Our Flow Funding Programme shares power with tireless activists and visionary leaders by giving them direct access to funds, allowing them to allocate resources based on expertise and intuition. This trust-based, human-centred approach cuts through bureaucracy, ensuring funds reach overlooked communities and projects, creating significant local impact — explored in these stories.
Our Flow Funding Activists 2022-24 cohort:
DANIELE CUSTODIO — Researcher, PhD candidate in food & nutrition, and activist. Daniele is Coordinator of Frente Alimenta in Brazil, linking community gardens and kitchens to fight hunger and support small agroecological farmers.
JYOTI FERNANDES — Co-founder of the Landworkers’ Alliance, Jyoti is an agroecological farmer in Dorset, UK, running a micro dairy and diverse farm. She coordinates policy & advocacy work and is a spokesperson for La Via Campesina.
VUYO KOYANA — South African healing practitioner helping individuals break limitations & embrace authenticity, Vuyo is Founder & Managing Director of the Pan African Market, fostering community across Africa.
ONDELA MANJEZI-SOKOMANI — Advocate for maternal & child health and nutrition, Ondela co-founded Township Farmers, driving agricultural and healthcare initiatives in underserved South African communities.
ALINE MATULJA — Environmental engineer & content creator, Aline hosts Eco Brasil & the Casa Floresta podcast. Her Instagram channel, with over 50k followers, inspires and educates on sustainability, deep ecology, and conscious living.
RAQUEL ROSENBERG — Social entrepreneur, Raquel co-founded Engajamundo, specialising in youth mobilisation. She's represented climate justice globally and spent two years in the Amazon empowering young leaders.
JESS SCHULSCHENK — Passionate about transformative learning & equal access to education, Jess is former Director of the Sustainability Institute and Partnerships Director, SA, for the Embedding Project, advancing corporate sustainability.
DEE WOODS — Food & farming action-ist & advocate for a just food system. Dee is co-founder of Granville Community Kitchen, co-ordinator at Landworkers' Alliance & UN representative for civil society & indigenous voices on food security.
Discover their Flow Funding Stories
Daniele Custodio: “Witnessing the power of transformation through wealth distribution”
I am a new woman — a much better woman — after this Flow Funding experience. It has been a very important journey; both in recognising myself as an activist and also in witnessing the power of transformation through wealth distribution.
As a Doctorate student in Food & Nutrition, my work has always been rooted in this field. But I am also a Black woman from the outskirts of São Paulo, and I cannot separate these parts of myself. My activism focuses on food production and helping small scale farmers.
Through Flow Funding, we have been empowering small farmers to access training, certifications, and markets. We helped bring water to a farm that had never had water before, enabling families to grow their own food.
We covered university entrance fees for students who otherwise couldn’t afford to sit the test. We demonstrated to public officials that connecting small farmers with schools was not only possible but essential.
Small actions within this Flow Funding circle led to benefits extending far beyond what could be seen or measured. Being able to allow a woman to smile again because she now has teeth — how do you put a price tag on that? Helping a female farmer to do her job more efficiently — how do you measure that?
Being able to share these resources with people has been invaluable.
Jyoti Fernandes: "Filling gaps traditional grants can’t reach"
It’s just been great having access to a little pot of money that can be used really quickly, in a really agile way! It’s been a game-changer for my work and my passion in building a strong, inclusive social movement around food and land justice in the UK.
My focus is on engaging people from marginalised communities to help create a better food system, bridging the gap between grassroots activists and the larger food movement. Flow Funding has allowed me to quickly and intuitively support these individuals who have a lot to contribute but face barriers to participation; whether it’s simply covering train fares and bus tickets — these small costs make a big difference.
Investing in these people is really important to have feeding into what’s going on. It shouldn’t be about privilege.
A significant part of my work has been organising land justice activism, particularly for people of colour and youth, to connect them with opportunities and events. For example, I met Has, a filmmaker in Bristol, who’s passionate about linking food justice, farmer livelihoods, and climate justice. I also met Oluwa, of Nigerian heritage, who wants to engage the African diaspora in activism.
