Digital Justice Fund
Introducing the Digital Justice Fund
The Digital Justice Fund works towards nurturing an ecosystem where groups resisting violent technological harms and imagining more nourishing relationships with technologies have the resources they need to dream, organise, build and thrive towards liberatory digital presents and futures.
This fund is built on participatory principles: it aims to redistribute power as well as resources. Funding decisions will be made by our Peer Circle — people who stand with and close to those directly negatively affected by technology, and who bring lived experience of systemic harms and liberatory practice. They have given input into the scope, process, and approach of this funding model.
Our vision is for an ecosystem where these groups can do their work on their own terms, moving beyond resisting and reacting to harms, with the resources to imagine and build power for better presents and futures. We see this ecosystem as a place where justice movements are in solidarity with each other and organising, dreaming and building together to ensure that the purpose, design, fabrication, use and governance of technologies are rooted in justice and towards our collective liberation.
About the fund
The Digital Justice Fund will be working with a participatory grantmaking process. Whilst participatory funding is far from perfect, it aims at redistributing power while it redistributes resources, to help give more access to funding to groups that are often structurally excluded.
Currently, there are no funds in Europe dedicated to supporting work on technology and justice led by communities most affected by tech harms. Many groups doing vital work remain under‑resourced or excluded from traditional funding. This Fund aims to change that by moving money directly to those groups and supporting their visions, strategies and organising.
For us, a key component of this is giving decision-making over how funding is being allocated to our Peer Circle – a group of 10 people who hold knowledge and experience from working and organising across digital justice, disability justice, workers’ rights, racial justice, anti-caste justice, Roma rights, queer and transfeminist justice, amongst many other areas. Folks in the movement will decide where movement money should go.
This fund isn’t starting from scratch. Weaving Liberation is the result of a collective effort that began in 2020, where over 30+ partners helped design ‘A vision for Digital Justice organising in Europe’ – a programme that identified the need for radical funding practices to help create the conditions for groups to resist structural technological harms and advance liberatory alternatives.
We are grateful for the support of Ford Foundation, Luminate, and Oak Foundation for resourcing this pilot round of the Digital Justice Fund.
We are also grateful to the work, support and solidarity of other intermediary funders radically reimagining resourcing in the field including Black Feminist Fund, Dalan Fund, Numun Fund, Guerilla Foundation, Collective Abundance, Green Screen Coalition and many more.
funding criteria
The Fund is aimed at not-for-profit initiatives: registered and unregistered groups, collectives, and non-governmental organisations, working on digital justice organising across the Council of Europe.
Groups can apply for grants between EUR 10,000 and EUR 50,000, to be used over a period of up to two years. We know funding politics and practices have led to groups (particularly grassroots and Black and People of Colour-led) under-requesting funding, so we encourage you to think expansively about your resourcing needs when applying.
All funding decisions will be made by our Peer Circle. They have helped shape the scope, processes and approach of our participatory funding model. The ten Peer Circle members hold knowledge and experience from working and organising across digital justice, disability justice, workers’ rights, racial justice, anti-caste justice, Roma rights, queer and transfeminist justice, amongst many other areas. We will prioritise groups led by historically and structurally excluded communities.
To be eligible to apply to the Fund and have a good chance of receiving a grant, you need to meet all the following criteria:
1. Your group must be based primarily in Europe, and the focus of your activities must also include Europe. Work in coalition with groups based internationally is welcome.
2. Your work must focus on digital justice organising.We define digital justice organising as work that builds collective power towards equitable access to resources for all and creates the conditions for the planet and all beings to thrive — including by enabling historically and structurally excluded communities to self-determine the purpose, design, production, deployment and governance of digital technologies.
3. Your annual organisational budget should not exceed an average of EUR 500,000(calculated over the past two or three years).
4. You have no more than 10 paid staff (including long term freelance contracts). Groups run entirely by volunteers or collectives without paid staff are also welcome to apply.
5. Your group is community-led. This means the people directly affected by the issues you work on are represented in your leadership or decision-making and implementation of your activities.
What we fund
Our aim is to support those with the politics, visions and strategies to challenge systemic harms, who are currently under-resourced or excluded from funding altogether, to build power and bring to life liberatory digital futures.
We are interested in funding:
– Community building and sustaining around digital justice issues: community organising, peer-to-peer support, relationship-building activities, etc.
– Knowledge and capacity building: popular and political education, investigative journalism, skills exchanges, issue mappings (e.g., technological harms, community needs and desires), advancing liberatory narratives around technology, artistic interventions, and other creative approaches, etc.
– Coalition and movement building: advocacy, strategic litigation, campaigning, etc.
– Tech-related mutual aid: tech repair circles, peer support on digital safety and security, shared technical infrastructures for movement work, software/hardware sharing initiatives, etc.
– Life-affirming technology work: prototyping, piloting, or expanding community-centred, transfeminist, anti-colonial technologies, etc.
