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Philea Forum 2025

Grappling with the theme of “Power and Equality: A Balancing Act”, more than 800 participants from Europe and around the world convened from 2-5 June in Lisbon for the Philea Forum 2025, hosted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Attendees

Organisations

Countries

Power and Equality: A Balancing Act

Recent global events have amplified awareness of systemic inequalities and historical injustices. These incidents have sparked a societal reckoning with racial, social and economic justice, placing philanthropic organisations themselves under scrutiny for their role in perpetuating or challenging existing power imbalances. A clear line has since been drawn, connecting widening inequality and power imbalances to rising polarisation and challenges to democracy.

Inequality has far-reaching consequences that extend well beyond individual hardship. Countries with high levels of inequality are more prone to financial crises and slower economic recovery. Inequality doesn’t just hurt the poor; it destabilises economies, undermines confidence, contributes to democratic backsliding and leaves everyone more vulnerable, from small business owners to corporate executives.

The Philea Forum 2025 addressed these critical issues, exploring the intersection of inequalities, power imbalances and structures which are sustaining them (including within philanthropy), and the ways in which we can help create the more equitable and just society we want and need.

Read the full Philea Forum 2025 report

Check out Alliance Magazine's coverage

Agora

For the second year running, the Agora provided a platform enabling our members to engage with peers, offering an open space for storytelling, conversations and sharing experiences of success, failure and everything in between.

New in 2025 was the "Elephant at the Table", a series of interactive roundtables for attendees to engage in open and honest conversations on some of the most pressing systemic challenges in our field.