Welcome back to our Feminist By Design newsletter—a space designed specifically for feminist philanthropists who want to take it a step further. Each issue brings you deeper into discussions that challenge the status quo, highlight urgent calls to action, and provide you with the resources you need to make your giving strategy feminist by design.

Episode 3:

Beneath the Backlash: How U.S. Foreign Policy Undermines Feminist Philanthropy

Host Khara Jabola-Carolus delves into the complex interplay between U.S. foreign policy and feminist philanthropy in our third episode of the series. We dissect the U.S.-based barriers that make it difficult to fund not just feminist activism but have metastasized into impediments to funding innocuous, non-political services for women that are necessary for gender equality. Specifically, we look at how U.S. anti-communism and anti-terrorism measures obstruct funding and support for feminist organizations globally, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. Guest Beverly Longid, a prominent activist, shares chilling insights on how being labeled as communist leads to severe consequences, including harassment, violence, suppression, and even death. Meanwhile, Anisha Chugh, Executive Director of Women’s Fund Asia, highlights the dire lack of funding for feminist movements and the significant challenges posed by global anti-rights backlash. The episode urges philanthropists to rethink and challenge the systemic barriers imposed by U.S. foreign policy to truly support feminist movements worldwide, and challenges the women-focused philanthropy ecosystem to prioritize policy change as a critical priority. 

Featured Guests

BEVERLY LONGID

Beverly Longid is the International Solidarity Officer at KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and serves as the Coordinator for the Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) in the Philippines. An Igorot of the Bontok-Kankanaey communities from Sagada and Alba, Bontoc, Mountain Province, Beverly has a legal background and a deep commitment to youth and Indigenous peoples' rights, both locally and internationally. She has been an integral member of the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) since 1992, holding various roles including Education Commission staff, Deputy Secretary-General, Chairperson, and currently a member of the Regional Advisory Council. She has been subjected to several threats, harassment, and intimidation over the course of her work and lifelong activism. Beverly is a grandmother and holds degrees in Psychology, English Literature, and Law.

ANISHA CHUGH

Anisha Chugh is the Executive Director of Women's Fund Asia, which is a regional feminist fund supporting and women, girls, trans and intersex activists and groups in 18 countries of the Asia (South Asia, South East Asia and Mongolia). She previously worked at different levels within WFA in her 10+ years at the organization—as Deputy Executive Director, Director of Programmes and Programme Officer. Prior to joining WFA, Anisha worked with a human rights funder in India called the Dalit Foundation. Anisha has been part of several grant-making advisories. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Fenomenal Funds (The Women's Funds Collaborative Initiative and has recently joined the Steering Committee of Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN). She has also served on the board of FRIDA - The Young Feminist Fund as the Treasurer (2015-2020). Anisha has a Master’s in History from the University of Delhi (St. Stephen’s College) as well as a Master’s in Governance in Development from Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. 

This episode’s featured Feminist Principles:

Use imperial wealth to disrupt imperial power and systems, which create pathways and impediments to gender equality around the world. 

Support solutions that disrupt patriarchal ideologies and norms. 

Practice trust, and fund feminists who are addressing concrete needs that are important to their communities beyond narrow “women’s issues.”

As a reminder, refer to our Feminist By Design Principles for Philanthropy to guide you in developing your feminist wealth management and giving strategy. 

Discussion Prompts

Ready to dig a bit deeper? Here are some questions to get the conversation going.

1. What are strategies you could employ as a philanthropist to overcome U.S. foreign policy barriers for funding feminists globally? What resources besides financial ones might be at your disposal? What strategies can philanthropic organizations adopt to ensure that funding reaches those who need it most? 

2. Have you noticed the stigmatization of big ideas at play in your own philanthropy and with the organizations and activists you fund? How might you support them better to navigate and counteract these challenges, especially when faced with policies that undermine their efforts? 

3. Reflect on the challenges feminist organizations face in securing funding. What are the implications of these challenges for global gender equality efforts and how might your philanthropic practices better align with feminist movement goals? 

4. Discuss the disconnect between policies crafted in the Global North and the realities for feminists on the ground in the Global South. How can this gap be bridged? 

5. What should a feminist foreign policy look like in practice? How can such a policy support feminist movements globally without imposing Western ideologies? 

6. Discuss the legacy of McCarthyism and its evolution into current policies that affect feminist and leftist movements. How can understanding this history help in crafting more effective feminist strategies today? 

