In October 2024, SVA leaders attended the 2024 National Network of Fiscal Sponsors annual gathering in Atlanta, GA. With nearly 400 attendees, it was the largest gathering to date since the annual event was first held more than 15 years ago. SVA Associate Directors LeiLani Dowell and Jess Jude spoke on the opening plenary alongside Paige Heurtin and Aimee McCoy of Alternate ROOTS. Huertin and McCoy shared information about their work in the South. Alternate ROOTS is a membership organization and a fiscal sponsor supporting groups with artists and organizers who are recognized as essential catalysts for change.
Jess and LeiLani spoke about the opportunities and challenges of being a grassroots intermediary organization rooted in the U.S. South. Both spoke about how fiscal sponsorship supported leadership of LGBTQIA activists and organizations in the fight against the rise of authoritarian and fascist tendencies and the ongoing targeting of queer and trans communities. The two discussed other challenges faced by SVA and the sector as a whole, including rapid growth, risk management, the underfunding of the region and sector, and more need for relational organizing.
Both Alternate ROOTS and SVA emphasized the importance of infrastructure organizations sponsoring and partnering with Southern community and grassroots groups on the frontlines of issues with regional and national impact. The South remains the least unionized and economically poorest region of the country, with large BIPOC communities. It is often targeted and exploited by organized forces that oppose strides toward economic and social justice. The presenters talked about how their programs and fiscal sponsorship support groups making an impact across the region.
They also lifted up the importance of art and culture as tools of resistance and cultural strength. Conference organizers infused the three days with beautiful spoken word performances by local poet Ashlee Haze, and by building in fun sessions like an art project called Compliance Horror Stories, in which participants made posters to illustrate scary scenarios in the field. LeiLani also presented at a session entitled From Vision to Reality: Operational Insights for Fiscal Sponsorship Success.
The plenary session, Fiscal Sponsorship, A Vehicle for Change featured presenters from Movement Strategy Center and Alliance for Justice, who discussed ways that fiscal sponsorship can be used in collective action and movement building to influence policy. It was exciting to see sessions spotlighting the importance of BIPOC-led work that has an anti-oppression lens in the fiscal sponsor ecosystem. Examples include Decolonizing Fiscal Sponsorship: Creating a More Collaborative Model for BIPOC-led Projects, Collectively Supporting Black Led Organizations, and The Solidarity Economy and Fiscal Sponsorship – Approaches to Power Sharing. Other sessions focused on HR, finance and operations, generative play with conflict, building collective power as coaches and conveners, and much more, including affiliate group breakout sessions for networking and learning in specific issue areas.
Good people, good food, good work – all happening in the South. It was an important gathering and SVA staff was proud and grateful to be able to attend and have Jess and LeiLani spotlight the good work of SVA partners and programs.
