EXPLORERS – Joint Learning from Women’s Perspectives Has Begun

We are delighted to announce the launch of EXPLORERS, a grantmaking initiative within the Roots and Wings Foundation’s Solidarity Women’s Programme. Our aim is to work with civil society organisations and communities that wish to integrate women’s perspectives into their mission or pay closer attention to them in their work. We believe this kind of openness can not only improve the situation of women and girls but also enrich organisational functioning and the whole community.

EXPLORERS is a kind of professional experiment: we sought partners who are curious, eager to learn, and ready to think, take practical steps, and then assess how they can apply women’s perspectives in their own fields of activity. We considered it especially important to support initiatives that grow out of the needs of local communities and in which women play an active, shaping role – whether as initiators or participants.

During the programme, the selected organisations will not only develop their ideas but also implement them over a six-month period with the help of consultations and financial support. At the end of the process, the six participating organisations will meet to share lessons learned, dilemmas, and results, to analyse their experiences and impact, and to think together about next steps. We received 37 authentic, committed, and exciting applications, making the selection far from easy, but we are pleased to introduce the six organisations with whom we are now embarking on this exciting shared journey:

PONT MI Public Benefit Association – Through its project What Do Women Want?, the association aims to create a local circle that strengthens the social, economic, and community roles of women in Kétsoprony, a small rural settlement, and promotes equal opportunities. The project seeks to activate and support local women through training sessions, community-building activities, and mentoring programmes, helping them increase their self-confidence, improve their employment and entrepreneurial prospects, and reduce social isolation.
KacsaKő Association – The goal is to integrate disadvantaged girls more fully into its programmes. Working with volunteers, professional partners, and young participants in girls’ and boys’ clubs, they will review their previous experiences, design the framework for their autumn programmes, and incorporate these learnings into their 2026–28 professional strategy.
Foundation for 21st Century Pedagogy – This project aims to support disadvantaged girls in navigating the online world more safely and consciously. Young people often face harassment and manipulation, with no tools or safe spaces to respond. The programme is training-based, offered both in person and online, using interactive, experiential, and reflective learning methods.
National Soul-Rescuers Foundation – Through thematic group sessions, the foundation addresses issues related to women’s identity that are relevant for women working in uniformed, male-dominated environments. Among female ambulance workers, questions of self-advocacy and assertive communication often arise. They may find themselves in situations where they must firmly assert their boundaries and face frequent aggressive behaviours.
Papírsárkány Children’s Foundation – The focus is on young mothers living in children’s homes, often with their own backgrounds in the child protection system. The aim is to strengthen their self-confidence, self-awareness, and maternal role through mental health support and community programmes.
Unda 62 – This project supports disadvantaged girls aged 14–19 in becoming more self-confident, standing up for themselves, and experiencing that their voices and ideas have power. Both Hungarian and Romanian girls participate – especially those who rarely have a safe space for initiative, self-expression, and community connection. Participants plan and implement mini-projects of their own interest with mentoring support.

The selected projects are highly diverse – the specific topics and approaches vary greatly – but all share the intention of bringing women’s perspectives more strongly into organisational operations or community activities.

This initiative is also special for us, as exploration can happen in two directions: while the selected organisations discover new perspectives to integrate or pay more attention to in their work, we at the Roots and Wings Foundation will follow and learn from the process to understand how best to support this. We believe that consciously incorporating women’s experiences serves not just a narrow group but can enrich every community and help build a fairer, more inclusive, and more sensitive world. That is why we hope that the learnings and results emerging from EXPLORERS will not only impact the participating organisations but also inspire others to question and critically examine their existing practices, and to make space for women’s perspectives, voices, stories, and experiences.

Written by Eszter Kállay