Feminist By Design: A Blueprint for Philanthropy

EP4: Class Traitors: A Feminist Push for Wealth Redistribution

In the compelling season finale of our limited series, host Khara Jabola-Carolus invites listeners to embrace radical shifts in philanthropy to address systemic gender inequalities. We highlight the role of philanthropists who leverage their wealth to fundamentally dismantle the harmful class structures they belong to and benefit from. Featuring insights from Rachel Sherman, author of "Class Traitors," and personal stories from philanthropists Cynda Collins Arsenault, we critically examine the motivations and impacts of wealthy individuals advocating for radical systemic changes and economic equality. This powerful finale calls for a reevaluation of the role of wealth in society and encourages a collective reimagining of how philanthropy can be a tool for radical change, not just a band-aid on systemic inequalities. 
 
Rachel Sherman is the Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College. She is broadly interested in how and why unequal social relations are reproduced, legitimated, and contested, and in how these processes are embedded in cultural vocabularies of identity, interaction, and moral worth. Her first book, Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels (University of California Press, 2007), draws primarily on participant observation research to analyze how workers, guests, and managers in these hotels make sense of and negotiate the class inequalities that mark their relationships. Her second book, Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence (Princeton University Press, 2017), uses in-depth interviews to explore the lived experience of privilege among wealthy and affluent New York parents. As a 2018-2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, she conducted research for her current book project, titled Class Traitors. Here she explores the world of wealthy progressives who are challenging the unequal social systems that have enabled their wealth--analogous to, and often overlapping with, white antiracists striving to dismantle systems of white supremacy. An early essay from that work is here.
 
Cynda Collins Arsenault is a Co-Founder and Board Member of One Earth Future and the Arsenault Family Foundation. She is also co-founder and President of Secure World Foundation an operating foundation promoting cooperative solutions for the secure and sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of humanity.  She has 45+ years of experience in non-profit work including peace and justice, criminal justice, mental health, disability rights and environmental issues. In her personal philanthropy she focuses on bringing women’s critical skills to the table for solving the difficult problems we face, with a particular focus on women, peace and security. She helped establish and works with OEF’s Our Secure Future program.  She is a member of the Women's Donor Network, Women Moving Millions and The International Women’s Forum.  She is the founder of Women Powering Change, an annual gathering of women working to create a better world. Collins Arsenault received her BA in Sociology and Psychology at University of California Berkeley and her MA in Education from Colorado State University. 
 
Sign up for the Feminist By Design newsletter here, designed specifically for feminist philanthropists who want to take feminist practice a step further. Each issue brings you deeper into discussions that challenge the status quo, highlight urgent calls to action, and provide you with the resources you need to make your giving strategy feminist by design. 
 
Want to learn more about the Global Center for Gender Equality and our work in Feminist Philanthropy? Find us here. 
 
Find our Feminist By Design Principles for Philanthropy here. 
 
Calls to action/who to support: 
Patriotic Millionaires 
 
Further reading: 
ARTICLE - Against Accumulation: Class Traitors Challenge Wealth and Worth 
ARTICLE - The Conscription of Wealth: Mass Warfare and the Demand for Progressive Taxation 

EP3: Beneath the Backlash: How U.S. Foreign Policy Undermines Feminist Philanthropy

Host Khara Jabola-Carolus delves into the complex interplay between U.S. foreign policy and feminist philanthropy in our third episode of the series. We dissect the U.S.-based barriers that make it difficult to fund not just feminist activism but have metastasized into impediments to funding innocuous, non-political services for women that are necessary for gender equality. Specifically, we look at how U.S. anti-communism and anti-terrorism measures obstruct funding and support for feminist organizations globally, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. Guest Beverly Longid, a prominent activist, shares chilling insights on how being labeled as communist leads to severe consequences, including harassment, violence, suppression, and even death. Meanwhile, Anisha Chugh, Executive Director of Women’s Fund Asia, highlights the dire lack of funding for feminist movements and the significant challenges posed by global anti-rights backlash. The episode urges philanthropists to rethink and challenge the systemic barriers imposed by U.S. foreign policy to truly support feminist movements worldwide, and challenges the women-focused philanthropy ecosystem to prioritize policy change as a critical priority.  
 
Beverly Longid is the International Solidarity Officer at KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and serves as the Coordinator for the Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) in the Philippines. An Igorot of the Bontok-Kankanaey communities from Sagada and Alba, Bontoc, Mountain Province, Beverly has a legal background and a deep commitment to youth and Indigenous peoples' rights, both locally and internationally. She has been an integral member of the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) since 1992, holding various roles including Education Commission staff, Deputy Secretary-General, Chairperson, and currently a member of the Regional Advisory Council. She has been subjected to several threats, harassment, and intimidation over the course of her work and lifelong activism. Beverly is a grandmother and holds degrees in Psychology, English Literature, and Law. 
 
