[Call for Applications] Numun Fund’s first call for applications is open!

Open for application: 1 July – 1 August 2022

The Seed, Grow & Sustain Grant Call is aimed at supporting initiatives, collectives, groups and organisations with a focus on feminist tech activism in the Larger World, aka the Global South. Grants are between USD5,000-USD100,000 for a period of 2 years, and is a flexible fund that can be used for general support and/or projects.

What is the Seed, Grow & Sustain Grant?

The “Seed, Grow & Sustain” grant is a multi-year, flexible grant open for application by initiatives, collectives, groups and organisations with a focus on feminist tech activism in the Larger World.

The grant is between USD5,000 – USD100,000 for a period of 2 years, depending on where the group is in the life cycle of organised activism. The grant is flexible and can be used for general support and/or projects, and it is our vision and intention to have it open for renewal. Currently, Numun Fund has secured and allocated USD1.5 million for this “Seed, Grow & Sustain” grant call for application.

Who can apply?

This grant prioritises application by organising and leadership that is located in the Larger World. We understand this both in terms of territory, as well as in politics, and primarily from the framework of resource disparity, exploitation, exclusion and colonialism. This is an intentional decision due to the exponentially larger resources available for groups based in the Global North, meaning Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Larger World organising and leadership includes those based in:

• West, Central, East and Southern Africa
• Southeast, South and East Asia
• Southwest Asia and North Africa, and across Arabic-speaking countries
• The Caribbean
• Latin America
• Pacific Islands
• Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and

Indigenous communities and migrant communities based anywhere in the world.

What is feminist tech?

Every context and movement will have their own ways of defining and approaching feminist tech. For these grants, feminist tech is understood from the perspectives of:

• Analysis: Uses a feminist approach to unpack power, challenge prevailing power structures and systems of oppression in engagement with digital technologies (e.g. patriarchy, colonialism, racism, capitalism etc), and proposes solutions, alternatives and responses.
• Communities: Centres historically excluded, oppressed or discriminated communities and groups of people who are also often most impacted by developments in science and technology in its activism and vision for change (e.g. indigenous, women, afro-descendant, migrant, refugee, LBTQI, young people, women living in rural communities, people with disabilities, ethnic or religious groups facing marginalisation etc).
• Issues: Forefronts feminist priorities on issues related to technology and digital rights. For example, feminist digital safety, bodily integrity and data privacy, gender-based violence and freedom of expression online, safe online movement spaces that can heal from generational trauma, feminist indigenous knowledge and the digital economy, access to sexuality related information and community, feminist engagement with climate crisis and digital technologies, digital archival and memory projects by historically marginalised communities, gender and labour in the digital economy and more.
• Activism: This can be from any strategy: from research to campaigns, technology design and development, community building, capacity building, training, knowledge sharing, archiving, artistic practices, content creation, policy advocacy, convening, holding spaces and facilitation methodologies, piloting alternative social organising systems, providing technology support and services to feminist activists etc – whatever meets the realities and idea of change in your community.

How to apply?

The call to apply is open from 1 July – 1 August 2022. To make the application process as light as possible, there are 3 parts to the process. You will only be asked to write and submit a full application if your activism and ideas meets the eligibility criteria, and is longlisted after an initial prioritisation process.

Please go to https://numun.fund/apply/ for the complete details about this grant application.