Prospera International Network of Women and Feminist Funds

Name

Prospera International Network of Women and Feminist Funds

Legal name

Prospera International Network of Women's Funds

Website

https://prospera-inwf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Feminist Grantmaking Network

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Feminist grantmaking network
• Women's fund mobilization
• Philanthropic resource coordination
• Grassroots movement funding
• Gender justice advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic funding and grants: Prospera and its member funds mobilize resources from various donors, foundations, governments, and individual philanthropists to distribute as grants to feminist movements and women's organizations globally.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Prospera INWF is a global political network that convenes and supports 47 autonomous women's and feminist funds to collectively mobilize and distribute philanthropic resources to feminist movements primarily in the Global South and East. It provides network membership, collective advocacy to shift philanthropic practices, peer learning, strategic frameworks, pooled crisis-response funding mechanisms, and convening infrastructure that channels flexible, long-term, unrestricted grants to grassroots women's, girls', trans, non-binary, and intersex-led organizations across 172 countries.

Product overview

Prospera International Network of Women and Feminist Funds is a global political network of women's and feminist funds that operates as a membership-based collective rather than a technology product company. The network does not offer a software product, platform, or technology service. Instead, Prospera functions as a convening body that connects 47 women's and feminist funds worldwide to collectively resource feminist movements primarily in the Global South and East. The organization's offerings include network membership, collective advocacy for funding shifts, strategic frameworks, resource mobilization coordination, and collaborative learning spaces for member funds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prospera Network Membership Membership-based participation in a global political network of 47 autonomous women's and feminist funds providing network connectivity, peer learning, collective advocacy, and resource mobilization support to members across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and multi-regional geographies.
• Collective Feminist Grantmaking Coordination Coordination of grantmaking by Prospera member funds delivering flexible, long-term, often unrestricted funding (averaging $120 million annually) to over 2,800 grants per year for women's and feminist movements across 172 countries, with 78% of member funds providing core, unrestricted funding.
• Urgent Action Funds Sisterhood (Pooled Rapid-Response Funding) Pooled mechanism coordinating Urgent Action Funds to provide rapid-response funding to women and feminist activists facing critical or emergency moments, including humanitarian crises (e.g., Sudan) and threats to women human rights defenders.
• Biennial Feminist Funding Convenings Recurring large-scale convenings (e.g., XIII Biennial 'Rising Temperatures: Feminist Funding Dialogues for Climate Justice') and participation in major sector gatherings (CSW, Women Deliver, AWID Forum) that bring together feminist funds, donors, and movement leaders to shape the global feminist funding agenda.
• Resourcing Hub and Alliance Convening Platform Co-created convening space hosted with the Alliance for Feminist Movements, AWID, and the Walk the Talk Consortium that brings together donors, funds, and movement leaders for collective action on feminist funding futures, post-ODA realities, and resource redistribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Mobilized over $1.2 billion for feminist movements over 10 years (2011-2021)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• AWID (Association for Women's Rights in Development)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-organized 'Moving Money, Building Movements' event along with Gender Funders Co-Lab, Count Me In!, and The Alliance for Feminist Movements. The funders' event was held before the AWID Forum in Bangkok in late 2024, creating a catalytic space for activists to connect with bilateral donors, individual wealth stewards, and private foundations.
• Gender Funders Co-LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Strategic partnership for co-organizing 'Moving Money, Building Movements' event and collaborative work on feminist funding initiatives.
• Count Me In!coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Strategic partnership for collaborative feminist funding advocacy and resource mobilization events.
• The Alliance for Feminist MovementscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Hosting partner for the Resourcing Hub and collaborative engagement on feminist funding ecosystem development.
• Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-organized Climate and Gender Justice Summit and collaborated on 'Seeds for Harvest: Funding for Gender, Climate, and Environmental Justice' publication mapping critical funding gaps.
• Global Greengrants FundmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Hosting partner for Climate and Gender Justice Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Long-time partner in environmental and gender justice funding initiatives.
• Leading From the SouthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProspera members coordinate with Leading From the South, a consortium resourcing feminist movements in Latin America and the Caribbean with over 20 countries covered since 2017.
• Urgent Action Funds SisterhoodmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of urgent action funds providing rapid response funding to women and feminist activists facing critical moments, including emergency response research and crisis resourcing.
• Walk the Talk ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the Resourcing Hub hosting sessions on post-ODA realities and collective action for resourcing feminist movements.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Global Fund for Women: A pioneering feminist foundation that has been funding women's rights movements globally since 1987. Highly comparable as a women's fund that grants to grassroots organizations in the Global South and East, with overlapping membership in Prospera's network and shared mission around intersectional feminist grantmaking.
• Mama Cash: Founded in 1983 in the Netherlands as one of the first international women's funds, Mama Cash funds feminist movements globally with a focus on rights-based and intersectional approaches. Direct peer in the feminist fund ecosystem with overlapping grantee base and convening role in feminist philanthropy.
• FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund: The only youth-led fund focused exclusively on supporting global young feminist activism. Direct peer and Prospera member, with a comparable small-grants, participatory funding model targeted at grassroots movements.
• African Women's Development Fund (AWDF): Pan-African women's grantmaker that has provided over $28M to 1,294 women-led organizations across 42 African countries since 2001. Direct peer and Prospera member, with shared mission of resourcing African feminist movements and a comparable grantmaking-plus-convening model.
• Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights: Network of rapid-response funds providing timely resources to women and feminist activists facing critical moments. Direct peer and Prospera partner through the Urgent Action Funds Sisterhood, with shared rapid-response and crisis-grantmaking capability.
• Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice: International foundation supporting LGBTQI organizations worldwide, with over 4,300 grants to more than 1,700 groups in 90+ countries. Direct peer and Prospera board member's organization, with overlapping focus on feminist and LGBTQI movement resourcing.

Emerging players

• Equality Fund: Canadian feminist fund mobilizing resources for women's rights and gender justice organizations globally. Emerging player with a comparable feminist grantmaking model, though more recently established and with a narrower programmatic scope than Prospera's federated network approach.

Broad incumbents

• Ford Foundation: Major global foundation with a substantial gender, sexuality, and feminist movements portfolio that channels significant capital to women's rights organizations. Broad incumbent that overlaps in feminist and gender-justice funding space but operates as part of a much wider portfolio across multiple causes.
• Open Society Foundations: Large global foundation with a Women's Rights Program that funds feminist movements and policy advocacy worldwide. Broad incumbent with a dedicated gender portfolio and overlapping relationships with Prospera's leadership (Shannon Kowalski, Joy Chia), but operates far beyond feminist funding as a focus.
• Wellspring Philanthropic Fund: Private foundation that has been a major funder of feminist movements and women's rights globally, including support for women's funds. Broad incumbent with significant overlap in funding feminist and gender-justice initiatives, but operates as part of a broader philanthropic portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights1 record

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Prospera_INWF
• Facebookfacebook.com/prosperainwf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prospera-inwf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prospera International Network of Women and Feminist Funds