Using Flow Funding, I supported Has and Oluwa’s travel to the Niger Delta, where they documented the impact of oil spills on farmers and the environment. This film will help raise awareness in the UK, especially within diaspora communities; we want the government to hear these marginalised voices.
It’s these kinds of agile, intuitive investments that make a difference — filling gaps that traditional grants can’t address and enabling immediate action to build momentum for change.
Vuyo Koyana: "There’s not a single grant I’ve given where I don’t still feel connected to the individual”
Three years of participating in this incredible act towards humanity has transformed me. I feel completely changed. My ideas around how capital works have also changed — I now see how it can be a force for good when used thoughtfully. It felt really healing to be part of that changing apparatus.
I am convinced that culture change happens within community. By journeying together as a collective, we face the storms, overcoming obstacles and creating change. That’s been invaluable for me.
Anyone can have an idea around how to do things differently, but having supporting people and sounding boards who share similar experiences and are learning alongside you, is invaluable. I’ve also learnt that respect breeds more respect, more dignity and equality.
Through Flow Funding, in being able to offer someone a grant, no matter how small, there is this feeling that you’ve re-humanised something in them.
I’m an economic activist — all of my work is about catching that one individual who can’t make it for whatever reason — being able to fill in the gaps for individuals and projects has been amazing for me over these three years. There are some things that you can’t even take to your family, yet you feel like you can’t get through on your own. Flow Funding was able to get inside that gap, make the shift, transform lives, in their own space.
Sometimes we’re too involved in deciding what dignifies somebody, and yet, if you’re able to just, in faith, give something in that direction, look away, you see a completely transformed individual: you remain part of the experience by virtue of having been fortunate enough to initiate such an exchange.
For me, that’s been a huge learning: how connection is made possible through this trusting process. There’s not a single grant I’ve given where I don’t still feel connected to the individual, to the people, to the work that they do. And so I can’t think of a better way of integrating society between the haves and the have nots, those who can, who have the will, and those who see the ideas and are living the reality.
I’ve seen the ripple effect of benevolent people in communities — who see a need and hold others. Benevolence breeds more benevolence. Through this work, I’ve felt myself touching the whole country, and sometimes beyond in invisible, holographic ripples. It’s been unbelievable!
Ondela Manjezi-Sokomani: “Flow Funding gave me the confidence to advocate for unrestricted support”
My Flow Funding journey centred on South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Cape Town’s townships, focusing on maternal and newborn health in rural and peri-urban communities. I directed funding toward programs that promoted nutrition and sustainable living for pregnant women and young children. This included providing seedlings and gardening tools for home food production, offering breastfeeding classes for new and expecting mothers, and even something as simple as buying refreshments to create a welcoming space for women to connect and share.
What started as structured support sessions soon evolved into something much deeper: a safe space where women led conversations on broader life challenges.
Unexpectedly, these gatherings became platforms for mutual problem-solving.
Women supported one another through parenting concerns, university applications, and securing bursaries for their children. With many services shifting online, families in rural and peri-urban areas — often lacking reliable internet or the financial means to access data — struggled with digital registration processes. In response, we brought in young people to assist, transforming these meetings into hubs of shared knowledge and practical support.
Originally designed for breastfeeding support, these sessions have since taken on a life of their own, entirely led and facilitated by the women themselves.
My role? Simply providing refreshments and holding space.
Having worked in the nonprofit sector for eight years, I was accustomed to structured frameworks —reports, indicators, and Gantt charts. Flow Funding, however, introduced a different approach, one rooted in trust. It challenged me to question my own assumptions, both externally within the community and internally within myself. Why was this model difficult for me to grasp? Was it a matter of trust — trusting myself, trusting the process? Was I doing this work out of genuine passion, or was it an ingrained sense of duty from years in the sector? This period of reflection was instrumental in my personal growth.
