Investing in Mutual Aid Infrastructure to catalyze mutualist systems.
The launch of the Community Infrastructure Fund for Mutual Aid (CIFMA) supported 24 high impact mutual aid projects (with little infrastructure and institutional support) across the US.
Art in Praxis, in partnership with Omidyar Network, JustFund and Amalgamated Foundation requested proposals from mutual aid practitioners across the US working to make their mutual aid work more sustainable, scalable, and secure. This process reflected a desire on the part of Omidyar Network to increase Philanthropy’s recognition of mutual aid infrastructure and learn through supporting organizations on the frontlines, while contributing to a mutualist future that centers community and supports the individuals leading the work. And we recognize that mutual aid has been used for centuries to meet our community’s basic needs and honor our human rights and dignity.
In October for 2021, a total of $475,000 was awarded in catalytic grants of between $15,000 and $25,000 to mutual aid initiatives and organizations led by Indigenous, Black, Latinx, immigrant, and other communities facing injustice, to support the buildup of ‘mutual aid infrastructure’ — the resources and tools supporting systems in which people and communities voluntarily care for one another for their mutual benefit.
We received 300% more applications than projected, which blew us away, because it reflects how much of this work is happening and the resources still needed. The total request for funding from the applicant pool was 23M. Omidyar Network also hopes that the Community Infrastructure Fund for Mutual Aid inspires other funders to invest in more sustainable and trust-driven approaches. The CIFMA Advisory Council built consensus and selected initiatives and organizations that demonstrated a strong commitment to place-based intersectional justice through their strategies for community-directed resources and support.
Strategies range from….
Rebuilding a local system of community care through herbal remedios in Chimayo. (Barrios Unidos, New Mexico)
Strengthening organizational communications infrastructure in an East Harlem Mutual Housing Association (East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust)
Updating resource kits, growing COVID-19 public health guides, and increasing digital security for mutual aid projects in caste-oppressed communities. (Equity Labs, Bay Area)
Creating response tools that provide digital safety, legal solutions and just-in-time support to journalists of color who are targets of online abuse. (Media Innovation Collaboratory/TrollBusters)
Providing comprehensive and holistic support to increase housing stability and prevent displacement and erosion of wealth in Black communities in Baltimore (S.O.S. Fund, Baltimore)
“Healthy alternatives, and the leaders who want to build them, exist, but without the right supporting infrastructure, institutions, “beacon” examples, and a shared narrative, this burgeoning movement will face longer odds to succeed.”
-The Tech We Want
Process
The CIFMA Advisory Council - mutual aid practitioners, activists, and leaders of color who have deep experience working with communities threatened by the current political and social climate - co-developed guiding principles, determined the grant criteria and deliberated on the selection of the cohort.
The Community Infrastructure Fund was administered by JustFund, the only nonprofit grantmaking solution created by funders and organizers of color, to remove traditional barriers that prevent funders from moving resources efficiently to organizations on the forefront of social change. One of the reasons we partnered with JustFund is that the platform enables applicants to easily share their work with other funders, quickly apply to other funds, and allow funders to find their work without a direct application. Everyone who completed the CIFMA application can submit that same proposal to other funding opportunities on the JustFund platform. Some projects have been funded!
The CIFMA Guiding Values
The tenets governing the process - from the call for proposals, to our soon to be CIFMA learning exchange:
Solidarity, not Charity – Solutions should come from the communities experiencing those issues.
Decentralize Control – Technology should prioritize anti-surveillance and consent. No one party should be able to exert power over the whole system.
Intersectionality – Understanding of the interconnected nature of individual or group oppressions such race, gender, class, sexuality, disability, nationality, or other social categories.
Privacy through Transparency – The only way to build a robust system is to open it up to the world. Individual members of the community should also be able to protect their privacy and identity.
Curiosity – Our world and context are dynamic and constantly evolving. This approach is flexible, experimental, and iterative.
Respect – We hope to create a space for grantees, applicants, and committee members to share their thoughts and expertise.
Boldness – This is a new space and novel process for ON and the majority of philanthropy.
Connection – Genuine change requires many actors and collaborative action. This fund hopes to build a supportive ecosystem to support and engage diverse communities of practice and discourse.
Humility – Pilots often have flaws but done is better than perfect, and we will learn through them.
As we approach the CIFMA grantee convening and learning exchange this March, we commit to working with Omidyar Network to turn the critical insights and lessons from CIFMA into a call to action for Philanthropy to more deeply and consistently invest in mutual aid infrastructure building. And in true Art in Praxis fashion, we are in the lab developing actionable content for mutual aid practitioners to be fierce, informed advocates too.