7. How do grassroots feminist movements drive policy change locally and globally? What can be learned from successful movements that have navigated oppressive environments to effect change? 

Want to learn more about the Global Center for Gender Equality and our work in Feminist Philanthropy? Find us here. 

Calls to Action / Who You Can Support: 

• The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) 

• Women’s Fund Asia 

Further reading: 

• ARTICLE - Why American Billionaire Andrew Carnegie Offered To Buy The Philippines’ Freedom For $20 Million 

• REPORT - Meet the Moment: A Call for Progressive Philanthropic Response to the Anti-Gender Movement 

Featured Guests

RACHEL SHERMAN

Rachel Sherman is the Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College. She is broadly interested in how and why unequal social relations are reproduced, legitimated, and contested, and in how these processes are embedded in cultural vocabularies of identity, interaction, and moral worth. Her first book, Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels (University of California Press, 2007), draws primarily on participant observation research to analyze how workers, guests, and managers in these hotels make sense of and negotiate the class inequalities that mark their relationships. Her second book, Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence (Princeton University Press, 2017), uses in-depth interviews to explore the lived experience of privilege among wealthy and affluent New York parents. As a 2018-2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, she conducted research for her current book project, titled Class Traitors. Here she explores the world of wealthy progressives who are challenging the unequal social systems that have enabled their wealth—analogous to, and often overlapping with, white antiracists striving to dismantle systems of white supremacy. An early essay from that work is here.

CYNDA COLLINS ARSENAULT

Cynda Collins Arsenault is a Co-Founder and Board Member of One Earth Future and the Arsenault Family Foundation. She is also co-founder and President of Secure World Foundation, an operating foundation promoting cooperative solutions for the secure and sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of humanity.  She has 45+ years of experience in non-profit work including peace and justice, criminal justice, mental health, disability rights and environmental issues. In her personal philanthropy she focuses on bringing women’s critical skills to the table for solving the difficult problems we face, with a particular focus on women, peace and security. She helped establish and works with OEF’s Our Secure Future program.  She is a member of the Women's Donor Network, Women Moving Millions and The International Women’s Forum.  She is the founder of Women Powering Change, an annual gathering of women working to create a better world. Collins Arsenault received her BA in Sociology and Psychology at University of California Berkeley and her MA in Education from Colorado State University.  

This episode’s featured Feminist Principles:

Use your individual power to contest, consolidate, and build power to and affect change within the philanthropic community and beyond.

Challenge and interrogate existing philanthropic models, on an ongoing basis.

Apply a root cause and power analysis to gain deep understanding and develop durable solutions.

As a reminder, refer to our Feminist By Design Principles for Philanthropy to guide you in developing your feminist wealth management and giving strategy. 

Discussion Prompts

Ready to dig a bit deeper? Here are some questions to get the conversation going.

1. What does the term “class traitor” imply about societal expectations and the potential for systemic change through philanthropy? 

2. How have wealthy philanthropists historically influenced major social movements, such as the anti-slavery movement, women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement? What lessons can contemporary philanthropists draw from these historical examples? 

3. Discuss the idea that philanthropy should aim to "end philanthropy" as mentioned in the episode. What are the implications of using philanthropy to fundamentally alter the distribution of wealth? Would you expect resistance? What does that tell you about the underlying power structures and the powerholders' interests in maintaining the status quo? How might this inform the strategies employed by those advocating for radical change in wealth distribution? 

4. Explore the role of gender in shaping philanthropic priorities and practices. Why might women be more predisposed to engage in philanthropy that aims to disrupt the status quo? 

5. How are approaches to philanthropy evolving among the next generation of philanthropists? What shifts are needed to ensure that philanthropy contributes more effectively to systemic change rather than maintaining the status quo? 

6. Analyze the relationship between philanthropy and capitalism as discussed in the episode. Can philanthropy truly be an effective tool for social change within a capitalist system, or does it inherently uphold the system it aims to reform? 

Want to learn more about the Global Center for Gender Equality and our work in Feminist Philanthropy? Find us here. 

Calls to Action / Who You Can Support: 

• Patriotic Millionaires

Further reading: 

• ARTICLE - Against Accumulation: Class Traitors Challenge Wealth and Worth 

• ARTICLE - The Conscription of Wealth: Mass Warfare and the Demand for Progressive Taxation