspective and expertise given their work with multiple stakeholders, which can provide valuable insight to inform UNFPA’s own work and initiatives. UNFPA invites you to an upcoming roundtable event held alongside the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): The Role of Foundations and Philanthropy in advancing the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights global agenda for Women and Girls. This will be a hybrid event with limited space available for in-person attendance. Click here to join this hybrid event on 22^nd September from 15:00 – 17:00 EDT.

Online

28th September

Webinaire de Lancement de la version en français du Rapport sur les Ressources Mondiales 2019-2020 : Appui Gouvernemental et Philanthropique pour les Communautés LGBTI: Nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à vous inscrire et rejoindre le Global Philanthropy Project (GPP), Égides – l’Alliance internationale francophone pour l’égalité et les diversités, et Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO) pour le lancement de la version en français du Rapport sur les Ressources Mondiales 2019-2020 : Appui Gouvernemental et Philanthropique aux Communautés Lesbiennes, Gays, Bisexuelles, Trans et Intersexes (LGBTI), le portrait le plus complet à ce jour sur l’état du financement mondial pour les enjeux LGBTI. Cette édition du rapport documente plus 15.800 subventions accordées par 499 fondations, ONG intermédiaires et corporations, ainsi que 17 gouvernements et agences multilatérales au cours des deux dernières années, 2019-2020. Click here to join this webinar taking place online on 28^th September at 16:00 CET / 10:00 EDT.

29th September

Funding Activism & Movements: Why, What And How To Do It? Traditional philanthropy stays well away from funding grassroots activism, non-violent direct action and movements. It’s messy, risky and nearly impossible (or desirable) to tie the results to the impact of the funds. However, in a system that is inherently unjust, it becomes ever more important to give voice and put resources in the hands of those holding a mirror to society. Activist movements often call for long-term change that tackles root causes, it challenges the current system and those in power, while putting the people on the front lines lives at risk on behalf of the cause they’re advocating for.  In this webinar, we will listen to some of these funders and activist as we investigate what ally-ship looks like and how to evolve the role of philanthropy to be in service of those fighting for environmental, human and animal rights. We will also explore how to grow the number of funders supporting grassroots activism by mitigating the risks and concerns from a legal or reputational perspective. Click here to join this webinar taking place online on 29^th September at 8:00 – 9:30 am PDT / 16:00-17:30pm BST.