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Hive Power in Motion: New Cohort, CGI Commitment, and More
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What a quarter! The hive has been buzzing with activity. We are thrilled to welcome a new cohort of grantees, launch a US$9M Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative, and unveil our brand new website.
Dive in to learn more about how we’re building women’s political power across the Global South.
The Hive Grows: Welcoming Our New Cohort
This quarter, the hive grows. We are welcoming a new cohort of second-round grantees to advance women’s political leadership across Asia’s diverse and challenging contexts, each bringing a distinct entry point for impact that strengthens the whole. In Nepal, partners are advancing Dalit women’s political leadership in a fragile democracy. In the Philippines, they are building a resilient feminist ecosystem for women political leaders. In Sri Lanka, they are supporting economically marginalized women workers to enter politics. In Mongolia, they are amplifying herder women’s collective leadership and political voice. And in Pakistan, they are cultivating a new generation of women and transgender leaders driving political reform in a conflict-affected region. These partnerships align directly with Colmena Fund’s mission to build sustainable political infrastructure and support women political leaders in all their diversity.
A Commitment to Action: Our Pledge at CGI
During this period, we also joined the Clinton Global Initiative 2025 Annual Meeting as Commitment Makers, launching a new Commitment to Action to align resources and collaboration across this ecosystem.
Over the next two years, Colmena Fund will invest US$9M to strengthen women’s political leadership across the Global South, supporting at least 50 organizations in 18+ countries, with a focus on leaders from marginalized and diverse backgrounds, to drive social, economic, and environmental change.
Learn more about our commitment:
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From Egypt to the US to Greece, over the past few months we’ve moved through major philanthropy and civil-society gatherings to accelerate women’s political leadership, connecting ideas, strategies, allies and action.
Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to:
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6th African Philanthropy Conference
The session “State of Women’s Feminist & Political Leadership in Africa: From Participation to Transformative Change” was co-hosted by Colmena Fund, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center, FEMNET, Karama, Pan African Women Political Leaders Movement, Ubuntu, and the Women’s Academy for Leadership & Political Excellence (WALPE Africa).
The event brought together regional leaders and advocates, including Emma Theofelus, Namibia’s Minister of Information, Communication and Technology; who emphasized the growing pushback against feminism and the need to cultivate trust and confidence in young women running for political office; Hibaaq Osman, CEO and co-founder of Karama, who stressed that women’s strength is rooted in communities through feminist and youth movements; Sitabile Dewa, ED of WALPE Africa, highlighted the rise in militarism and coups including the regression of women’s political representation despite years of training efforts; Sahar Albazar, Egyptian MP and ED of the Ubuntu Parliamentary Initiative for Climate Finance, successfully passed landmark laws on FGM and online harrassment; Brian Kagoro, Managing Director of Programs at the Open Society Foundations, challenged our thinking around the current political economy dominated by oligarchies and extractive interest that sees no benefit in feminist power and called for alternatives rooted in solidarity and care economies; and Suyen Barahona, Colmena Fund’s ED, shared welcoming remarks and the need to meet this moment with urgency, courage and the innovation it demands, including supporting women political leaders and movements who are doing the hard work of democracy-building and systems transformation, often at great personal risks.
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Feminist Funded 2025
We participated in this important gathering and celebrated the powerful voices of our Steering Committee member Latanya Mapp on the State of Funding panel; and Hibaaq Osman from our partner organization Karama in the conversation on Feminist Funders Resisting Authoritarianism..
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Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting 2025
Colmena Fund’s leadership team and partners participated in:
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“Building Power—Strengthening Systems for Women’s Public & Political Leadership”, roundtable session co-hosted along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center.
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Democracy & Human Rights Working Group — Table Discussion: “Accelerating Democratic Participation”, led by Suyen Barahona, Executive Director at Colmena Fund.
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“Putting People First” — Mainstage session, featuring Lindiwe Mazibuko, Founder and CEO of Futurelect, our partner organization.
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“Fueling LGBTQ+ Equality in a Time of Global Backlash” — Leader stage session, featuring Gui Mohallem, Executive Director of VoteLGBT, our partner organization.
Visit the official website for more information: clintonglobal.org/2025
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Athens Democracy Forum
We collaborated with partners from Better Politics Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Obama Foundation, the University of Sheffield, and Fine Acts in the session Reimagining Democracy & Public Sector Leadership.
Our ED, Suyen Barahona and Bru Pereira, co-director of VoteLGBT facilitated the roundtable “Resist, Persist, and Reimagine: Accelerating Diverse Women & Young People’s Political Power”.
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Read our ED Suyen Barahona’s op-ed in Project Syndicate, “The High Cost of Defunding Women’s Organizations”. The piece shares how women’s rights movements in different countries are being criminalized, silenced, and starved of resources, even as they play a critical role in resisting repression, defending civic space, and pushing for inclusive societies. Suyen calls for urgent, sustained investment in feminist movements, arguing that women’s leadership is not optional but essential to safeguarding democracy, peace, and justice worldwide.
The oped is in partnership with the Alliance for Feminist Movements and Equal Measures 2030 and provides case studes and data from their research on Redefining Risk: The Cost of Not Funding Women’s Rights Organisations.
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Welcome to the Hive!
Meet Lucinda van den Heever, our new Program Officer! Lucinda is an African feminist and gender justice expert with extensive experience advancing women’s rights, including her work as Program Manager at the Open Society Foundations. Her commitment to intersectional justice rooted in care, ethics, and feminist values resonates deeply with our mission to accelerate diverse women’s political leadership across the Global South.
We’re excited for her leadership, expertise, and vision to help shape our next chapter.
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Hear directly from the leaders driving change in five new episodes (9-13) of our podcast. Don’t miss our new Spanish episode with Dr. Epsy Campbell, a Colmena Fund Steering Committee member and former Vice President of Costa Rica. We also feature a Portuguese episode with Symmy Larrat, Brazil’s National Secretary for LGBTQIA+ Rights. After you listen, you can dive deeper with our reflective blog posts for each interview, which explore the key issues with our network of partners, allies, and team members.
Listen and share to amplify the voices driving change!
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Explore Our New Digital Home!
Our website is now live! Learn more about the hive, how we work, and the mission, vision, approach and values behind all this buzz.
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