Anisha Chugh is the Executive Director of Women's Fund Asia, which is a regional feminist fund supporting and women, girls, trans and intersex activists and groups in 18 countries of the Asia (South Asia, South East Asia and Mongolia). She previously worked at different levels within WFA in her 10+ years at the organization—as Deputy Executive Director, Director of Programmes and Programme Officer. Prior to joining WFA, Anisha worked with a human rights funder in India called the Dalit Foundation. Anisha has been part of several grant-making advisories. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Fenomenal Funds (The Women's Funds Collaborative Initiative and has recently joined the Steering Committee of Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN). She has also served on the board of FRIDA - The young Feminist Fund as the Treasurer (2015-2020). Anisha has a Master’s in History from the University of Delhi (St. Stephen’s College) as well as a Master’s in Governance in Development from Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. 
 
Sign up for the Feminist By Design newsletter here, designed specifically for feminist philanthropists who want to take feminist practice a step further. Each issue brings you deeper into discussions that challenge the status quo, highlight urgent calls to action, and provide you with the resources you need to make your giving strategy feminist by design. 
 
Want to learn more about the Global Center for Gender Equality and our work in Feminist Philanthropy? Find us here. 
 
Find our Feminist By Design Principles for Philanthropy here. 
 
Calls to action/who to support: 
The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) 
Women’s Fund Asia 
 
Further reading: 
ARTICLE - Why American Billionaire Andrew Carnegie Offered To Buy The Philippines’ Freedom For $20 Million 
REPORT - Meet the Moment: A Call for Progressive Philanthropic Response to the Anti-Gender Movement 

EP2: Built To Burn: Feminist Disaster Response in Lahaina and a World On Fire

Host Khara Jabola-Carolus looks at the wildfires in Lahaina to show mainstream U.S. environmental disaster and humanitarian crisis response without a feminist analysis leaves women’s rights in ruins—and this is by design. Guests Kaniela Ing and Nadine Ortega discuss the role of feminist organizing  after the Lahaina wildfires to disrupt disaster capitalism and capture the moment’s unity to build community autonomy and power. The episode illustrates both the tragedy and opportunity within climate and environmental crises—how patriarchal systems are at their most vulnerable when people are at their most vulnerable, and how disaster-impacted communities can implement feminist solutions that will challenge entrenched systems of inequality to prevent catastrophe. 
 
Kaniela Ing is the National Director of the Green New Deal Network and co-founder of Our Hawaii-- a movement to create a Hawai'i that puts kama'āina and kānaka maoli — not big money interests — first. He is a proud feminist and Native Hawaiian from Maui, which he represented at the Hawai'i State Legislature for over half a decade. 
 
Nadina Ortega is the founder and executive director of Tagnawa, an environmental justice organization dedicated to strengthening Filipino systems of care for land and immigrants in response to the 2023 Lahaina fires. She spends part of her time as a lecturer at the Ilokano Language and Literature Program at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Nadine is also a veteran feminist organizer who has played a major role in women's movement-building in Hawai'i. 
 
Sign up for the Feminist By Design newsletter here, a space for feminist philanthropists who want to take feminist practice a step further. Each issue brings you deeper into discussions that challenge the status quo, highlight urgent calls to action, and provide you with the resources you need to make your giving strategy feminist by design. 
 
Want to learn more about the Global Center for Gender Equality and our work in Feminist Philanthropy? Find us here. 
 
Find our Feminist By Design Principles for Philanthropy here. 
 
Calls to action/who to support: 
Petition: Stand with Lahaina: Convert Short-Term Rentals to Long-Term Housing 
Donate to Tagnawa through https://www.hawaiiworkerscenter.org/donate/. Make sure to note Tagnawa when you give! 
Follow Tagnawa on Instagram 
Supporting Lahaina: A Working Resource of Relief Efforts 
 
Further reading: 
Article - A Dispatch From the Heart of Lahaina: Relief Is Not Enough 
Article - The Climate Crisis and Colonialism Destroyed My Maui Home. Where We Must Go From Here 
Article - The Feminist Humanitarian Response: a new approach to dismantle the humanitarian-industrial complex 
Report - Building Bridges, Not Walking on Backs: A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for COVID-19 
Report - Pathways to Building Back Better: Advancing Feminist Policies in COVID-19 Response and Recovery  
This show was created, executive produced, and written by Khara Jabola-Carolus and Maggie Hellis. Producing, sound design, and mixing by Elizabeth Nakano. Narrative editing and development by Arwen Nicks. Special research and production by Erica Fotheringham. Cover art by Maggie Hellis.