WeTransfer’s Supporting Act Foundation unveils champions of change for 2024

– Nearly €2 million in bursaries and grants donated to under-represented artists and community-focused organizations since 2022, with €800,000 donated in 2024 alone

– Funded by 1% revenue pledge from WeTransfer 

– A trust-based approach to philanthropy 

With its third annual funding round recently completed, WeTransfer’s Supporting Act Foundation is proud to announce that €800,000 has been donated to 32 emerging artists and community-focused initiatives selected by its independent jury, bringing the total sum distributed in grants and bursaries to nearly €2 million since 2022.

The foundation has underscored its commitment to helping emerging artists and initiatives from underrepresented communities in their fight for representation and in gaining access to the resources they deserve. No strings attached.

2024 grantees

This summer the foundation received more than 300 applications from artists and organizations around the world in response to our open call. 32 of these were selected, with our jury identifying 12 organizations to receive our Impact Grant (€50,000) and 20 emerging artists who will benefit from our Creative Bursary (€10,000). 

2024 Impact Grant recipients include collaborative digital platforms preserving marginalized cultures, promoting equitable film-making, or empowering female, lesbian, intersex, trans, agender and non-binary migrants. They line up alongside theater groups fostering community among those experiencing homelessness and a magazine championing Ukrainian artists and dialogues, among others. The individual artists and practitioners we will be supporting with Creative Bursaries span genres and oeuvres: electronic music producers, painters, filmmakers, illustrators, photographers, sound designers, and classical composers make up just a handful of the selected beneficiaries. 

The foundation’s 2024 grant and bursary recipients, while diverse in approach, are united in their efforts to use art as a catalyst for social change, in their dedication to making creative spaces more accessible and beneficial to those most in need. 

An independent jury, committed to change

Each year the foundation assembles a jury of artists, educators and organizers that shares its commitment to promoting diversity in the arts and empowering marginalized communities. 

2024 sees three former grantees join our panel: interdisciplinary artist Halar Soomro, Hannah Robathan of shado mag, and Lara Parmiani of the LegalAliens theater company. Alongside them are educator and social transformation campaigner Anaïs Esmeraldo, author and cultural producer Chrisoula Lionis, designer Marika Seo, award-winning artist and innovator Charlotte Hochman, technological justice advocate Maya Richman, and co—matter founder Severin Matusek. These nine are joined by Lina Ruiz, director of social responsibility at WeTransfer, the foundation’s key supporter. 

This year the jury were once again hard-pressed to select grantees from the hundreds of diverse and impressive applications. As jury member Severin Matusek explained, he was “inspired by people and projects taking action; identifying and addressing a problem, creating meaningful change by and for those that directly experience it and are affected by it” and “by projects that are creating new formats and platforms that bring people together, that foster discourse, exchange and solidarity.”

Impact grant 2024

• Afrodiaspora 2.0, DE

• Black Girls Glow, GH

• Bosla Arts, UK

• Las Pibas Producen, SP

• Lowercase Theatre, UK

• Making Things UP, UK

• Much cooler than yours, DE

• Other Cinemas, UK

• Planta Inclan, AR

• SAMAR, FR

• Solomiya Collective, UA

• Untitled Tbilisi, GE

Creative bursary 2024

• Abdellah Rais

• Ayham Allouch

• Bee McQueen

• Gifty Amoateng

• Haiqing Wang

• Jocelyn Arnold

• Kani Lent

• Lauren Musa-Green

• Lele Bonizzi

• Leroy Berger

• Lotte Siu

• Mahshad Rezai

• Makossiri

• Masha Bolšakova

• Ramon Theobald Seabra da Cruz

• Sarah Ama Duah

• Sheyda Hashemi

• Sylvie Pedra Akamba

• Thu Vân Nguyễn

• Tú Phạm

You can read more about the grantees on our website.

Any questions or ideas, please reach out to hello@thesupportingact.org