2024 Wrapped: The Year in Feminist Activism

When women, trans, and non-binary activists, organizations, and movements challenge injustice–from state repression to cultures of oppression–they often face tremendous pushback from those who want to maintain an unjust status quo. They become targets of violence, harassment, and intimidation, making our resourcing of their efforts even more crucial. At Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, we support activists and movements in these critical moments and to help realize their vision for a more just and equitable world.

In 2024, not only did we support more frontline activists than ever before, but we also advocated for increased resources for feminist activism and integrating collective care into human rights philanthropy worldwide.

Here are some highlights from our year.

Grantmaking by the Numbers

In 2024, we awarded our largest number of grants to date, getting nearly 600 grants and over $6 million into the hands of activists and organizations fighting for justice and equality. 

With our support, frontline feminists are responding to real-time threats and opportunities, protecting and caring for themselves and one another, and imagining and propelling solutions to the most critical crises and injustices of our time.

Check out our work to support the LGBTQIA+ movement in Russia and activists in Ukraine, and ongoing funding for and solidarity with feminists in Palestine and Lebanon as only a few examples of our grantmaking. 

Calling for a Philanthropic Shift on the Big Screen

For too long, funding has been too rigid and too scarce to keep frontline feminists safe and resource their power and potential. Today, less than 1% of philanthropic dollars go to feminist movements and the majority of grantmaking globally is slow-moving: public and private funders alike continue to favor lengthy application timelines, burdensome requirements, and longer-term outcomes. 

To call attention to these obstacles in the philanthropic space, we launched a documentary short, “The Chorus We Carry.” Featuring interviews with Urgent Action Fund leaders and experts from across the globe, the film discusses money, gender, and power and the need to fill the gap when it comes to resourcing feminist activists and movements. Since its launch, “The Chorus We Carry” has been shown at numerous film festivals and won multiple awards, including the Merit of Awareness (Honorable Mention) from the 2024 Awareness Film Festival and the Social Impact Award at the prestigious Activists Without Borders Film Festival in the United Kingdom.

Feminist Activism Without Fear

Around the world, humanitarian, political, and climate crises are intensifying with alarming speed, while hard-won, democratic human rights and gender justice protections are under ever-greater attacks. As feminist activists and their movements mobilize solutions to these challenges, they are being targeted with increased – and increasingly intense – forms of backlash, or “reprisals.”

In 2024 we launched a bold campaign, Feminist Activism Without Fear, showcasing the stories of courageous feminist activists from the Urgent Action Fund network about the risks and threats they face as a result of their work. 

Integrating Collective Care

To effectively meet movements’ holistic needs, in addition to providing fast, flexible, and short-term grants, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism is shifting to offer longer-term funding and resourcing collective care and safety infrastructures led by feminist and LGBTQIA+ movements in the United States, West Balkans, and South Caucasus. 

Through this approach, we aim to build a pipeline of movement partners who have experienced crisis and are receiving the flexible support they need to build local infrastructures, cultures, and strategies that position them to preempt and respond to the next crisis, reclaim traditional and ancestral survival technologies, and self-determine and practice social change solutions that genuinely ensure the care, protection, and safety of their communities and ecosystems. Learn more about our collective care work and approach here. 

Today more than ever, feminist activists are leading movements with extraordinary ingenuity, creativity, and care. They know best how to keep each other and their communities safe, navigate risk and opportunity in ever-shifting political landscapes, and envision and fight for a more equitable world. As they continue to lead the most crucial struggles of our time, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism is there to support them every step of the way. 

Help us continue our work supporting frontline activists.

Photo Credit: Southworks Creative LTD