Throughout history women and gender-oppressed Black, Indigenous, and people of color across the globe have had to fight for our safety, livelihoods, and basic human rights. We have shouldered the disproportionate burdens of a global economy that relies on the exploitation of gendered reproductive labor and our planet’s natural resources. In recent years we have seen an escalation of continued attacks on social, economic, and climate justice, particularly in regions that
have experienced a rise of right-wing authoritarianism.
For many years, the World March of Women (WMW) dreamed about creating a feminist school that would strengthen our knowledge, share experiences, and expand the movement. At Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ), we began developing 'Feminist Organizing Schools' for our members and allied organizations as a tool to strengthen our commitment to struggle and reclaim feminism for the grassroots movement. From these experiences and visions, GGJ proposed an international version of the school and, together with the World March of Women, Grassroots International, and the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), co-created a project to "Strengthen International Grassroots Feminist Movements" and develop an ‘International Feminist Organizing School’.
In October 2018 we gathered grassroots feminist movement leaders from across the globe to meet and
think together about the key elements that we would want in the school. We identified intersecting themes that related to our experiences of struggle, work, and life: Body and Sexuality, State and Democracy, Defense of Mother Earth, Systems of Oppression, Feminist Economy, Feminist Theories and Movement Building. We also decided to use the methodology of 'Popular Feminist Education' as a basis. In November 2019, we agreed that the central focus of the School would be the 'Feminist Economy for the Sustainability of Life' as a political proposal, and that the IFOS would not only be a space for learning concepts and sharing experiences across territories, but also for lifting up alternatives to racist, capitalist patriarchy.
We held planning meetings in Bilbao, São Paulo and Guatemala City and formed working groups to develop thinking and content for each of the themes. Over 40 people from nearly 15 countries have been involved in the development and planning of the school, with the incredible Guatemalan queer feminist, Sandra Morán, as our coordinator.
In the beginning of 2020, we planned to hold the Berta Cáceres International Feminist Organizing School in August, in-person in Kenya with 75 participants from international feminist movements over five days. Once the global pandemic hit and we understood that gathering in-person would have to wait, we adapted the school to an online format. The
school was launched on March 4 on Berta Cáceres’ birthday. The training will take place online with sessions every two weeks beginning in April and ending early July. Later this year we will be holding a Training of Trainers for participants of the school interested in becoming facilitators. The in-person school will take place in 2022, or when it is possible to hold an international grassroots feminist gathering.
In September 2020, GGJ partnered with EDGE Funders Alliance to host the first-ever online Feminist Organizing School
for Funders (FOS-F) for our allies in philanthropy. Following up on the FOS-F, as well as the launch of the Berta Cáceres International Feminist Organizing School, we will be hosting the IFOS Funder Briefing on Tuesday March 30, at 12pm ET to share more about how this model is advancing, and how funders and donors can support.
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