Join US in 2024: An opportunity to practice liberatory philanthropy
Seven years have gone by since our creation. At María Fund, our unwavering dedication to supporting the strengthening of organizations that dedicate themselves to justice, equity, and collective liberation has ignited a year of heartwarming transformations in 2023. We want to share with you 7 of our pivotal reflections, learnings and celebrations from our meaningful journey on our way to 2024:
1- Our North Star
We continue to get clearer on our North Star and our strategies to get there. We are proud to close the year supporting 71 organizations with a commitment to collective liberation through racial, gender, socioeconomic and climate justice in Puerto Rico. We continue to include collectives that are doing this through a diversity of strategies, from base-building to alternative journalism, seeing them all as an ecosystem that thrives when each one gets stronger. We continue to center groups doing this work that are led by the people most marginalized, forgotten & attacked by history and our current political context. We continue to support organizations at different stages of growth and with different models. We are learning how to do this in a way that builds more collective power!
2-Weaving Strategies, Connecting Leaders.
In 2023, we made two big changes in this direction: integrating our strategies internally and connecting leaders. Our grantmaking, convening & capacity building opportunities are now one - integrating leaders across issues, geography, identity & stage of growth. Initiatives will continue to provide resources, network building spaces and support for specific cohorts of organizations. We also created new opportunities for leaders to come together, reflect and start to contribute their analysis and build a community of learning.
3- Incorporating Youth-led Organizing Collectives
We had to include in this list the creation of our Youth Organizing Initiative - which included the implementation of a 7-month cohort comprising 13 young organizers from diverse organizations and the addition of 13 new youth-led grantees. We take great pride in having developed internally a specific program to support youth led-groups, and we look forward to sharing more of the outcomes of these endeavors in early 2024. Look out for our next email blast!
4- $1.2M in grants through Collaborative Decision-Making:
Another opportunity for leaders to connect was our new collaborative grantmaking process, in which leaders from different initiatives came together to learn about dozens of organizations, and make grants recommendations. It was transformative to engage 10 movement leaders in the decision-making process to allocate $1.2 million in 2-year grants. Leaders were excited to learn about the work happening across Puerto Rico, connect with each other and providing us with valuable insights and reflections that will help us to improve subsequent grantmaking cycles - and strengthen our programs. This represents a notable stride in our longing for strategic collaboration, where the individuals shaping resource decisions are those intimately acquainted with the community's needs.
5- Bringing Leaders Together: December Convening 2023:
We have also decided to start to convene leaders more and more, where we hear we can play a unique role of fostering community building, peer learning and strategic discussions. This year, for the first time since 2019, we organized an islands-wide convening in December, bringing together 87 leaders, uniting over 65 organizations, providing space for new connections, self-reflection and seeding the possibility of coming together every year as a community of learning - laying the groundwork for future, new partnerships.
6- Capacity-Building Programs:
We will be integrating capacity-building opportunities into our support, set to launch in 2024. We are in the process of developing three capacity-building programs to support leaders with organizational development resources, create opportunities for peer learning, and strengthen the organizing skills of groups who are ready to scale up.
7- Team Growth & Learning through Practice:
Behind these achievements is a committed team consisting of Jessica, Max, Raquela, Angie, Christian, Tamara, Dali, and Executive Director Xiomara. Our team has been expanding in both capacity and numbers. We will soon have a Managing Director joining our team, supporting us in collectively working to build bridges and adapt our strategy to drive positive change in Puerto Rico.
We are grateful to our learning partners & opportunities in 2023 - you know who you are - see you in 2024!