At its core, participatory grantmaking (PGM) shifts decision-making power from traditional grantmakers to the communities most impacted by injustice. PGM promotes a more effective, transparent, and equitable grantmaking approach by ensuring that funding priorities align with the actual needs of communities. 

In many ways, PGM reflects the core values already in operation here at WDN, and it has the potential to transform our work even more. That’s why two of our member-involved grantmaking steering committees are adopting PGM models to fortify movements for the challenges—and celebrations—that lie ahead.

Members of the Jean Hardisty Initiative and the Safe & Sustainable Future for All Impact Collective Steering Committees spent the summer gathering input from grantee partners on the benefits and challenges of moving to a PGM model. Throughout our conversations, a central tension emerged: how to balance WDN’s accountability as a funder with a genuine commitment to community-led decision making. However, our partners urged us to own our power as donor activists, trusting that we are uniquely able to create a space for them to lead, grow, and lean into their experience. 

Members and grantees agree that PGM can create… 

• A dynamic where donors and community leaders meet in mutuality, dignity, and respect, with a shared understanding of power and what each party brings to the table. 
• An accountable, brave space where all can acknowledge and learn from past harms or negative experiences to build a better future. 
• The opportunity to prioritize deep accountability and lived experience over professional credentials. 

But participatory models aren’t without challenges… 

• It can be more labor-intensive, even though giving and processing feedback is critical to maintaining a more equitable power dynamic. 
• Donor activists need intentional structure, context, and political education to effectively engage in the work. 
• Parties need an established structure to manage conflict, inevitable in group dynamics, with clear boundaries and guardrails.

PGM works best when it’s grounded in clarity, trust, and collective accountability. By valuing all voices—from our members to movement partners—we are already defying traditional philanthropy by building power with, not power over. We are grateful to our steering committee members for their participation in the summer listening sessions and look forward to sharing additional updates. So much of this work is grounded in the philosophies the late Jean Hardisty brought to WDN. As she wrote in Mobilizing Resentment, “After decades of claiming to speak for oppressed people of all races and ethnicities, the progressive movement must now learn to look to the same people for leadership.”

In a recent webinar co-hosted by WDN, Diala Khalil of the Center for Constitutional Rights spotlighted the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist whose detention exemplifies how immigration enforcement is being weaponized to punish political dissent. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund called this an “emergency unlike anything in our lifetimes,” noting that democratic safeguards are being stripped away under the guise of combating antisemitism and ensuring public safety.

The concerning pattern of tactics used to stifle dissent looks like:

• Targeting non-citizen activists for deportation
• Fast-tracking relocations to jurisdictions favorable to the government
• Misusing immigration law to criminalize political speech
• Passing legislation to expand protest-related criminal charges

We also know that the work is outpacing resources. The message to philanthropy remains direct: this moment requires immediate, flexible, and sustained investment in legal defense, movement infrastructure, and long-term organizing. In the words of Rana Elmir of RISE Together Fund, “Philanthropy must expand, be uncomfortable, and stand in solidarity with those defending fundamental rights.”

2025 was more than a call to support one movement or one case. It’s a wake-up call to all who believe in democracy. The tools being used today to target Palestinian solidarity activists are poised to be used against racial justice organizers, environmental defenders, reproductive rights advocates, and more. The path forward demands collective action, strategic resistance, and unwavering solidarity. Philanthropy has a vital role to play—and the time to act is now.

We cannot repeat the same harmful patterns of the past and expect a different result. We must confront the necessary truth at this moment: there is no path to a future of safety and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians without accountability and an end to Israel’s occupation and apartheid system that is causing so much pain.

As decisions are being made in real-time by political leaders who are using this moment to cut off 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza from food, water, fuel, and electricity, we cannot remain silent. Here in our own backyard, this relentless cycle of violence is fueling a sharp rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia, including most recently the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Chicago who was targeted for being Muslim.

At WDN, it is precisely in difficult times such as these that we transform our pain into collective action. We did so in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision in 2022. We did so in 2020 in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. We did so in 2016 in the aftermath of the U.S. election. And we do so now.

Violence only begets more violence. We are joining our leaders and partners who are calling for an immediate ceasefire and mobilizing resources to ensure they have the strength and capacity to lead the work ahead.

This is a moment that calls on our collective courage, moral consistency, and clarity. Our community is hurting, and must channel our collective voice, activism, and resources to advance freedom, safety and dignity for all people–beginning with the call for ceasefire. 

Together we are building a community rooted in love for justice and in a vision of a world where everyone can experience the safety, dignity, and freedom we all deserve.