The second year of my journey was the most transformative. After an in-person retreat, I truly embraced and applied the Flow Funding ethos. Witnessing my own evolution has been the most profound part of this experience.
In recent years, I’ve seen shifts in philanthropy. More Flow Funders, more unrestricted grants, and an increasing trust in local leaders to drive change. This is how it should be.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned?
Trust — both in myself and in others. Flow Funding empowered me to advocate for unrestricted support, recognising that the people closest to the challenges are best equipped to address them. It reaffirmed that sometimes, the most meaningful impact comes from simply creating space and letting communities take the lead.
Aline Matulja: “Philanthropy can be deeply re-humanising”
After a few years in the Flow Funding circle, I’ve gathered many takeaways — but one stands out: trust is radical love.
I’ve recently been very inspired by Satish Kumar’s book Radical Love, and I see how shifting philanthropy from the institutional to the individual transforms it. When you put your trust before the resources, you put love above all. And love reconnects communities. So for me, a key takeaway is that philanthropy can be deeply re-humanising.
In a world consumed by bureaucracy, digitalisation, and disconnection, it offers a way back to each other.
As an environmental engineer and content creator, I often feel overwhelmed with so many demands, needs, and urgencies — especially living in Brazil in the midst of a climate crisis. But through Flow Funding — through smaller, trust-based grants — I’ve been able to bring this connection and trust into my daily life.
Over the years, some funding decisions were planned and structured (the engineer in me), while others were very spontaneous. But I realised the approach didn’t change the impact. What made the difference was my involvement.
After these years of Flow Funding, I’ve been able to recover the idea that money can be an expression of love: energy entrusted to people and projects.
I now understand that transformative action happens when money and love go hand-in-hand. I’m most proud of the people and activists who I’ve been able to keep a relationship with, even once the money is spent.
This is something I will take with me throughout life.
Raquel Rosenberg: “Integrating heart-led intuition with clarity and structure”
This final cycle of Flow Funding was different for me. I followed a vision that had been forming in my mind: a big opportunity at COP 30 in Brazil.
I’ve worked with COPs and traditional Amazonian communities for years, but this was the first time they were coming together in one place. It was a unique opportunity.
I reached out to ten different territories — Indigenous, riverine, and Quilombola communities, and asked them directly: “How do you want to prepare for COP 30?”
Their response was clear: they wanted to gather in person, connect, and build something together.
So, through Flow Funding, we resourced and organised a three-day workshop in Belém, bringing together 20 Indigenous leaders. The goal was to strengthen their capacity, so they could go back and lead workshops in their own communities, and eventually co-create a campaign for COP 30.
What started as a small initiative quickly grew into something much bigger. Now, we’re raising funds to expand the project — to host more workshops, another co-creation gathering, and secure international support for their campaign. I’ve even changed my job to dedicate myself more fully to the project; I’m really happy with it!
Bringing these communities together in person was a rare and powerful experience. Logistics in the Amazon are brutal. Some of the participants travelled three days by boat just to reach Altamira — which is already in the middle of nowhere!
Flights are scarce, distances are vast, and the cost is enormous. That’s why this meeting was so special.
What struck me most was how, despite their totally different profiles, these Indigenous leaders shared the same challenges and stories. I carefully selected these leaders from the many communities I’ve worked with over the years. They’re deeply articulate, motivated, skilled facilitators; they’ve already started hosting their own workshops, with no external funding. In one of the territories, at the first gathering, more than 100 people showed up. It was really emotional!
One of the most transformative moments of this journey happened just after our three-day gathering, at the Latin American Conference of Youth (COY).
More than 300 young people from 19 countries gathered to mobilise for COP 30, and our main guest was the very famous Brazilian Indigenous leader, Chief Raoni.
His grandsons had been part of our workshop from the start. When we presented the project to Raoni, he was deeply moved. The young people decided to honour him with a symbolic Nobel Prize — since he had been nominated but didn’t win. Then, they took it a step further. Inspired by the Forest People's Alliance that Raoni helped create in the 1980s, they proposed a 2.0 version: The People's Climate Alliance — launching a new movement led by the next generation. When Raoni heard this, he was really emotional; everybody had goosebumps!
