2020-03-06

#rp20 Speaker Ise Bosch and Claudia Bollwinkel — Transformative Philanthropy requires trust

Portrait Ise Bosch und Claudia Bollwinkel

Ise Bosch is committed for international human rights, women as well as gender and sexual diversity by using her knowledge and wealth and the privileges that come along with that. Being a donation activist she uses several facets of philanthropy: as a networker she brings people together, as a lobbyist she creates analyses and a framework for a transparent and transformative way of giving. 
Claudia Bollwinkel is Senior Program Advisor at Dreilinden gGmbH. She spent many years being an active member of the board at Prospera – The international Network of Women’s Funds. As the program manager of filia.die frauenstiftung she participated in building the first girls’ advisory council of a foundation in Germany, strengthening the voices of girls for selection processes of girls projects. 

In 2018 and together with Justus Eisfeld, Claudia and Ise published “Geben mit Vertrauen – wie Philanthropie transformativ wird” (editor: “Giving with Trust—how Philanthropy becomes Transformative”). The book reflects on the funding method of Dreilinden gGmbH founded by Ise Bosch and shows the positive impact of trustful giving in the international work on human rights for the LGBTQI* community by means of autobiographical and evaluative articles. 


ASAP—3 questions for … Ise Bosch and Claudia Bollwinkel

What matters most in your mutual work?
Claudia: "Ise, you’ve been a donation activist for more than 20 years. You’re using money to change social structures. What’s essential to you in this?"

Ise: "'Change not charity' is the name of the game. Forwarding money simply doesn’t do it. We have to also share the privileges that come along with it. I want to forward the power that’s connected to the money, too. You’ve been committed to 'Social Justice Philanthropy' for longer now—what’s the meaning of 'Transformative Philanthropy' to you?"

Claudia: "'Transformative Philanthropy' to me means that HOW we do something is just as important as to WHAT we do. I’m constantly looking for ways how the way we work corresponds with our values."

True to this year’s motto—what’s the most pressing issue for you personally at the moment?
Ise: "Trust is the central keyword for me. In practice, we trust in the ability of our partners to make the right decisions at the right time and thus to use the money according to their understanding. I support organisations specifically that give a powerful voice to the people affected in order to secure participation and decision-making power—the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and filia.die frauenstiftung, for example. With Dreilinden gGmbH I’m supporting social acceptance of gender and sexual diversity, i.e. people of different sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual characteristics and historical expression as well as girls and women.
You’ve been analysing the impact of Dreilinden for our book—what would you say makes this work special?"

Claudia: "To me this way of support is a chance to get out of the strict system of the philanthropic sector that is otherwise based on control through bureaucracy and requirements and secures privileges. And it leads to a crucial point: listening to the people and their needs."

What topic will you talk about at re:publica?
Claudia: "At #rp20, I want to talk about the specific impact of our approach of trust and how our partners make a difference in the world and the web."

Ise: "I want to tackle and re-think the topic 'sustainability of structural change / ASAP'. The question of how we can ensure—or even improve—the process quality while adjusting to the necessary haste is on my mind at the moment. How can we quickly learn to trust more and develop methods for us and everyone to dare more and anew. In order to understand what trust is essentially and where it comes from. Especially the ones in power need to learn to share their power and to approach others. It’s not just about trust in others it’s also about self-confidence. Basically, what’s on my mind is the question of how we can accomplish to leave personal and institutional comfort zones."