We recognise that many of these activities and approaches overlap; these examples are to help spark ideas, not limit opportunities for funding.
Things that we don’t fund:
– Work primarily based or with activities focused outside of Europe
– Large organisations are already well-funded by trusts, foundations, or high-net-worth individuals
– Intermediary organisations whose role is to regrant funds
– Organisations set up by the government
– Universities
– Local branches of well-funded national or international organisations
– Groups whose beneficiaries are not represented in leadership, decision-making or implementation
– Political parties or groups attached to political parties
how to apply & Key deadlines
The application process is as follows:
1. Read the application pack
2. Register on the Weaving Liberation grants platform by Sunday 24 May 2026, 23:59 CET
3. Join one of our webinar drop-in sessions (optional)
4. Submit your application through the grants platform by Sunday 21 June 2026, 23:59 CET
After we’ve received your application, we’ll take the following steps:
– Eligibility check by the Weaving Liberation team
– Peer Circle shortlisting
– Final decision-making by the Peer Circle
– Weaving Liberation will inform applicants of decisions
Optional: Webinar Drop in sessions
Join one of our webinar drop-in sessions happening on Wednesday 20 May 2026, 12:30 CET and Wednesday 27 May 2026, 16:30 CET to learn more about how to apply for the Digital Justice Fund.
This will be an opportunity to hear from the team and to ask any questions.
What are the key deadlines?
– Wednesday 20 May 2026, 12:30 CET: Optional webinar session to learn more about the fund.
– Sunday 24 May 2026, 23:59 CET: Deadline to have registered your organisation on the grant’s platform. You do not have to have completed your application by this date.
– Wednesday 27 May 2026, 16:30 CET: Optional webinar session to learn more about the fund.
– Sunday 21 June 2026, 23:59 CET: Deadline to submit your completed application via the grant’s platform.
– Early August: Email from Weaving Liberation letting shortlisted applicants know the outcome of their application.
FAQ & CONTACT
We ask that applicants first read through all the materials in the grant application pack to ensure you understand whether you are eligible and how to apply.
Please consult the full FAQs in the application pack before reaching out– a shortlist is provided below. If you are unable to find your answer there, please contact us at digitaljusticefund@weavingliberation.org.
Please note that we are a small team and it may take some time to reply to e-mails. Our hours of operation are Mo-Thu, 10-18 CET.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can individuals apply?
No. This fund is specifically aimed at work happening within groups, collectives and organisations.
Can we apply with another organisation?
Yes. Collaborative applications are welcome. Only the lead organisation in a collaborative application needs to fulfil all the eligibility criteria.
What do you mean by ‘based in Europe’ and ‘focus of your activities’ must include Europe?
We intend to support organising on the ground in Europe and/or work that leads to change also in Europe. By based in Europe, we mean that at least 50% of your group must be based within one or multiple countries within the Council of Europe.
Concerning the focus of your activities, we understand that a lot of digital issues and challenges faced are global and that how you envision change happening in Europe might come from various strategies, involving international/transcontinental movement building work that might decentre Europe in some aspect. If you are working or building a coalition with groups outside of Europe on something that also concerns Europe this is within the scope of this fund.
What if the work we are doing in Europe is connected to addressing harmful power dynamics and practices outside of Europe? Would that work be eligible?
Absolutely! We invite you to submit applications for work the intersection of tech and justice that connects strategies to address structural harms and power dynamics internationally, e.g., work that involves local organising in Europe to resist harmful political ideologies from another region that are being enabled by technology.
How much can we apply for?
You can apply for between EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000.
How long can the funding last?
Funding can be used over a period of up to two years, between 2026 and 2028.
How much funding is available overall?
For the first round, the Fund will distribute EUR 500,000 in total.
Who can access and see our data?
We will ask you to submit your application using Hypha – an open-source submission management. The site is self-hosted using a Greenhost Virtual Private Server located in the Netherlands. Any audio submissions will be done via secure transfer in discussion with the Weaving Liberation team. Your data will not be kept without your explicit consent beyond the scope of this grantmaking cycle and be kept until then on secured platform. We invite you to not share any sensitive data that could put you or your group in danger at the stage of the application. If you have any specific concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Will we receive feedback?
We are a small team and given our capacity we are unlikely to be able to share personalised feedback with all applicants to the Fund. However, we are committed to giving feedback to all shortlisted applicants should they request it.
What if we need help with our application?
We want to make sure everyone feels supported within the capacity of the team.
We encourage you to:
– Attend a webinar drop-in session
– Email the team with questions or access needs
– Refer to the full application pack and FAQs
Application materials
These translations are meant to make the fund more accessible. Most were not professionally made (except Arabic and Bosnian).
Peers volunteered their time and energy to review them — and we’re deeply grateful. That said, some concepts may not translate perfectly.
When in doubt, please refer to the English version, especially the questions on the grants platform.
Click on the buttons below to download the application pack as a PDF in your native language.
Click on the buttons below to download the application pack as a document (.docx) in your native language.
