The $1 Million Award for Weaving

Official press release

By Brendon Johnson and Fernande Raine

We are proud to announce that the ___ Network was selected for the prestigious and highly anticipated International Weaving Award for Transformational Change of 2023!

Each year, the ___ Foundation — a collaborative donors fund who equitably distribute funding decisions to local communities — gives $1 million to a movement, cooperative, or network that has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to leverage relational and collaborative practices for social change.

The prize is awarded on #GivingTuesday, in recognition of the international movement which itself has been a pillar of network-based approaches to spreading cultures of generosity around the world.

___ Network’s Chief Convener stated: “The Weaving Prize is a confirmation that the era of (s)hero worship is over and that the ‘hidden’ work of weaving is finally being recognized by philanthropy — with an acknowledgment that systems change happens through networks.”

The Weaving Prize was created as a testament to the thousands of initiatives who have been weaving communities for collaborative change around the globe for decades.

Its criteria is based on core principles of weaving, including:

• Investing in continual connection building, recognizing relationships as a key, measurable outcome
• Co-creating activities across sectors — grassroots, civil society, business, academic, and policy — and fields, like education, environment, and gender
• Taking a long-term, systemic change lens that adapts to the changing contexts and needs of people, politics, cultures, and environments
• Having a central focus on equity, intentionally investing in diverse stakeholder ownership and decision-making, and prioritizing marginalized groups
• Embed practices for care, wellbeing, solidarity, trauma, and joy across all its work

“We are beyond honored and thrilled to be a part of this seismic shift in how funding partnerships are designed”, shared ___, the Lead Facilitator of ___ Network.

Awarded funds are unrestricted, with the only requirement that the funding collaborative is included in learning and co-creative processes, as one of many stakeholders.

Alas, there is no such award yet.

But we believe such a shift is possible — and it’s coming.

We know a small number of groups who have received awards for collaborative weaving work.

And, there are a growing number of brave funders who have been on the forefront of offering such support.

This letter is meant to be a vision, a hope, a provocation.

Make it your own. Leave the blanks, or add the details of your own weaving initiative. Share it around to raise awareness of the great need to fund weaving. Or, just keep it to yourself as a motivator for what is possible.

Let’s make #funding #weaving a reality!