The 2025 EDGE Global Conference

The EDGE Annual Conference took place in Bogotá, Colombia, from April 28 to 30, 2025. We had over 300 attendees including funders and Movement representatives.

You can find the conference followup here and coverage from Alliance Magazine here. Based on feedback from some of the participants, 90.0% created new connections a./d collaborations/partnerships, 89.4% found the conference worthwhile, 83.3% could recommend the conference to others, 60.9% learned a new skill, idea of tool they can apply to their work. Thank you to those who joined us!  

Governance & Board Elections

EDGE is entering the next phase of its governance transformation, shaped by a year of collective work, political reflection, and shared learning across the network. EDGE’s staff structure was finalized this year. Moving forward, we will be operating with a collective leadership model without an Executive Director and instead with a staff leadership team. This comes from our commitment to our shared values of distributed leadership, collective accountability, and feminist practice. We are really happy to share that we have also now completed our first ever democratic Board elections. Fifty-eight member organizations participated in the vote, which is a strong and encouraging level of engagement for this first cycle. Read more on EDGE’s governance here.



Thank you to the exiting Board for all their support over the years! You have done a lot for this community. 

2025 EDGE Europe Retreat

The 2025 EDGE Europe Retreat brought together members for three days of deep reflection under the theme “Interrupting Business as Usual: Admitting We Do Not Know.” The retreat invited participants to step back from daily routine and institutional pressures to reconnect with shared values and with one another. Participants reflected on what it means to fund movements in an increasingly restrictive and polarized context, where the political right is gaining ground, civic space is shrinking, and many progressive funders are struggling to move beyond compliance-driven models.The space offered an opportunity to admit what participants did not know, celebrate what has worked so far and to imagine, together, what could be possible. You can read the full report here.

Monthly EDGEy Wednesdays

EDGE members led and carried out four EDGEy Wednesday sessions, tackling subjects like the launch of the pioneering Global Statelessness Fund, resisting corporate power in Africa, the crucial role of mutual aid in building transformative partnerships, and most recently, addressing inequalities in Brazilian Philanthropy: A Perspective from Black Organizations.

EDGEy Wednesdays are members-led spaces for sharing and building knowledge through showcasing global examples of radical philanthropy and presenting practical ways to dismantle extractive grantmaking practices. 

Local Meetings in London & Berlin

This year, we had two local meetings in London and in Berlin for our members to connect and engage in close, small-group discussions. Local Meetings are face-to-face informal gatherings that strengthen trust, community building, collective reflection, regional strategy development, and advocacy for transforming philanthropy. We look forward to more meetings in cities around the world in 2026. 

Feminist Economic Justice Retreat

The Feminist Economic Justice Retreat, held in Nairobi in October 2025, brought together feminist activists, funders, and movement leaders to reflect on the state of feminist resourcing and envision funding systems grounded in care, solidarity, and justice.

The gathering highlighted the deep links between care, power, and funding and surfaced bold strategies for building sustainable feminist funding ecosystems, including shared endowments, reparation and solidarity mechanisms, care and social protection funds, investment in women-led enterprises, and the training of a new generation of feminist fund managers. We invite you to read the full retreat report to learn from the wisdom of the group!

2026 EDGE Americas Retreat

In May/June of 2026 we will be gathering our members in the Americas for a retreat in Mexico City. The EDGE Americas Members Retreat is a dedicated space for funders across the Americas to come together for reflection, collective learning, and strategic alignment. As with all EDGE regional gatherings, the retreat is grounded in the recognition that today’s global crises are systemic, interconnected, and demand systemic responses built through collaboration, humility, and experimentation. 

2027 EDGE Global Conference Registrations

Our next global conference is set for 2027 and we are already preparing for a strong program. In 2026 we will launch session submissions so that participants can begin planning early. We will also open member-rate and early bird registrations towards the end of 2026 to give members and partners ample time to secure their place.

A New Look!

This newsletter offers a sneak peak of some of the colors and elements of our rebranding in 2026 in partnership with LuLu Kitololo Studio in Nairobi. Be on the lookout for a new website and color pallet that reflects our current growing, vibrant network! 

Philanthropy Organizing to Deliver (POD) Conversations

In the Member Action PODs, EDGE members engage in actionable discussions over a set time period, moving beyond traditional dialogues to focus on practical problem-solving. These spaces are exclusive to EDGE members, providing a confidential environment conducive to open dialogue and collaboration. Each Action POD is structured around a particular theme or issue. Next year, the Impact Measurement and Funding Movements PODs will be relaunched. 

Global Engagement Lab 6 (GEL 6)

The Global Engagement Lab (GEL) is a six-month international learning, organizing and community-building cohort for funders. Entering its sixth year, the Global Engagement Lab is a training program for progressive funders, which fosters personal transformation and relationship-building in order to deepen philanthropy’s understanding and practice of systemic change. The sixth cohort will launch early in 2026. We hope you apply! You can request to be informed when applications open through here. 

Political Education Public Series

Learning represents a crucial part in EDGE work. Public webinars create space for political education that can shift understanding and inspire action. 

Next year will start with a co-sponsored four-part learning series on “Not If, But How: Climate, Movements, and Transformative Change”, hosted by the CLIMA Fund. The series is designed for funders and donors across sectors who are ready to deepen their understanding of climate and where to start in funding effective solutions. Participants will hear from climate justice leaders from around the world and peer funders to explore what it takes to align our funding practices with the scale and urgency of the moment.