Navigating Crises: Reflections from the HIP Annual Partners Meeting 2025
By Paola Feregrino, Co-director of Gender, Race, and Power
Current times have brought unique challenges for those of us defending human rights. The global political context is significantly reducing the flow of resources toward civil society organizations, especially those working on gender justice. This reality demands that we rethink not only how funding is mobilized, but also how to continue to support strengthening these grassroots movements.
HIP is more than a bridge for financial resources. We believe deeply in building spaces where organizations can share their struggles, find commonalities, and strengthen their collective capacities. These principles guide us each year to convene our gender partners in a gathering where they define the conversations they need to have.
This year, between August 13-15 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, conversations took place around three fundamental intersections: financial sustainability in adverse contexts, narrative building in the face of advancing fundamentalisms, and collective care as a transformative political practice.
Crisis as an Opportunity for Realignment
A central reflection was rethinking crisis not only as a financial challenge, but as an opportunity for "loving realignment" toward collective restructuring. Organizations shared that taking a pause can be an act of courage that allows strengthening without losing what has been gained and maintaining long-term horizons.
HIP as a Companion Ship
During the "Navigating Together" workshop, a powerful metaphor emerged: HIP as a ship accompanying the organizational ocean that:
- Enables alignment without being overwhelming
- Functions as a map and a compass to navigate storms
- Implements accompaniment strategies without imposing direction
- Opens opportunities according to specific needs
Comprehensive Strengthening Spaces
The gathering integrated:
Collective care: Individual healing spaces with five healers, as well as reflection spaces to implement strategies that prioritize mental health and budgets for care.
Feminist marketplace: An open space where partners exchanged products, knowledge, and their creations—from books and textiles to publications and institutional materials—celebrating creativity, economic autonomy, and organizational diversity.
Our Donors' Perspective: Building Bridges of Trust
During the gathering, we heard the perspective of a representative from an allied international foundation: "Large foundations face extremely slow and complex processes that generate intimidation in applicant organizations. These bureaucratic processes end up 'stealing the energy and joy' from organizational work."
She highlighted how HIP transforms this experience: "They convert a complex process into something easier and calmer, eliminating bureaucratic barriers and preserving organizational energy for substantive work."
She especially recognized the approach with presence and proximity: the HIP team is based in Mexico, lives alongside local movements, and maintains deep knowledge and organic interaction with collectives.
"HIP functions as a triangular trust bridge: we have a solid relationship with HIP, HIP cultivates direct trust with local partners, and partners develop trust toward us through HIP. It is a very good representation—organic, integral, respectful, and solidarity-based."
We are proud that our donors continue reaffirming their commitment to grassroots movements for gender justice and their trust in HIP to carry out these projects in Mexico.
Navigating Together Toward the Future
This gathering reaffirms our commitment to a model that goes beyond resource transfer. At HIP, we understand that our role as philanthropic accompanier involves creating conditions so that grassroots movements not only survive, but flourish.
The answers we need are not found in haste or isolation, but in listening, imagination, and the power of being together. A feminism that flourishes even in difficult times is possible when we navigate storms together, keeping our guiding star clear and our ships in solidarity formation.
