filia is turning 25
Germany’s biggest feminist fund is celebrating its anniversary
filia was founded in 2001 as a community fund and has since become Germany’s largest feminist fund. Based in Hamburg, the fund supports projects by and for women, girls, and LGBTIQ individuals that aim to bring about structural change. filia primarily supports groups and activists who advocate for freedom from violence, social participation, and democracy. By the end of 2025, filia will have supported over 600 projects in more than 50 countries. Today, the fund focuses its support on Germany, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.
The supported projects include social media campaigns, resilience workshops, poetry slams, body positivity seminars, coding classes, protests, safer spaces, and much more. The most important principle of filias’ grantmaking approach is “giving with trust”: Activists, as experts on their own lives, take center stage and decide for themselves, with flexibility, how best to use the funding.
For 25 years, filia has been putting power and money into the hands of activists. In recent years, other funds have also come to better understand how effective this approach to giving is. As a result, more than just money is being distributed: filia’s genuine “allieship” with its grantees builds trust. Thanks to filia’s long-term commitment, activists can develop their own strategies. filia pioneered these funding methods early on and is now reaping the rewards. filia serves as a shining example for other funds. Congratulations!
– Ise Bosch, Co-Founder of filia
The Anniversary Campaign “Sparks of Courage”
Among other things, filia is celebrating its anniversary with the anniversary campaign “Sparks of Courage”. With the support of prominent advocates, the fund is calling for greater visibility and resources for social engagement by and for women, girls, and the LGBTIQ+ community. With “Sparks of Courage”, filia celebrates not only its own history but, above all, the commitment of the activists who have been supported by filia over the past 25 years. Their courage is meant to provide guidance in times of anti-democratic headwinds and to spread like sparks. For right now, it is more important than ever to protect feminist achievements.
The challenges women face in Eastern Europe affect society as a whole: women struggle against gender stereotypes in their daily lives and against institutional hierarchies. Hierarchies that prevent women from improving their social standing and taking advantage of opportunities for political participation. At the same time, however, these diverse challenges spur women to act with greater determination and solidarity. For they understand that the lives of disadvantaged people and groups depend on them. As a result, women are becoming role models for the actions and politics of the future.
– Olga Shparaga, filia Board Member
How does filia work?
- filia relies on the expertise of activists. That is why the decisions regarding grantmaking are made by those who are directly affected by the issues we aim to address. In Germany, we work with advisory boards. In Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, we are advised by a Recommendation Committee.
- filia provides flexible funding and, above all, core funding. This means that filia supports organizations as a whole, rather than just a specific project. filia’s partners can therefore decide for themselves where the grants are most urgently needed at any given time. This allows them to respond flexibly to unforeseen developments.
- filia promotes intersectionality. filia recognizes that different identities—such as gender, class, and sexual orientation—interact and give rise to intertwined experiences of discrimination. filia does not view discrimination in isolation, but rather as the interplay of various forms of oppression that influence and reinforce one another.
