Third Wave Fund is seeking applications for the 2023 Sex Worker Giving Circle Fellowship.
Donor Name: Third Wave Fund
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: Selected Territories
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 02/09/2023
Size of the Grant: $2,000
Details:
Third Wave Fund is a youth-led activist fund focusing on gender and reproductive justice, run by and for young women of color and queer and trans people of color. Third Wave has been funding sex worker-led organizations since they began over 20 years ago, because we know that sex workers and people in the sex trade are the experts on their own lives and livelihoods, including the best strategies to confront and transform oppression. That’s why they organize the Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC).
Funding Information
- All Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend in recognition of your labor, divided in 3 payments across the beginning, middle and end of the program. All Fellows will also receive a food and grocery stipend of $500.
- Duration and Time Commitment: The giving circle will run from mid-March through early August. It requires a significant time commitment: attendance at at least eighteen virtual meetings and one to two virtual events, plus more independent work in between meetings. The exact dates are listed on the next page.
What Will Fellows Do?
- Training: A key part of this project is collective study. Fellows will learn together and from movement leaders about topics like the racial wealth divide, mainstream philanthropy, grassroots fundraising, grantmaking and more as they prepare to raise money and distribute it to sex worker-led projects across the United States.
- Fundraising: Each Fellow will receive training and support to fundraise from your networks and our broader communities. Fellows will have opportunities to engage in grassroots fundraising projects as decided by the group.
- Grantmaking: You’ll receive training and support to lead all steps of the grantmaking process, including outreach to prospective grantee partners, application review, and collective decision making about who receives funding.
- Philanthropic Advocacy: You’ll also have opportunities to engage with the broader philanthropic field and create guidelines and principles for funders with the goal of shifting how they engage with sex workers and sex trade issues.
- Build Community: Yes, this is hard work, but in the process, it’s also a space to build relationships with other current and former sex workers, share stories and knowledge, break bread together, and learn and grow within community.
Eligible Applicants
Participation in the Fellowship is open to people living everywhere in the United States and its territories, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Current or Former Sex Workers: Participation in this giving circle is limited to people with current or former experience in the sex trade and/or doing sex work. This means trading sex or sexual services for money, shelter, or anything else of value. This can include escorting / full service sex work, sugaring, stripping / erotic dancing / go-go dancing, porn star / cam work, fetish work, dom/domme work, etc. We also welcome participation from people with experiences of coercion. If you don’t have any of these experiences but want to support our work, that’s great!
- People with Various Class Backgrounds: This giving circle will be cross-class. Among other things, that means that we welcome participation from people from all class backgrounds and income levels. You do not have to be wealthy or even have savings to join; we are centering participation from working class and low income people as a part of this giving circle.
- People of All Genders: We recognize that people of all genders participate in the sex trade and are sex workers. For that reason, we encourage trans and cis men and women, and non-binary, genderqueer, and/or gender non-conforming people to participate.
- People Most Impacted by Oppression: This giving circle will be multiracial and intergenerational. We strongly encourage Black people, Indigenous people, and/or people of color; young people, older people and elders; LGBQ+ people, trans and/or gender non-conforming people; immigrants, including people who are undocumented; people with HIV/AIDS; people with experience with substance use; people with experience with the criminal legal system; and disabled and/or chronically ill people to apply. The people who make up the SWGC team reflect these priorities.
They’re especially interested in hearing from potential Giving Circle Fellows who:
- Work well in groups and are committed to working together collaboratively to achieve their goals
- Commit to observing and protecting confidentiality
- Have the time, energy, and commitment to attend all meetings and participate in fundraising, community building, and collective learning activities
- Are willing and open to learn collaboratively from and with people who bring a wide range of backgrounds, skill-sets, and experiences, including different orientations around sex work and trading sex
- Will center and follow the leadership of Fellows who are most impacted by oppression, violence, and criminalization
- Be willing to engage in constructive conflict and take personal responsibility to transform any oppressive behaviors if they occur
- Experience with sex worker organizing and activism is *not* required, but must be committed to moving resources and supporting sex worker-led work
For more information, visit Third Wave Fund.
