Why We’re Acting Now to Support Feminist Activism and Grassroots Organizing in the United States

Since 2016, the political conditions in the United States have become overwhelmingly violent and oppressive. The alt-rightwing and fascism has become increasingly organized and emboldened. The need for rapid-response grantmaking to support and protect feminist activists who are fighting for radical systems change continues to grow, and Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism is stepping up to listen and support our grantee partners across the country.

From 2019 on, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism’s grantmaking in the US has increased exponentially. As we continue to follow the leadership of our grantee partners and national network of feminist movement advisors, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism understands that movements are at a critical juncture in the US and are reaching a tipping point in their fight to wield people power.

Across the country, people are experiencing the effects of climate change and relevant consequences, threats to democracy, and violations of basic human rights. Black and LGBTQI activists are under constant threat to their safety because of their activism. Historically marginalized Indigenous activists are tirelessly advocating to protect their land from climate change and heal from intergenerational trauma. The erosion of democracy is stripping away bodily autonomy, the right to an abortion, the right to privacy, and feminist activists fear that access to contraception, marriage equality and many others rights will be challenged next.

Our vision is for feminist leadership and activism to be at the forefront of this moment, leading the charge around finding and implementing effective solutions, and also for women, trans, and gender expansive activists to be protected, sustained, and amplified in their transformative organizing.

Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism is continuing to mobilize even more resources to grassroots, frontline feminist movements that are not only advocating for strategic, holistic solutions, but are deepening the infrastructure for a more just world in which both people and the planet can thrive.

With our investment in feminist movements in the US, our grantees can:

• Protect democracy: Movements and grassroots activists are fighting violent and organized efforts to pull back the freedoms and rights that are claimed as the bedrock of the United States. Women, trans, and gender expansive organizers and activists are leaders best positioned to develop alternative participatory governance models and apply their lived experiences to not only resist and protect democratic institutions, but also to guide communities towards self-determination, collective care infrastructures, and localized policies that restore and invest in people and planet rather than profit and bureaucracy.
• Strengthen Ecosystems of Care: Feminist activists are strengthening movement resilience by creating ecosystems of care, healing, and interdependent communities to protect and sustain each other and our planet. Their activism is ushering us into imaginative and promising possibilities around how we build containers for healing, community & collective care practices, shift where power lies, and develop mechanisms to comprehensively and systemically address climate change for the future of our planet.
• Amplify and Sustain Black and Indigenous Leadership: Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation is central and foundational to our collective freedom. Across the US, Black & Indigenous women, trans, and gender expansive-led movement organizations and activists are fighting shoulder to shoulder against white supremacy, racial capitalism, and settler colonialism. Through their leadership, Black and Indigenous leaders are mobilizing resources from oppressive systems and also redistributing wealth as a vehicle for reparations and restorative justice.

We have hope for a brighter future, one in which the rights of all are honored, and respected, and where the United States as a whole is more equal and just. Grassroots movements have the power to drive change from the bottom up, and here at Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, we believe in investing in these instrumental solutions.

Support our work funding feminist movements in the US.