The Road to Kathmandu

The journey to December’s Possible Now Summit began some time back, initially prompted by questions about how to sustain the movement energy ignited by the 2023 #ShiftThePower Global Summit Bogotá, and subsequently and suddenly accelerated by the dismantling of USAID and other shifts in the funding system.

More than 350 people have already stepped into the evolving Possible Now conversation, at in-person meetings in Australia, Kenya, Nepal and the UK, as well as through multiple small online conversation circles. Conversations have also taken place at events and workshops organized by others, and new friends and allies have also joined, bringing new seeds from adjacent spaces.

These are not standalone events. They are threads in a wider process of weaving, of connecting ideas and of building a common grammar.

Details of weaving conversations already held can be found below, and others will be added as the journey to Kathmandu continues.

Gradient wave line in red, orange, and yellow hues on black background.
Gradient wave line in red, orange, and yellow hues on black background.

Possible Now and the Road to Kathmandu (25 - 26 June 2026, Kathmandu)

A group of people smiling and posing for a photo outdoors, with some standing on stairs and others on the ground, in a courtyard with greenery and residential buildings.
Smiling young woman in a white polka-dot shirt hugging a tree outdoors with green foliage in the background.
A smiling man with short dark hair and a beard stands in front of a glass door with a sign that says 'Freedom Studio'.

How Stories, Safe Spaces and Communities Shape One Another

By: Renu Ghimire and Pratik Karmacharya, Freedom Studio (Nepal)

In the last week of June, we arrived at the Tewa Centre for what we thought would be a planning meeting for the Possible Now Summit, which will take place in Kathmandu in December. We expected timelines, logistics, session ideas and the practical work of preparing for a global gathering. But, inside Tewa’s Jamghat hall, people from different countries and movements sat together and listened. That experience brought us major reflections.

For Renu, the meeting opened questions about story-telling: whose stories matter, whose knowledge counts, and how stories should travel without being taken away from the people who lived them. For Pratik, it opened questions about safe space: what makes people feel able to speak honestly, and who quietly holds the conditions that allow such honesty to emerge. In the end, we realized these were not two separate reflections. Stories need safe places to land, and safe spaces become meaningful when people can bring their real stories into them. Read more

A diverse group of people seated in a circle in a modern conference room, engaged in a discussion.
A stylized, abstract geometric background with orange, yellow, and beige curved lines and gradients.

Possible Now (17 May 2026, Melbourne)

Two people standing next to each other and smiling in an office or conference room, with a whiteboard behind them that reads 'Welcome to POSSIBLE NO' and some chairs and tables in the background.
A woman with blonde hair smiling, wearing a black top, white blazer, and a pendant necklace against a plain gray background.

Reflections on Possible Now

By: Michelle Baldwin, Community Foundations Australia Community Collaboration Fellow (Australia / Canada)

To kick off the National Community Foundation Forum, Community Foundations Australia and the GFCF hosted a Possible Now conversation with more than 70 people from across Australia and globally. It was hosted by Jenny Hodgson and Barry Knight of the GFCF and Ian Bird, current CEO of Community Foundations of Australia, with facilitation from Sam Rye of Monash University and myself with support from Georgia Mathews and Dylan Smith, new Co-CEOs of Community Foundations Australia. Read more

Community Philanthropy Symposium (7 - 10 October 2025, Nairobi)

Group photo of diverse people standing and sitting on steps indoors, smiling.
An abstract image with a black background and a large orange wave pattern with light yellow highlights.
Group of eight people sitting around a table outdoors on a covered deck, engaged in discussion. The background features a large tree, green vegetation, and an open landscape with hills under a cloudy sky.
A woman with curly hair wearing red glasses, a floral top, and a silver necklace, smiling indoors.

Relationships as the Real Infrastructure

By: Lena Bheeroo, ADD International (UK)

In October 2025, I spent two weeks in Nairobi as part of the #ShiftThePower Fellowship. The first week was the GFCF’s Community Philanthropy Symposium at Masai Lodge, nestled in the middle of Nairobi National Park. The Lodge was lush and full of life, a place where baboons appeared at dusk and small hyraxes played across the grass. The sounds of nature became our constant background rhythm, reminding us that we were held in something larger than ourselves. Read more

A man with glasses and a mustache smiling outdoors with a blurred green background.

I had the privilege of joining the GFCF’s Community Philanthropy Symposium in Nairobi, alongside 42 participants from 23 countries. Most of us came from challenging environments, yet we shared a deep commitment to strengthening local communities and rethinking how power and resources flow. We met at a time when the global context feels increasingly fragile: aid budgets are shrinking or collapsed, civic space is under pressure, and trust in institutions is eroding. Yet beneath these visible cracks, something quieter and more enduring is taking root. Read more

A Glimpse into the Future of Philanthropy

By: György Hámori, Roots and Wings Foundation (Hungary)

Possible Now and the Road to Kathmandu (18 - 19 June 2025, Kathmandu)

In June 2025, with the December 2026 Summit already in mind, GFCF partners from Nepal and the wider region met at the Tewa Centre in Kathmandu to explore the question, “What is Possible Now?” The group was challenged to think about what kinds of radical re-imagining, experimentation and reconfigurations will need to happen – and, indeed, are already happening, if at the edges of the dominant system – as those present navigated the choppy waters of intersecting geo-political, economic and climate crises in pursuit of a better world. Just one thing emerging from the meeting was the three animations below: the product of small groups in conversation, gathered over flipcharts with blunt marker pens, dreaming of a different future in the form of doodles and drawings. These were later given an artistic “shine” by a professional animator.

Abstract background with flowing curves in shades of orange, yellow, and red.