Visual Capture by Fernanda de Uriarte as part of an in-person gathering held in Turkey at the beginning of 2023. 

The Economic Justice Initiative is a space for funders and movement representatives who are committed to re imagining economies in ways that center justice, care, and community well being. It brings together people who are exploring alternatives to dominant economic models, sharing practices from their contexts, and learning from each other’s approaches to systemic change. The initiative supports collective reflection, deeper political education, and practical experimentation with funding models that strengthen movements and challenge extractive systems.

Ongoing goals of the EJI include:

• Deepening funders’ understanding of economic justice priorities and philanthropy’s role in supporting the movement.
• Facilitating collaboration between funders and movements to shift power dynamics with thoughtfulness and intention.
• Utilizing economic justice as a lens to comprehend systemic crises and clarify philanthropy’s role in supporting systemic change alternatives.
• Sharing learnings with the broader philanthropic field about the collective vision for intersectional economic systems, with consent and leadership from the group.

We believe that offering a space such as this one will allow for better and more long-term resourcing of reimagining economies and will also bring a better intersectional understanding and analysis to donors working on economic, climate, racial  and gender issues.

The Economic Justice Initiative agendas and focuses has been shaped by the following co-chairs composed of members and movement partners.

October 6 – 9, 2025 • Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi

Funders and activists convened for a four-day gathering to imagine just and caring economic futures.

Why This Retreat
Feminist and social justice movements have long offered alternatives to today’s exploitative economic systems. Yet new global realities: rising authoritarianism, war and genocide, deepening inequality, shrinking resources for movements, and the escalating climate crisis, demand fresh strategies and deeper solidarity.

This retreat created space to pause, reflect, and dream together:

• What comes after the collapse of multilateralism and democracy?
• Which economic systems can truly replace the current paradigm?
• How do we sustain transnational resistance amid burnout and compounding crises?

We focused on: 

• Big-picture analysis & local grounding – Explore feminist macroeconomics alongside Kenyan and regional perspectives.
• Deep dives on urgent issues – Democracy under threat, organizing in conflict, climate impacts, and funding cuts.
• Visioning new feminist economies – Collective work to imagine systems rooted in care, equality, and autonomy.
  Care and connection – Built-in time to rest, recharge, and strengthen relationships.

The retreat was facilitated by Dinah Musindarwezo.

(Feminist Economic Justice Retreat Report)

February 27-March 2, 2023 • Catalca, Turkey

This first phase of the Economic Justice Initiative brought together movement representatives for a three day gathering focused on building trust, exploring ruptures, and deepening our shared analysis of power, economic systems, and movement ecology. Through storytelling, collective reflection, learning from local movements, and blue sky visioning, participants examined how power operates in our lives and contexts, learned from past and present movements, and imagined feminist economic futures rooted in care and systemic change. The gathering laid the groundwork for the next phase, which brought movements and funders together to continue shaping shared directions and strategies.