Rose Longhurst

"Rose has been an active member of The Edge Fund since 2013. Edge Fund is a UK-based funder that gives small grants to grassroots activists challenging the root causes of injustice and discrimination. It is a participatory grantmaker, as decisions are made by those who are most affected by the issues. Over the past five years Edge has funded 175 groups fighting patriarchy, white supremacy and other forms of systemic oppression. Rose’s experience with the Edge Fund has particularly strengthened her interest in inequality and injustice, as she has witnessed the disproportionate impact of austerity on marginalised communities.

"Rose also sits on the Board of the EDGE Funders Alliance (which has no relation to The Edge Fund), a global network of progressive philanthropy. EDGE Funders Alliance works to increase resources for social movements to create a transition to a just and equitable society. One area of their work Rose is particularly involved in is the Gender Justice Initiative, which seeks to ensure that gender justice is at the heart of progressive philanthropy.

"Rose is also on the Facilitation Group of FundAction, a new initiative established to support pan-European activism. The aim is to distribute resources via participatory processes, using a pooled funding model. This has bought together individuals working on digital rights, feminist organising and climate justice from across Europe. They are currently designing the new fund, and imagining an alternative to the rise of popularism and extremism.

"In her professional career, Rose has held roles in the women’s rights organisation Womankind Worldwide, the intergovernmental agency The Commonwealth Foundation, and a social enterprise supporting micro-solar energy in Africa. Much of her work has focused on analysis of the funding policies and practices of bilateral donors and charitable foundations.

"In 2013 she joined Bond, the UK network for international development and humanitarian organisations. In this role she worked with a wide range of stakeholders, from UK government to small NGOs, leading efforts to support the effective flow of money from donors to the communities it is intended to serve.

"Rose spent the first few years of her life in the Philippines, where many of her family still live. She holds a BA in English and Philosophy and a MA in Communication Studies from the University of Leeds. Her dissertation focussed on the campaigning tactics of animal and gay rights groups. In 2014 she qualified as a yoga teacher, and she has just returned to the UK after a few months of living in South Africa, where she taught yoga in a rape crisis centre."