Introducing the Fund Circle
Hello fellow imagineers.
As we’re starting to let folk know the outcome of their funding requests, we figured it was time to peek out from behind the Fund Circle and say hello, just so you know the people behind the process.
You already know Zahra from Huddlecraft as co-host of this fabulous community. Along with her, the Fund Circle comprises Kassamira and Tim, with extra input from Hannah at Canopy on all things Collective Imagination whilst we’re still finding our feet.
Kassamira (she/her) is a black queer multi-disciplinary artist residing in Washington, DC by way of Portland, OR. An avid daydreamer by day and experimental artist by night, Kassamira is inspired by concepts of play, black girlhood, and reclaiming one’s sense of wholeness. Her work seeks to articulate the multiplicity of stages within one’s own healing journey and the radical transformation we find within ourselves
Tim (he/him) hails from Leeds, in the North of the UK. He balances his time between child/elder care, running his book club Adventurous Ink, helping businesses with regenerative transformation and using people-power and imagination to nudge extractive capitalism onto the off-ramp. In the past he tried to bend government backed economic development to be more beneficial, though he quit his career at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic to pursue a simpler life. This space for reflection and personal growth led to the realisation that the heart is WAY more powerful than the head, and it is only through imagining a better future that we have any chance of creating it.
Our main early reflection is ‘WOAH, there are a lot of great ideas out there’. We’re deeply grateful for every bid that has come in, whilst a little overwhelmed by their number and the amounts requested. We could have easily have allocated our entire budget in this first round. This led to a mini pause whilst we worked out whether there was any chance of extra funds coming our way.
And thankfully, it seems there is! So, on we go, but still the decision making has been tough.
One of the things we’ve been super conscious of is that the work is genuinely rooted in collective imagination practice, and hasn’t had the term sprinkled ontop of another, admittedly great, project idea. There are loads of wonderful people doing lots of amazing things out there, but we’re striving to retain our focus on this emerging and important field.
On a personal level, we’ve also had to give ourselves a break. Inevitably, most of our discussion is about projects on the margins of being funded, meaning we spend way more time talking about what we’re not going to support than what we are. So, we’re very much looking forward to reaching the point where we can see the results and celebrate the fruits of your labour. Almost as much as you are!
The intention of holding this process lightly, to enable emergence and collaboration, is something we’re deeply committed to. But it does limit the amount of engagement and feedback we can have with all applicants, successful and unsuccessful alike. Again, we are truly grateful for everyone taking the time to imagine what it means to imagine anew. Thank you.
Big love to all you giant hearted visionaries, you are the future.
