We’re excited to be back with the second issue of Proximate Brasil.

Earlier this summer, we launched this newsroom as a home for a conversation about the movement to shift power in Brazilian philanthropy. We are entering a new era in how we practice philanthropy, where people are challenging the sector’s assumption that it knows all and embracing the global paradigm shift towards community philanthropy and trust-based philanthropy.

In our first issue, we started to define terms and tell stories about participatory funds in Baixada Maranhense and Rio Grande do Sul.

In this issue, we will expand on those same themes. We will look into the qualities of philanthropic practices that question and transform colonial structures, examples of organizations that have developed their social technologies, and personal accounts of how it feels to experience such different practices. 

Sneak Peak

When something becomes a trend, like participatory practices, there is a high demand for people who can implement it. The risk is that this can create pressure for new techniques, which can lead to the risk that what is being pushed forward may be ineffective, short of deceitful, and consequently harmful to the communities and the field.

In the column Deepening Philanthropy, Ana Biglione will explore the concept of practices and what this means for the movement to shift power in philanthropy Deepening our understanding of what a practice is is imperative for us to see philanthropic practices as ways of doing and not techniques to be implemented. 

In our Q&A session, you will hear from Rodrigo Rubido. I first met Instituto Elos’ founder in 2006.  Since then, I have deeply admired their people and work as they have created a process that offers personal and communal development in ways that pierce the veil of mechanical techniques. Rodrigo says that participation is often seen as checking a series of boxes, which is not how they understand it. Considering that time—or the lack thereof—is one challenge in addressing participatory practices, notice that it happens over the course of a few days.

An article written by Carolina Amanda and Camila Haddad, flow funder and initiator, critically reflects on their flow experience - as Ana Biglione proposes in Deepening Philanthropy. You will also read their thoughts about the colonial practice of philanthropy. As a companion article, we will share a Portuguese translation of an interview with Ariane Shaffer about the Kindle Project's experience with their Indigenous Women's Flow Fund. 

What systems do we need for philanthropic funds to reach marginalized communities? Fiscal sponsorship is a well-established practice in the international arena, and Proximate is working on a series on its advantages and shortfalls. To warm up, we bring a first stroke focusing on Brazil's unpaved road of fiscal sponsorship. Does it lead to more democratized access to funding and contribute to changing the power imbalance amongst NGOs? 

I hope you enjoy this issue. Keep following along with Proximate Brasil. We are partnering with organizations that have advocated for power-shifting practices long before the global movement, such as Rede Comuá, and media outlets. You will hear more from them in the coming issues.

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Joana Ribeiro Mortari