The past few years have demanded so much of young feminist movement organisers. They have had to navigate unprecedented shifts in the philanthropic ecosystem, a complex web of polycrises and shrinking philanthropic spending for key aspects of young feminist movement work.
In the midst of these challenges and changes, FRIDA has continued to support young feminist activists through our reflexive grantmaking strategies. These grantmaking strategies are both responsive to the systemic challenges within philanthropy as a whole, as well as the hopes and dreams of the movements we support.
Over the course of several years, FRIDA has revised, refined and co-created the ways it supports and accompanies grantee partners through their journey with and within the FRIDAverse. Our hope and mission is to continuously build a model that allows us to support and strengthen young feminist organizers in the ways most pertinent to them, including both financial and non-financial resources. Our practice situates each partner within a grant timeline, with different levels and kinds of support being offered throughout a grant cycle. FRIDA accompanies grantee partners intentionally, helping them to grow and thrive beyond their FRIDA grant, helping build sustainable, vibrant movement actors.
Through this growth and refinement in both our accompaniment strategies and grantmaking frameworks, in 2025 we were able to welcome 24 new grantee partners to the FRIDAverse!
In the midst of shrinking resource pools and civic spaces within many global majority countries, we are excited to be able to keep supporting the movement actors who are often on the front lines of push back against oppressive regimes and harmful politics.
Our new partners are working on the front lines of some of the most confronting issues activists and communities face today. They are climate defenders, artists, community leaders and defiers of the odds in so many ways. Their optimism, innovation and hard work are an inspiration to their communities, the movements they serve and to us at FRIDA.
In the 2025 Cohort Zine you will find brief biographies of some of FRIDA’s new partners as well as information on the regions they are based in. Due to an increasingly hostile global political context, the amount we share about some of our partners and their work will vary depending on risk profile and regional contexts. We also share lovenotes, written by each of the new grantee partners, for their fellow grantee partners, the groups that voted for them and the wider FRIDAVerse. May their words of love and encouragement, as well as their work and courage, serve as inspiration to all of us.
FRIDA funds young feminist collectives and organizations who need not just financial resourcing, but a structured approach that meets them fully, where they are at. Due to shifts in the philanthropic ecosystem and shrinking philanthropic spending for key aspects of feminist movement building, our ability to do this work has grown more limited. If you believe in young feminist leadership and young feminist activism, please consider donating to FRIDA.
