Seven member organizations of Comuá that founded the initiative held their first meeting in Santos, at the headquarters of the Instituto Procomum
On the 4th, 5th and 6th of September, representatives from Casa Fluminense (RJ), the Brazilian Environmental Education Fund – FunBEA (SP), the Grande Florianópolis Community Institute (SC), the Baixada Maranhense Community Institute (MA), the Instituto Procomum (SP), Redes da Maré (RJ), and Tabôa Fortalecimento Comunitário (BA) met in Santos, São Paulo, to hold the first meeting of the Territorial Alliance to plan the future with a focus on community and territorial philanthropy. The meeting had the support of Rede Comuá, integrating the actions of the Month of Philanthropy that Transforms calendar, and served to create the action plan for 2024 and define expected results until 2026, with the facilitation of Luciana Martinelli and Bruna Mattos, from the consultancy Dialógica – Human and Institutional Development.
The collective dream that moved our organizations to Santos was born from a seed planted within a Community of Practices of Comuá, between ICOM, FunBEA and Tabôa for dialogue and collective learning about the structuring and management of territorial development funds, based on harvests carried out in their different contexts. It was from this fertile ground of reflections and possibilities that connections emerged with four other member organizations of the network – Casa Fluminense, Instituto Baixada, Instituto Procomum and Redes da Maré, which also recognize themselves as territorially based organizations.
The first two days of the meeting were dedicated to adjusting the sails of the vessels in order to flow with the same winds. Each one can present what they have accomplished with their territory, sign agreements and listen to the collection of impressions from partners in the philanthropy ecosystem about the idea of the Territorial Alliance, which provided an understanding of the strengths, challenges, contexts and possible connections for the beginning of our collective journey. On the third and final day of the meeting, the practice of exchanges between the organizations' networks began, one of the strategies foreseen in the scope of the initiative. The Procomum Institute designed the program so that organizations could be inspired and exchange with the LAB Procomum working groups, entrepreneurs and community leaders from Santos.
Caption: Calu Narcizo from the English GT of Zero, Omo Alamoju, master of the Afroketu group, and chef Luana Camargo, from Quitutes da Lua shared the projects they have been developing with support from Procomum / credit: @negueba.ph @_oiipaulo @foco.dgr
From the body dynamics, the debate circles and even the choice of IP as the first landing of the Territorial Alliance, they helped us shape a new common and collective identity. It was three days looking inwards, seeking to learn from each other and building bonds of trust, a collective exercise that is a hallmark of our practice of territorial community philanthropy on a daily basis. And that's how we identified The presence in the territory as our bond, the diversity of contexts, knowledge and practices of our organizations and territories as our power, It is strengthening community protagonism as our horizon.
This September of Philanthropy That Transforms, the Territorial Alliance then comes to life, with the purpose of highlighting the specificities of philanthropy carried out with and from territories, strengthening communities as protagonists of solutions to the challenges experienced in their daily lives and boosting construction of greater socio-environmental and cultural justice in the territories.
Building the Territorial Alliance strengthens joint work for the development of the territory in which we operate. In 2022 alone, members of the Territorial Alliance donated 2 million in financial resources for direct donations, supporting more than 750 leaders and 422 organizations, leaders and social groups in 136 Brazilian municipalities. For the next three years, the Alliance aims to establish a new model of collective action, increase exchanges between the network so that they can implement and disseminate social technologies, implement a shared governance model and prioritize investment in territorial philanthropy.
Cover caption: The first collective photo of the Territorial Alliance in our planning immersion during the Month of Philanthropy That Transforms / credit: @negueba.ph @_oiipaulo @foco.dgr