Let’s do this, he said.
At that moment, I remember how Chief Raoni was looking directly at me. He said, in his language: 'Thank you so much'. He reminded me of the first time I visited his community five years ago, when I started working with the young people there.
Look where they are now, he said.
That moment will stay with me forever.
In my first years of Flow Funding, I used my intuition and heart a lot. But in this final year, I brought something more — I engaged my mind and strategy, particularly around my gift of mobilising people. I realised that the two don’t have to be separate. Start with intuition and heart. Then bring in the mind and strategy.
This experience taught me that the most impactful work happens when we integrate both the feminine and the masculine — heart-led intuition, with clarity and structure. Trusting my masculine side: that was my greatest lesson.
Jess Schulschenk: “There’s something quantum about Flow Funding: it operates on such different values”
During this cycle of Flow Funding, I had the privilege of supporting much younger members of our community engaged in grassroots work. These were often small, timely contributions — sometimes in moments of crisis, other times to seize opportunities.
The projects were very eclectic, spanning food systems and education, young and old, individuals and organisations.
However, for me, the beautiful golden thread was what it meant to each recipient: especially the younger ones who would never have called themselves activists or change agents — yet it’s their everyday work. It’s the soul of who they are.
Flow Funding didn’t just support their efforts: it also recognised them in a profound way. In Shona, there’s a beautiful word, ukama, meaning “your seeing me helps me see myself.” I had understood this concept theoretically, but Flow Funding offered a gentle, transformative experience of it. When you truly see someone and their work, it allows them to see themselves differently too. This dynamic of mutual recognition became one of the most powerful gifts of the process.
It has also been a deeply personal journey for me. It’s helped me break free from old patterns of engagement with philanthropy: rigid structures, reports, formalities.
Bayo Akomolafe talks about “these wilds beyond our fences” — Flow Funding was a beautiful path into these beyond spaces.
It has been a very significant portal for me into a world that is so much richer and more alive. Words like “trust” and “intuition” are less theoretical; they’re lived experiences, and once you have them, they’re part of you and you see them everywhere!
I’m currently on this path of liberation from organisational constraints — I have no idea where it’s going to take me. But I’m very grateful for my brothers and sisters in this journey, because their inspiration keeps giving me that confidence.
I’m so grateful that there are other ways of being in the world.
Although Flow Funding might seem comparatively small compared to traditional grant-making, there’s something quantum about it: it operates on such different values. It’s fundamentally different. And that creates ripples that resonate through the system. The ripple is part of the magic.
Dee Woods: “A circle of women uplifting other women”
This final year of Flow Funding felt different for me. Most of my work is in food, farming, and communities — funding farmer organisations, agricultural initiatives, and young people in the sector. I did some of that this year, but I also found myself responding to different kinds of needs.
I supported the emergency relief effort to St Vincent and the Grenadines after hurricane Beryl. The money was used to buy food, water, feminine and baby supplies, and school bags with notebooks and pencils for children.
The Caribbean islands are on the forefront of climate change with hurricanes becoming increasingly more devastating as well as rising sea levels, salination which impacts the region's food sovereignty and ability to produce food. I would like to see more funding for climate adaptation through agroecology in the region.
I also supported women facing urgent personal challenges — helping one woman buy a car so she could get to work. I supported another young woman who attempted suicide. It felt like a shift.
As well as supporting women, the Flow Funding experiences that feel most transformative are always those rooted in the farming community. At a conference, I met a woman working with rural communities in Sri Lanka who wanted to start an agroecology school. I helped her get it off the ground.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned is to trust my intuition and heart in how I’m using the funds. While some funding didn’t go to formal projects, supporting individuals when there was a calling felt just as important.
And at its heart, Flow Funding has been a circle of women uplifting other women — a powerful force in itself.