Why we need to create spaces to imagine the new

Ese Emerhi, GFCF Global Network Weaver

2025 has been a year of opposites: of despair and of hope, of loss and of rebirth, of a crumbling system and the making of a new one. In this oscillating reality, in October, in Nairobi, Kenya, two gatherings were held: one on community philanthropy and the other on peacebuilding. During both, the conversations focused on what this new system might look like in practice.

The first gathering was the Community Philanthropy Symposium, hosted by the GFCF. As we were preparing for this meeting, we left this question open for all participants to ponder, and to guide the conversation: How can community philanthropy and local asset mobilization help drive larger efforts to put communities at the heart of their own development processes, to advance equity and justice and shift power? We brought together 42 community philanthropy practitioners, including this year’s #ShiftThePower Fellows, who have been thinking and writing about the issues they are grappling with — from mapping local assets in Nepal to what it might mean to move towards a more horizontal form of philanthropy in Vietnam, for instance.

The backdrop to our conversations was the ripple effects of the recent USAID shutdown, of changing funding flows, and of a more restrictive civic space in many parts of the world. Despite this gloomy reality, it only further sparked our imagination and determination to reclaim the narrative — that civil society is for us, not for funders. It’s become even more important to foster these conversations about community philanthropy as a form of solidarity, collective power and mutuality, and to deepen understanding of what it truly means to put local agency, relationships, trust and shared purpose at the heart of the work. What became evident at the Symposium is that alternative models are already alive (and / or being constructed) and that the currency for this new form of work is trust, connection and being with community.

Something else stayed with me from the conversations we had in small groups at the Symposium. As development practitioners, we may have been under the pretense that the development and humanitarian aid systems were meant to deliver justice and transform power. But now it is clear that, at its core, the system was designed to keep us disconnected from our collective power and that justice was never the goal. The disappointment and anger that come from this realization have left me wondering what that says about our own roles within the current system. How can we use anger and disappointment in the system to drive the change we want?

The second gathering was Peace Connect. Convened by Peace Direct, the event brought together over 500 peacebuilders and allies from around the world. It was the first event of its kind, and the question it invited participants to consider was: What happens when peace activists unite in solidarity, mutuality and a shared desire to reimagine systems that work for everyone? The GFCF had the privilege of hosting a dedicated #ShiftThePower room at the conference, where we convened conversations about what alternative resourcing looks like, understanding what matters now and how to measure it, and what the future might look like using the new concept Possible Now.

I saw similarities between the conversations we had at the Symposium and those in the many breakout rooms at Peace Connect. Since the 2023 #ShiftThePower Global Summit, the GFCF and Peace Direct have been journeying together more intentionally. We have been navigating similar spaces and conversations where the essence has been that powerful alternatives are out there, a rejection of the way development currently happens, and the desire to shape the possibility of something new.

Peace Connect brought into sharper focus the different realities we all face, that the social and political struggles we experience are interconnected because we are complex beings, and more importantly, that other people’s issues are our issues too. A foundational layering of Peace Connect was the additional question of healing in this moment – in building peace, how do we facilitate healing?

Both gatherings offered answers to the same yearning: that another way is possible. Amidst all the uncertainty and retreat, people and their movements are quietly crafting new systems of belonging, care and decision-making. And that now, more than ever, these new ways of organizing, deciding and doing, grounded in connection and trust, are not just alternatives. They are essential.

And, on the question of what to do with the anger and disappointment many of us are feeling right now, in reimagining the new, could we channel our anger into tending this new soil with care, with patience, and with the faith that something more just and beautiful can take root? Anger is the fire, but love is the compass. Together, they point us toward a future where power no longer needs to be given – because it has always been ours to claim.

By: Ese Emerhi, GFCF Global Network Weaver