Much has changed since I joined the EDGE Funders Alliance community in 2015. My first board meeting was held in Paris in the wings of the COP 21, as Sanders and Corbyn were gaining momentum in the US and UK, and EDGE was just beginning to establish a European presence. The world feels like a very different place today, and the work of EDGE seems more pressing than ever.

EDGE occupies a unique – and much-needed – space in philanthropy. EDGE recognises the global, interconnected nature of the crises we face, and champions the alternative visions being built in grassroots communities. Whilst recognising that, being borne of inequality, philanthropy is necessarily part of the problem, EDGE offers a space for like-minded souls to connect, share and learn about solutions, across the silos that many of us operate in.

EDGE Funders Alliance has long been working towards a Just Transition, and now we’re undergoing our own transition internally, as founder and director Mark Randazzo retires. It’s an honour to join the fiercely dedicated EDGE team to support this, and to learn from a community that is unashamedly radical in its efforts towards social, economic and ecological transformation. The innovative format of the Brazil conference is likely to be the first of several bold new steps for systemic change philanthropy. I’m looking forward to 2019, and the ambitious vision it brings.

Rose Longhurst, Leadership Transition Team