As part of Numun’s recent Seed, Grow and Sustain 3.0 grant open call in August 2026, we engaged our very first cohort of 10 interns to undertake the first level eligibility screening of applications. They played a key role in this first phase of our participatory decision making process. Here, in their own words, some of the interns share their reflections on their experiences and takeaways. Read all posts by the SGS 3.0 interns here. Read about the overall SGS 3.0 desicion making process here.
Throughout the Numun Fund internship, I’ve been thinking about what makes up feminist tech, and wondering how feminist tech programs strengthen feminist movements, especially across Global Majority contexts.
The Numun Fund grantmaking process wasn’t my first foray into feminist and participatory grantmaking. It was a second opportunity to play a concrete role in actually channelling resources to feminist movements and their leaders, my favourite kind of work. I was familiar with the mind-set behind participatory grantmaking, which in my experience, invites us to be both curious and humble as we explore fellow feminists’ ideas, projects, one might even say, hopes.
What I wasn’t sure of: What will I have learned at the end? What will it take for each of us interns to show up accountably but also openly?
The internship began with heavy duty learning, because feminist tech is contextual and specific. Numun Fund’s grantmaking process initially seemed to require a fine-toothed comb. This was good, because we focused on details which revealed how feminist tech programming by grantees could strengthen feminist movement building.
Once we started looking at grant applications, the work became lighter. Questions that could have slowed or confused us in our assessment and review had been considered by the Numun Fund team and to a large extent codified into practical considerations. The relevance of this guidance showed me what a massive undertaking it can be to build an ethical, inclusive process, to be attentive and flexible enough to turn a process into a system that receives, the insights of those who implement the process.
I’m leaving this internship with the impression that feminist tech doesn’t rely on its makers being feminists and marginalized people, its users being people excluded from the use and benefits of technology, and or its desired outcomes being feminist on paper or in practice. I think feminist tech is about building feminist worlds and that requires an expansive imagination of what kind of feminist projects are innovative and valuable.
Sharon specializes in feminist programs, environmental governance and south-south development.