Mission & Values

Our mission

The Guerrilla Foundation supports activists and grassroots movements working towards bringing about major systemic change across Europe in line with frameworks such as the Just Transition, the Great Transition, Buen Vivir, intersectional thinking, new municipalism. We see people's movements as a key vehicle for redirecting the global trajectory toward a socially equitable, culturally enriched, and ecologically resilient planetary civilization. We fund and support social movements and urgent actions in order to weave a new narrative shifting from an extractive economy, exploitative labour, and militaristic governance to a living economy with cooperative labour and a deeply democratic society that prioritises social and ecological wellbeing.   In short, we: 1. Make grants to advance the work of grassroots social movements for systems change. 2. Radically change philanthropy and work with people of wealth & privilege to increase the pie for social justice grant-making in Europe. 3. Tell stories to re-articulate distorted narratives and uplift radical, imaginative, moral ones. 4. Build networks, while reorganising power and fostering learning in the field. 5. Live our values in our day-to-day work and processes.

Our values are a constant challenge and compass. They guide us in how we go about our mission as well as our day-to-day work whether that is making grants, changing philanthropy, writing & storytelling, and how we show up in relationship with people..

Brave

We know it takes courage to do things differently and go against the grain. Radical, complex system change cannot be predicated and you have to trust people in the field who take risks and find bold, creative ways of addressing issues.

We want to consistently challenge philanthropy & its raison d’etre, a.k.a. the Charitable Industrial Complex.

We are pushing bold narratives and yes, some may feel uncomfortable.

We do not want to shy away from public protest and activities that might cause controversy. We are not risk averse.

We are not afraid to share failures as well as to give & receive honest feedback.

Warm

We acknowledge that interconnectedness and relationality are the connective tissue of social ecosystems. Thinking in complex systems requires us to shift from focusing on objects to relationships between objects. Warm in this context means the quality of connections.

We want to create a close, communal ecosystem of individuals, institutions and networks of organisations built on long-lasting, substantial and reliable connections.

We are building a trust-based, constructive learning environment with our grantees and other funders and collaborators.

Humble

We see humility as a grounding force, something that keeps our egos in check and pulls us back to the grassroots mentality where we want to be working.

We want to handle whatever power we have with caution, and seek ways to channel it in as participatory and transparent ways as possible while constantly getting feedback on this from our widening community.

We are not interested in winning arguments but engaging in debates so we can collectively grow and expand our mindsets. Being aware of power & privilege and trying to level the playing field wherever possible is one of our bread and butter.

Solidarisch

(For lack of a proper, single-word, English adjective for being ‘in solidarity’ we default to our Germanic roots.)

We consider diversity in all its forms, a hallmark of a healthy, thriving system and we consistently ask ourselves: Who is not in the room? What kinds of rooms do we need for other perspectives to emerge?

We find intersectional thinking and practice essential to a badass, inclusive, resilient movement.

We do not push or replicate competitive patterns and behaviours with either other funders, nor between those we fund. Money can complicate relationships so we try to be mindful of how it affects both givers and receivers.

We want to increase the pie of available resources for social justice philanthropy without having to fundraise for us as an organisation.

We reject siloisation, we celebrate collective interdependence.

Fun

We should enjoy the process. If we cant dance and play and just be merry from time to time, what is the point of the wider mission?

We find joy and humour to be significant natural elevators of both mood and movements, essential and not an add-on.

We put the fun in funding, as we consider fun to be fundamental to wellbeing and good living (buen vivir).

We do not shy away from puns.

A note on political violence, systemic to bodily:

Violence takes many forms.

“today, material violence gives way to anonymous, desubjectivized and systemic violence, which is hidden as such because it coincides with society itself.”*

We at Guerrilla do not fund initiatives that aim to cause or condone harm (physical or mental) to other humans as well as other forms of life.

Moreover we know that the people we fund are part of struggles and working in their respective realities which we cannot fully grasp. We trust that to the best of their abilities, they uphold socially just values, and employ non-extractive, anti-oppressive practices on their emancipatory, liberatory & equitable trajectories.

* Byung-Chul Han, Topology of Violence (2011)