Feminist Future Festival Celebrates Investing in Communities

On April 30, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFM) held the first-ever Feminist Future Festival at The Whim in Minneapolis, an immersive exploration of movements for social change in Minnesota communities. Nearly 300 attendees had the chance to connect with diverse thought leaders and entrepreneurs working to create impact for racial and gender and racial justice. Together, we celebrated the power of coming together to invest in and imagine a Minnesota where everyone is safe, healthy, and thriving.

The festival included stations for guests to experience the Foundation’s impact areas of leadership, economic justice, safety, and health. Not all Minnesota women, girls, and gender-expansive people have access to the same opportunities and rights. Changing those inequitable systems is why – since 1983 – the Women’s Foundation has invested more than $54 million in bold and innovative solutions that come directly from the communities. 

Featured participants support a shared mission of gender and racial equity, with varying life experiences and approaches to their work. The main stage featured Emmy award-winning comedian, broadcaster, and activist Sheletta Brundidge, who called the event a “party with a purpose,” and it was. Sheletta said, “We have to support our people who support the people. And our people are in the room tonight.”

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, the co-chair of our Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, was the keynote speaker who shared the legacy of bold women in her family, the power of resiliency, and the necessity of supporting one another and fighting for what we believe in. “We are all together in this room,” she said.

WFM’s President & CEO, Gloria Perez, shared, “Our intention is to create a big tent – to engage across difference because we know our well-being is inextricably connected.” We hope the event offered all attendees dedicated to gender and racial equity an opportunity to learn from one another and be in community together.  

“We get to decide what our future looks like.” Lt. Governor Flanagan said. “Our feminist future is possible when we work together and refuse to change ourselves for the benefits of others or make ourselves small for the benefits of others. It is time for all women and girls and nonbinary people to speak with a loud and clear voice. And not make ourselves small.”

Giving Plants a Seed for a Feminist Future

Investing in women is the number one means to increase safety, progress, leadership, and health for families and communities. The event concluded with live fundraising, led by Sheletta, which raised funds for Women’s Foundation’s investments in research, advocacy, and communities. Sheletta said: “It’s our turn to plant a seed. […] There’s another generation behind us. We are planting a seed for them.”

On the spot, donors shared their reasons for giving. Sheletta raced around the room to capture moving testimony, including:

• This is for my daughters.
• They [WFM] work for the long-term change, and that’s what I want for my kids.
• It’s money well spent. It’s a great investment. I’ve been doing it for 20 years.
• For me, there’s too much in our future for the girls to not be empowered to do exactly what our Lt. Governor did: stand in greatness. So that is why.
• Because we need to protect women right now, more than ever.
• Women have cleared a path for me, and I am so grateful.
• The future is feminine.
• I believe. I believe in us. And if we don’t believe in us, who else?
• My grandmother. She was my person. All the stories tonight about passing that legacy? She passed it to me, and I’m doing it for her.
• I am donating, actually, for my sons. My sons deserve to live in a world in which they can see, they can reclaim their own humanity, and unlearn all of the things that they learned in a patriarchal society. And that can only happen when we invest in women.

In addition to raising funds in a time when individual support is needed more than ever, the event accelerated our collective action for equity and justice, to connect with our neighbors, and to invest in the feminist future we know is possible.

Committed to Community

• WFM strives to support local, BIPOC women+-owned businesses whenever possible, and the events vendors reflect this priority. The event included cocktails from The Brass Strap, mocktails from Flava Café, hearty appetizers from Chef K’s Revolutionary Catering, desserts from Blissful Cakery, and engaging festival activations focused on WFM’s key impact areas:
• Health – with a slow-flow R&B yoga session or a sound bath offered by 612 Jungle.
• Safety –Junita Flowers, CEO & founder of Junita’s Jar shared ways to maintain hope during challenging times and how to support survivors of gender-based violence or abuse
• Economic Justice – A vendor market featuring BIPOC women and gender-expansive entrepreneurs
• Leadership – “Pillars of the Community” speed networking offered the chance to connect with local inspiring leaders:
  • Alex West Steinman (Co-founder & CEO, The Coven)
  • Larissa Loden (Founder, Larissa Loden)
  • Jillian Hiscock (Founder, A Bar of Their Own)
  • Robin Wonsley (Councilmember for Minneapolis Ward 2)
  • Samantha Sencer-Mura (State Representative for District 63A)
  • Jen Winterfeldt (Director of Community Relations, Minnesota United FC)
  • Andréa Carroll-Franck (VP of Community, Co-Founder & Board Member, Minnesota Aurora FC)
  • Seena Hodges (Founder & CEO, The Woke Coach)
  • Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton (Award-Winning Executive, Speaker & Author)
  • Taylor Smrikárova (Director of Real Estate Development, Redesign, Inc.)
  • Susan Denk (Principal & Founder, White Crane Design:Build)
  • Alicia Belton (Founding Principal, Chief Creative Officer, Urban Design Perspectives).

Virtual Festival

The event included a silent auction with more than 20 packages donated by bold women and gender-expansive entrepreneurs from our community. Following the event, a virtual Feminist Future Festival celebrated the power of feminist giving. Anyone who donated $100 or more to WFM gained access to the Cooking Up a Feminist Future video series featuring Christina Nguyen, 2024 James Beard award-winning chef and other famous female leaders in the food & beverage industry sharing their favorite recipes and discussing their tips for overcoming the challenges women face starting businesses.

You can support a feminist future for Minnesota with a gift to WFM today.

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