Dear readers,
This week’s edition brings together more ideas, opportunities, and trends shaping the future of governance, philanthropy, and civic action. Explore new reflections on transparency, democracy, and equity: from rethinking how openness is used to reimagining tax systems for fairness and sustainability. Discover inspiring initiatives in gender justice, climate finance, and peacebuilding, plus new reports, calls, and career openings from across the sector.
Dive in and see how changemakers everywhere are pushing for accountability, innovation, and lasting impact.
Happy reading!
TAI team
WHAT'S NEW?
Dieter Zinnbauer reflects on the recent Open Government Partnership Summit and raises concerns about the weaponization of the openness agenda. In his piece "The Dark Side of Openness," he explores how transparency mechanisms can be co-opted for harmful purposes, challenging practitioners to think more critically about implementation.
Norman Eisen, Renée Rippberger, and Jonathan Katz argue that global democracy is more resilient than you think. Despite widespread concerns about democratic backsliding, their analysis for Brookings Institution reveals encouraging signs of democratic strength and adaptation across multiple regions.
The OECD has released a major report taking stock of 10 years of work to counter tax avoidance through the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. Prepared by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS at the request of the South African G20 Presidency, the report examines how international cooperation has strengthened tax certainty and reduced profit shifting since 2015. You can also explore TAI’s latest interactive dashboard, which compiles five years of governance funding trends with data from the OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System.
Check the Legal Empowerment Fund first newsletter, a new space to share updates, reflections, and opportunities from across the legal empowerment community. Each periodic issue will highlight stories from grantee partners, lessons from the field, and the people and movements driving justice from the ground up. Subscribe here to stay connected.
A new paper emphasizes the importance of local ownership in country platforms for climate finance. Platforms that Perform: Helping the Next Generation of Country Platforms Deliver calls for diversifying buy-in beyond government actors, though more attention to accountability mechanisms for citizens would strengthen the framework.
Philanthropy is about much more than money. Check the first study on non-monetary contributions within the Spanish foundation sector, a field as relevant as it is underexplored. Conducted in partnership with Diagram, Consultants for the Third Sector, and supported by over 15 foundations, the study reveals that trust between donors and recipients is the driving force behind these initiatives, and that 90% of foundations wish to deepen their engagement with this type of contribution to expand their social impact.
The Sentry produced an alert on a business network tied to the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia operating in the UAE. The investigation identifies five key individuals behind corporate structures that help convert smuggled gold into hard currency, revealing how conflict minerals flow from western Sudan through Dubai to international markets.
John Prendergast and Sasha Lezhnev warn in Just Security that removing sanctions on mining magnate Dan Gertler would set back peace and investment in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite being sanctioned during Trump's first term under a flagship global anti-corruption program, the administration is reportedly considering effectively removing restrictions, which could undermine ongoing peace negotiations and put U.S. companies at serious risk.
Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, and Taiwan gathered to discuss strategies for defending the information space under the theme "Democracies Under Fire." The event explored how democratic societies can protect information integrity while facing coordinated disinformation campaigns.
Helen Murphy reports that the European Investment Bank (EIB) has launched a new global strategy targeting €10 billion in annual financing. The plan emphasizes regional focus, strengthened partnerships, and continued support for Ukraine.
How can funders better support local movements for reproductive justice in their own words? The Global Fund for Women’s West and Central Africa Abortion Rights Movement Committee shares lessons from bringing together eight local partners who collectively decide how to direct funding, over $1.2 million so far, to advance abortion rights in their countries.
FROM OUR MEMBERS
FORD FOUNDATION: Is proud to celebrate its President, Darren Walker, who has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Albies, presented by the Clooney Foundation for Justice. The awards recognize courageous justice defenders around the world. This year’s honorees include Gambian women’s and girls’ rights activist Fatou Baldeh, Guatemalan investigative journalist and anti-corruption champion José Rubén Zamora, renowned newspaper editor Marty Baron, and global women’s rights leader Melinda French Gates.
MACARTHUR, PACKARD AND FORD FOUNDATIONS: Are joining philanthropic peers to launch Humanity AI, a coalition working to ensure artificial intelligence serves people first. As MacArthur President John Palfrey notes, “It can often feel like this technology is happening to us rather than with us and for us.” The initiative, which also includes the Doris Duke Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Kapor Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Siegel Family Endowment, seeks to place human dignity and equity at the center of AI’s future.
