Chapter 4 FRIDA’s Fearless Celebration! Five Years of Supporting Young Feminist Organizing

The year 2016 is special for FRIDA, as we completed five years of supporting young feminist organizing. To celebrate this milestone, we joined hearts with The Fearless Collective, a young feminist group of artists and photographers that uses participatory art to move from a space of fear to a space of love. “FearlesslyFRIDA” is a campaign that uses artivism to showcase the colorful spirit of young feminist organizers around the world who are pushing boundaries, breaking stereotypes and creating new paths towards equality and justice.

Most significantly, the campaign created public works of art with communities of young feminists. Fearless visited FRIDA’s grantee partners in three countries to “Color Outside the Lines” of different issues:

“Color Outside the Lines”

Gender

  • Indonesia
* Transvoice *

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Body

  • South Africa
* HolaAfrica! *

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Spirit

  • Brazil
* Pelas Mujeres Indigenas *

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Five years is an important milestone for FRIDA and a good reminder to reflect on the journey so far, document our history and recognise people for their contributions. Check out our interactive timeline that chronicles the birth and story of the world’s first, and still the only, youth-led fund for young feminist organizing!

Some of the important moments in 2016 were:

Creating community and culture

FRIDA’s community of grantees, advisors, Board, and Staff continues to grow. See all the personalities that make up FRIDA here! We all work together to support each other’s work and build our leadership, and we see this as a key part of movement-building. That’s why we integrate the concepts of self-care into our working principles, and articulate the dynamics of working in a virtual structure.

Becoming independent

FRIDA registered as a nonprofit corporation and opened a bank account in Canada. This marked the end of the important incubation under the Association for Women’s Rights in Development and the Central American Women’s Fund. FRIDA is eternally grateful for the wisdom, guidance, and financial and operating support from these organizations. We look forward to many more years of alliance and partnership.

Reflecting on history

To understand the creation of FRIDA in the context of the larger movement and history of feminist organizing, read Lydia Alpizar’s personal reflections on why it is important to document these beginnings, what it contributes to our knowledge of movements, and what were some of the lessons learned. Lydia was the Executive Director at the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) who helped kickstart the beginnings of FRIDA.