Feminist Dream Space is a vibrant community of dreamers from the Global South & East.
A space, grounded in feminist praxis and politics, where we get to share our experiences & methodologies and practice collective imaginations for the thriving world we deserve.
We believe in the importance of collective reflection, learning, and strategizing about building and amplifying a positive vision for the feminist futures we need and deserve, grounded in the experiences and realities of Global South and East feminist leaders. We recognize the key roles that philanthropy (in its many incarnations) can play in building a different world and we seek to strengthen the feminist architecture and funding ecosystem: engage new and emerging feminist thinkers and leaders and learn across silos and sectors. We are deeply convinced that if we want to build a different future, we must imagine it and then begin embodying it, not just struggle against other people’s visions and agendas that we disagree with.
Feminist Dream Space envisions feminist politics of resource (re)distribution as a creative practice. Our work & dreaming is organized around four interconnected pillars: Narratives, Politics, Resourcing, and Architecture.
Narratives
To build our feminist future, we must take control of our narratives, knowledge, and analysis. We must work towards re-shaping beliefs around what philanthropy is and what it can be when anchored in feminist values.
Our hope is to uplift existing models of horizontal, solidarity-focused, and non-hierarchical giving while introducing ideas that shift the paradigm to one grounded in "the love of humanity."
Resourcing
We acknowledge that resourcing encompasses more than money and includes multiple practices of solidarity based giving.
We believe it is important to recognize, seek to amend & redistribute resources to address and correct past and present issues of exploitation, racism, capitalism, and colonialism.
Politics
We envision philanthropic politics that are inclusive, participatory & driven by the needs and voices of those who hold the solutions.
We believe feminist politics must work at the intersections of gender, race, class & other social identities
We must always challenge and practice politics that outside of the harmful systems created by colonialism, imperialism, exploitation, sexism, racism, ableism, and patriarchy.
Architecture
We believe we can collectively create architectures and ecosystems that will enable feminist movements to have autonomy and stewardship over resources
We believe we can shift our relationship to funders towards ones that truly prioritize the needs & wisdom of communities
We know we can collectively envision creative ways to support the flow of resources
A brief story of how Feminist Dreams Space came to be
Our vision for a Feminist Dream Space was seeded through conversations following a Prospera INWF board meeting in Lisbon in July 2022, in Oaxaca, México in December 2022 and again at in Kigali in July 2023. We came together around the realization that so much of our time and energy was spent responding to the immediate needs of our communities and movements, with little time for imagining a different world from the one we currently occupy. However, imagining a different reality and future is key to building hope and managing despair. But how do we create the space that allows for envisioning and dreaming? What factors enable us to dream of a different future while grounded in the present? And what elements – safety, security, trust, and sense of community,– are needed for us to suspend disbelief, trust each other, and collectively create an abundant and just world?