HUMANITY UNITED: Has launched A Pathway to Peace: An Engagement Framework for the Next Evolution of Peacebuilding, a new report co-created with 135 proximate peacebuilders across 37 countries. Developed after 10 months of collaboration, the framework offers practical guidance for how philanthropy, funders, and peacebuilding institutions can more meaningfully engage those closest to conflict and most committed to building peace.
ESSENTIAL WATCHING
TAI joined sessions on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings examining Senegal's fiscal picture following revelations earlier this year of billions in hidden debt. Watch this piece exploring who pays the cost of that debt and what it means for fiscal transparency and accountability.
TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS
Alliance magazine explores “reverse calls”, an approach where communities hold funders accountable, aiming to rebalance power in philanthropy through listening, trust, and shared learning. Author Amanda Hodgeson argues this shift can turn accountability into a more equitable, relationship-based process that centers those most affected by funding decisions.
In a new Human Rights Funders Network article, Benjamin Claeson argues that addressing corporate harms requires going beyond funding due diligence. In Overdue Diligence: Funders' Role in a New Era of Corporate Accountability, he urges funders to confront the broader systems of oppression that enable corporate abuse.
New York Climate Week 2025 set a new record with 1,000 events and an estimated 100,000 participants, bringing renewed energy and hope to climate activists, funders, and other stakeholders despite political uncertainties. This piece reports on how the week also created space for philanthropy-focused conversations and collaboration.
Ina Jamuna Breuer argues that philanthropy is at a pivotal moment. In her opinion piece in Devex, she calls for a shift from project-based funding to supporting movements, fostering dialogue across divides, and building institutions that put citizens at the center.
Essential Reading
Discover how Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC) has grown from a grassroots volunteer network into the nation’s leading Latinx historic preservation nonprofit. Marianne Dhenin explores LHC’s mission to preserve Latinx heritage, promote education, and cultivate leadership in communities often overlooked by traditional heritage efforts.
Focused Topic of the Week
Rethinking Tax Systems for Equity and Sustainability
Recent discussions on international tax reform and gender-responsive fiscal policy are converging around a shared challenge: how to design tax systems that promote equality, resilience, and sustainability in a constrained global economy. The Brookings Center for Sustainable Development’s latest installment of Innovations in Public Finance: A New Fiscal Paradigm for Gender Equality, Climate Adaptation, and Care highlights how smarter taxation and fiscal innovation can unlock social progress. The featured essays explore how rethinking revenue generation, especially in developing and debt-burdened countries, can both finance essential public goods and empower women.
In their Ghana case study, Gloria Afful-Mensah and Abena D. Oduro propose that more visible and equitable property taxation can fund public services such as water and sanitation, directly easing women’s unpaid care burden. This insight reframes taxation not merely as a fiscal tool but as a mechanism for gender justice and community development. Similarly, Hitomi Komatsu examines simplified tax regimes, noting that while designed to ease compliance for small businesses, these systems often generate limited revenue and feature uneven enforcement. She argues that indexing minimum exemption thresholds could protect microenterprises operating at subsistence levels, many of which are led by women.
Expanding this analysis, Max Gallien and Vanessa van den Boogaard find that informal and subnational tax structures in sub-Saharan Africa disproportionately affect women-led, low-income enterprises. Their work calls for harmonizing local tax systems, improving coordination between fiscal authorities, and designing reforms that reflect the lived experiences of taxpayers. Together, these studies reveal the gendered dimensions of informality and fiscal fragmentation, and the potential for reforms that align equity with economic efficiency.
At the global level, tax governance is also in motion. Nama Ana Sarfo reviews a rich set of inputs submitted by stakeholders to the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters at the United Nations ahead of its next working session. The suggestions span a wide range of tax-policy and administrative priorities, ranging from strengthening transfer-pricing rules and digital-economy taxation, to bolstering tax-administration capacity in developing countries and improving environmental tax frameworks. Meanwhile, the European Commission seeks a stronger mandate to represent member states in these U.N. discussions and is advancing the OECD’s Pillar Two global minimum tax across Europe. These parallel efforts underscore a growing recognition that taxation, nationally and globally, is central not just to revenue collection, but to shaping fairer, more sustainable societies.
