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The Global Majority Fund was launched in 2020 in response to Covid-19, which disproportionately affected communities from the Global Majority. Co-funded by Comic Relief, National Emergencies Trust(opens in new window), City Bridge Foundation(opens in new window), Esmée Fairbairn(opens in new window) and The Health Foundation(opens in new window), the fund aims to redress the structural inequalities that keep global majority communities in poverty and support them with building resilience to future-proof their work. Now in its third phase, the Global Majority Fund is funding ten community organisations led by and for their communities to strengthen their internal systems and processes and support their ambitions to become onward grant makers to smaller grassroots organisations.
Our Global Majority funded partners came together in London on 4-5 December 2024 for two days to reflect, connect, and look to the following year. Through a series of discussions, group work, and presentations, we took time to acknowledge the challenges of the year—such as the race riots over the summer—celebrate the successes, and strategise for the coming year. There was much to celebrate as most funded partners had begun their organisational strengthening work, implementing the plans to match their scale and ambition of the communities’ work they wish to support. Others invested in updating their internal policies, conducting staff training, and recruiting much-needed staff.
Our partners very much appreciated the opportunity to come together and network, share best practices and learnings. It truly felt like a safe space. There were numerous requests for such spaces to be made available in the future for connection with other funded partners and convening with funders. One attendee commented, “I feel like my wellbeing has improved just by being in this space.”
During the two-day session, our partners delved into the Theory of Change, outlining the activities they intended to implement to meet our objectives to amplify the voices of Global Majority communities, advance the capacity of organisations led by and for the Global Majority, and advocate for inclusive funding.
Advocating for inclusive funding practices is not easy, and it requires us to take many small steps, one of which was hosting our inaugural panel discussion and networking event “United for Change: Community Resilience and Collective Action in the Face of Racial Unrest.” Bringing together funders and organisations, we explored how the race riots could serve as a catalyst to influence and shift the inequities across the funding landscape. Three of our funded partners shared their experiences of the race riots, and Comic Relief and Lloyds Bank Foundation also shared their response to the riots from a funder’s perspective.
The evening culminated in our call to action for funders:
Prioritise funding organisations and programmes designed and led by Global Majority communities.
Commit to bigger and longer-term funding for Global Majority-led organisations – funding organisations, not solely projects.
Grant unrestricted or flexible-core funding to Global Majority-led organisations to allocate resources where they are needed most.
In the coming year, the Global Majority Fund Reference Group will focus on influencing the funding ecosystem through advocacy to funders and other partners. We need to be in the right rooms to start having conversations around racism, systemic barriers, and structural inequalities on behalf of Global Majority communities. We are looking for allies and connections to expand our reach. Please get in touch with Poonam to learn more about the Global Majority Fund and join us in the movement. Together we are #UnitedForChange.
