Ariadne Annual Report 2021/22

After a couple of tough years during which many in our community worked entirely remotely and often in isolation thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world has started opening up again, and Ariadne ended its 2021/22 year with its first physical convening in two and a half years. It was truly a joy to be able to meet old friends and new ones at Ariadne’s Great Reconnect. Held at the end of April 2022 in Lille, France, this was an opportunity for Ariadne members to come together after a long absence, share experiences, and collectively think about the future. We are still feeling the warmth and excitement of reconnecting at the event and look forward to more opportunities to be together in the coming year.

Ariadne

Racial justice has been on the forefront of many funders’ minds in recent years and emerged as a strong focus of Ariadne’s work in 2021/22. We held our Grant Skills Week on funding with a racial justice lens in June 2021, in partnership with the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, and we continued offering spaces for reflection on philanthropy’s role in upholding or dismantling racism through our work with Healing Solidarity Collective. As a staff team, we also went on our own journey, going through a training and reflection process with some of our fellow networks. As more funders start to grapple with questions of racial (in)equity and what it means for their own work, we hope that these programmes will help inspire and guide you to new opportunities and ways of working.