JOBS
Multiple openings - Hewlett Foundation
Multiple openings - MacArthur Foundation
Multiple Openings - Ford Foundation
Multiple Openings - Gates Foundation
Multiple Openings - Social Action, Development Cooperation, Culture, Disability, and Health Sectors in Spain
Various Opportunities - Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Director of People Operations - Luminate. Deadline: October 27, 2025.
Program Director - Peaceful Governance Institute. Deadline: October 31, 2025.
WINGSForum 2026 Coordinator - WINGS. Deadline: October 31, 2025.
Climate Democracy Program Coordinator - People Powered. Deadline: November 1, 2025
South Asia Managing Editor - Dialogue Earth. Deadline: November 3, 2025
CALLS
Omidyar Network’s Tech Journalism Fund offers $5,000–$25,000 to U.S.-based journalists for in-depth reporting on how technology shapes society. Priority topics include AI regulation, industry accountability, impacts on youth and families, and the future of work. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with decisions in 30 days.
Philea invites participation in their survey on foundation governance: "Futures of Governance in Philanthropy".
MobLab is running a 15–20 minute survey to benchmark leadership and talent development in civil society, mapping current capacity-building approaches and identifying opportunities for strengthening. Participants will receive shared results and insights.
The Open Government Partnership, with the National Democratic Institute, is hosting a Local Anti-Corruption Learning Circle on October 22. Learn how open data and online platforms help local governments engage citizens, prevent corruption, and build trust.
Democracy at Work Fund 2025/2026 Call for Proposals - Grants up to $80k to support worker organizing in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, and Brazil. Focus areas: underrepresented workers, building alliances, and addressing major crises like climate change and gender-based violence. Apply by October 27.
Evidence in Governance and Politics Innovation Grants: Up to five grants (~$10,000 each) for projects that strengthen research quality and integrity in governance and politics. Open to all applicants (membership not required). Deadline: October 31, 2025.
Free 6-week online masterclass for policy reformers! Join Julio Guzmán to learn practical strategies for advancing democratic reform—coalition building, navigating resistance, and more. Wednesdays, Oct 29–Dec 3, 8–9:30 AM ET. Limited spots!
Applications are open for the Democracy Masterclass 2026, a program for 30 frontline changemakers to sharpen strategies, connect globally, and gain tools from the Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit. Includes online sessions, a fully funded in-person gathering, and year-round peer support. Deadline: November 1st, 2025.
Open Ownership, together with the World Bank Group and the Centre for the Study of Corruption at Sussex, invites submissions for its research symposium on beneficial ownership transparency (BOT), to be held in Brighton, UK on 26–27 February 2026. Researchers, advocates, and practitioners are welcome to submit work related to policy design, impact measurement, or emerging issues in BOT by 16 November 2025.
Want to make a real impact? People Powered is accepting applications for programs on participatory climate action, youth democracy, and community sustainability. They offer funding and mentorship to bring ideas to life. Deadline: November 30, 2025.
Tinker Foundation 2026 Institutional Grants are open! Supporting Latin American civil society advancing Democratic Governance and Education. Grants up to $500K (multi-year possible), preference for regional organizations. Deadline: January 7, 2026.
CALENDAR
OECD speaker Series from October to December 2025, as speakers explore fresh approaches to engaging the public on the major fiscal challenges facing OECD countries.
2025 IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival, Vienna, October 23 - 25, 2025.
International Civil Society Week 2025, co-organized by CIVICUS global civil society alliance and Asia Democracy Network, Bangkok. 1-5 November 2025.
Freedom House Report Launch: Freedom on the Net 2025 - An Uncertain Future for the Global Internet. November 13, 10:00 AM–11:15 AM EST.
Senterej Series #6: Beyond Finance – New Blueprints for a New Economy.November 20th, 2025. 3PM UK / 4PM CET / 5PM SAST / 10AM ET / 7AM PST.
Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC25). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thursday, November 20-24, 2025.
MIT Polarization Workshop Academic conference examining political and social polarization dynamics and research approaches. December 5-6, 2025.
11th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP11) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Doha, Qatar. December 14-19, 2025.
People Powered 2026 Convening - A global gathering on participatory democracy. Nairobi, Kenya. March 2–5, 2026.
Othering & Belonging Conference, Louisville, Kentucky, March 31-April 1, 2026.
We’d love to hear from you on how we can further improve TAI Weekly to better serve your needs in program management on the transparency, accountability, improved grantmaking and civic space. Please direct your feedback to [email protected] or