Open Collective Foundation's Monthly Newsletter We are trying something new to streamline our communication with our collectives and community. We will be releasing a monthly newsletter on the third week of each month, with important organizational updates, collective highlights, upcoming events, and a plethora of opportunities, including grants, residencies, fellowships, etc. We hope you enjoy our first one.
š„ļø Slack Usage
As of November 15th, 2023, the Open Collective Foundation team will no longer be responding to requests or questions via Slack, we ask that you please email us at [email protected]. We are working to streamline our communications with collectives to provide a better experience.Ā
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šøExpense Policy Update
To cut down on some confusion weāve been noticing in Expense submissions, weāve added additional guidance to our Expense Policy. We recommend our hosted collectives set their own Expense Policy too! (Some tips from Mike Strode here)
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š³ Virtual CardsĀ
Some of you may have received an update from us about OCF's virtual cards. (If your collective has a virtual card and did not receive a notification email from us, please email us at [email protected]) Due to new restrictions from our card provider, Stripe, we can no longer offer virtual cards to all of our collectives. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience.
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š What's Up(date)
The Open Collective Foundation team invites (read: requires š) each Collective to reflect on 2023 in the form of a public "What's Update" by the Winter Solstice, December 21.Ā
š Join one of our What's Up(date) Parties to complete your update - the first one is Tuesday, November 21st, 7:30 pm EST š
Join our last community forum of 2023.Ā Share what your collective is up to, hear OCF updates and much more! The space is facilitated by our Program Manager Mike Strode.Ā
Black Banjo Reclamation Project (BBRP) is a collective based around cultural arts, earth-based education & resource management.Ā
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In October, banjo builders from around the country were brought together by BBRP in a group banjo-making workshop. It was a historic moment for the group as they rallied together with a unique and special group of Black artists and cultural workers to create hand-built banjos over 4 days.Ā It was a musical, cultural journey of joy and banjo stewardship.
The Hibiscus Rose Therapy Fund is a gender & racial justice project created to address barriers to gender-affirming mental health care for Black queer +/ trans folks through direct aid, grants, and community training opportunities. In July they opened up two of their community initiatives, The Therapy Access Project and The Free Letter Writing Project.
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The Therapy Access Project provides mini-grants to help Black queer and trans folks, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, access individual and group therapy services. One initiative of the Access Project provides financial support for up to 5 sessions of individual therapy (up to $100 per session) or up to 6 sessions of group therapy (up to $50 per session).Ā
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The Free Letter Writing Project provides mini-grants to help Black trans folks in PA & NJ access to life-saving gender-affirming surgery and hormone assessments and letters from providers in the local community at no cost!
