On the fourth and final day of the 15th International AWID Forum regarding Pacific feminist movements, an air of soft exhaustion blanketed the space. Viri, Chandni and I scouted for a quiet corner of the convention centre after I realised – too late – that all the private rooms had been booked.

Seeing me frazzled as I chased down spare chairs, Chandni and Viri reassured me. If no chairs could be found, they would both be fond of sitting on the floor. Perhaps, they made reference to the Pacific practice of Talanoa – a communal tradition where people gather for open, inclusive, and transparent dialogue, often arranged in a circle around a wide-brimmed bowl of Kava. It seemed a fitting parallel for the conversation we were about to have about Pacific feminist movements.

We had gathered to talk about the newly formed ‘ResourceFULL Collective’, with Virisila (Viri) Buadromo as the Co-Lead of the Urgent Action Fund for Asia and the Pacific and Chandni Dhingra, the Strategy Advisor for the ResourceFULL Collective. Michelle Reddy, the Co-Lead of the Pacific Feminist Fund, joined me later over a Teams meeting to discuss Pacific feminist movements. We both grappled with the 12-hour time difference between Suva and London – she, donning a vibrant summer dress and talking of her garden, and myself, wrapped tightly in a puffer jacket, refusing to turn the heat on in my flat.

Made up of three feminist organisations – Urgent Action Fund – Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P), Pacific Feminist Fund (PFF), and International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA), the ResourceFULL Collective was born from a shared commitment to diversify and strengthen funding for Pacific feminist movements. Together, these three organisations are championing ‘gender transformative giving,’ and raising awareness among Australian philanthropists about the critical role of feminist movements in the Pacific. Building on years of activism and funding experience, it was soon obvious that Viri, Michelle, Chandni and the teams at IWDA, PFF and UAF A&P, make up a near-unstoppable feminist dream team. I was quickly (and unashamedly) converted into a superfan.

Harnessing Australian Philanthropy to Support Pacific Feminist Movements, Why Now?

Feminist organisations in the Pacific and Pacific feminist movements have long been absent from the philanthropic map. Instead, they’ve received aid money from governments with soft power agendas, including Australia, China, New Zealand, and Japan. I asked the Collective why this is an important moment for philanthropists to step up  – in Australia and globally – and how they can demonstrate solidarity as allies and accomplices to Pacific feminist movements.

Read the full article about Pacific feminist movements by Kit Muirhead at Alliance Magazine.