The Philea Forum 2025 took place from June 2 to 5 in Lisbon, bringing together the diversity of European and global philanthropy under the theme “Power and Equality: A Balancing Act.” Organized by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Lisbon Forum gathered around 850 participants from 44 countries, including representatives of philanthropic associations, NGOs, European and multilateral institutions, and think tanks. The goal was to explore the relationship between inequality, power imbalances, and the structures that sustain them.
In the opening session, Philea president Àngel Font stated that equality “is the pursuit of balance, fairness, justice, and rights,” adding that “when things are not in balance, tension arises.”
This year, the world’s most important philanthropy forum was marked by recent global events that have made this tension more visible, “stemming from systemic inequalities and historical injustices, which have sparked a movement of reflection and social responsibility around racial, social, and economic justice,” according to Philea.
The opening session also featured Bruno Maçães, former Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Françoise Moudouthe, Executive Director of the African Women’s Development Fund, founder of the Eyala Platform, and board member of the Malala Fund.
Maçães highlighted the importance of recognizing the history and journey of foundations, which are often the first to detect community needs and respond with action. Moudouthe brought a feminist perspective to the Forum, urging philanthropy to be ambitious in addressing social justice: “When the goal is justice, we must focus on those who make justice happen. And those are the social justice movements,” she said.
There was also room for activism, with a message printed on the T-shirt of artist and activist Dino D’Santiago reading “Free Gaza”, who closed the opening session with a performance. Other speakers included Larry Kramer, president of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Marija Jakovljević, Project Manager at the Dalan Foundation.
The rest of the event included roundtables, networking workshops, and talks where European philanthropic professionals and leaders engaged face-to-face with peers from the sector, as well as with academics, policymakers, and civil society representatives.
An Annual Forum Connecting the Philanthropic World
The Philea Forum is held annually in different European cities—such as Ghent, Šibenik, or Barcelona—typically at the end of May and beginning of June. It serves as a platform to share, learn, and explore new approaches to tackling the most urgent challenges of our time.
It regularly returns to Brussels to give delegates an opportunity to engage in Philea’s EU institutional advocacy work.
The next edition, Philea Forum 2026, will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, organized by a group of Danish foundations.
