(by Hadiel Hodail Mohamed and Ann Marie Utratel)
Key Learning: Learnings Can Be Difficult To Grasp.
Philanthropy as a sector wouldn’t exist in an equitable world where society is no longer built on extractivism, colonialism, separation, patriarchy, and the many other factors that divide our societies into the more and less powerful and privileged. Our group, Leap, is a collective of activists, philanthropists and foundation staff that wants to radically transform philanthropy. We work towards this aim by setting up experiments in collaboration with members of what we consider the Leap ecosystem, composed of people and groups in the philanthropy sector, mainly various types of funders and activists. An experiment will begin with some specific aims in mind, guiding our mission towards gaining insights and sharing those learnings with the Leap ecosystem.
We also consider Leap itself as an experiment, one that operates in the sector by being bold and pointing out and describing the elephant in the room wherever we go, be it in calls, conferences, or other types of gatherings. The elephant is power, and like the ancient parable of the blind (or blindfolded) men and the elephant, it’s not possible to grasp the full scope of the elephant from any one position without getting input from others who are also surrounding and touching the elephant at different spots. Together a more detailed understanding can be grasped, and a more accurate view can be described.
We started the Leap experiment in a very organic way, pre-Covid, with support from a Bosch Foundation grant and several wealth holders. One thing about our work is that we bring a lot of intention along with many “leaps of faith” and spirit of experimentation; we don’t always know exactly where the path will take us, or how long the journey might take. Even the name “Leap” was originally used in that same spirit of trust, that we’d learn how to work with it and give it meaning as we went along. In our latest in-person meeting we had a moment of collective inspiration and retrofitted the name with an appropriate acronym: Leveraging Ecosystems Across Philanthropy. It felt right, especially highlighting the “ecosystem” component, as our collective project intersects with a wide variety of players at the crossroads of resources and actions.
Our first experiment, initially called the Climate Justice experiment, was also supported by the Bosch Foundation. It focused on how philanthropy can better support climate activism. The Climate Justice project began to take on more independence and was eventually renamed Collective Abundance. We’re very grateful for the experience of nurturing the early stages of Collective Abundance and, although the project outgrew us some time ago, we are very proud of our partnership and the work their team has accomplished. Last year, we also incubated the Migrant Justice experiment, which has had periods of concentrated energy and enthusiastic collaboration, as well as the inevitable changes, turns of events and challenges. We are eager to share more about this experiment in an upcoming post.
Everything in Leap happens organically, embracing the uncertainty even if it feels frustrating at times. Our way of operating since the beginning is centered on a weekly call where we have built our strong relational bond by sharing our individual work. We come from different backgrounds but we all work towards systemic justice, each of us at some spot along the elephant. As a team, we collaborate on our experiments, set up community gatherings, and publicly share about our work when we feel we’ve gotten a grasp of something we want to share.
Our journey, ironically or not, depends on fundraising in order to continue. Fundraising in a sector with the explicit pitch that philanthropic funding should cease to exist, is a hard sell. It takes people and entities with a very particular sensibility that accepts the need for systemic change, and this means that sometimes we go without funding. Some of us have continued our work voluntarily in the between-funding phases, keeping our conversations and experiments alive, empowering each other, and learning more together, furthering our bonds and commitment and digging deeper into our personal and professional experiences.
Recently, we had the good fortune and pleasure to be together again, uniting nearly the full team in the Italian Alps to reflect on what has happened within Leap and what these experiences have brought. Thanks to the time we took in deep exchange, we learned that our work in Leap has brought so much to each of us as facilitation group members, and as a team. These are some of our deepest learnings to date:
We have changed the way we fundraise and the way we look at foundations and funders
We observed that since our time together in Leap, our approach to writing funding proposals has radically changed. We are generally less shy to ask for funding, and our conversations with funders have a different tone; we feel more secure in requesting unrestricted, multiple year, trust-based funding. We noticed that our confidence in how we do the work has grown, and that it is really ok, and even necessary, to negotiate for funding in a new and different way. We observed an evolution in our posture on power equality. Funders bring in funding, activists do the field work; together, we are one ecosystem catalyzing system transformation, each in our different ways. This more solid posture creates different dynamics in conversations and relationships with funders.
We have grown our networks and access to foundations
At present our group comprises people living in Italy, Germany, Spain and Belgium, among others, with local/national affiliations as well as in the US and many other countries. The exchanges we have thanks to Leap nourishes each of our local ecosystems in expansive ways.
We have grown our awareness of inner transformation
We all have different backgrounds. Some of us are scientists and mostly feel comfortable operating in the logic of the rational; others among us are more comfortable with the relational. We have observed and reflected back to one another the mutual growth we see, not only in the data-driven collection of information but also in opening the heart space, and the importance of the consciousness of inner blockages and traumas when doing work that, ultimately, intends to heal the damaging effects of power imbalances in whichever sector or projects we are active in.
We experience a sense of belonging
It can often feel lonely to do the work we do, as we aim to do things differently. Leap has turned out to be a place where we can all show up fully as we are. Starting every meeting with a check in creates deep connections of trust and even friendship between us. Knowing that you’re not alone in the difficult work you do is vital for sensing resilience and community.
We have fun
This is not a side note or a less important, “fun” way to finish off the list. It is truly key, it keeps the momentum going. It creates a container to move bravely, to have difficult and necessary conversations to foster transformation. It grows our resilience in our work and lives.
Talking about all of this together, we dreamed about how great it could be if we could create a space to make this accessible for many more people. And with that dream, we are now creating a new experiment, about power and care in an in-person event that you will hear about very soon. We look forward to meeting you and hearing about your own experience of the elephant of power.
Image: Matsumoto Shunsuke, Elephant. CCO Free Use.