19 Years Later…

We have a bittersweet announcement to make. After a lot of thought, consideration, and discussion, the Board and Senior Staff of Fandom Forward have decided that it is time to bring our organization’s journey to a close.

2024 marks Fandom Forward’s 19th year as an organization. To reference our original fandom, after 19 years of doing this work, it feels like the right time to write our epilogue.

Fandom Forward’s mission was to turn fans into heroes and use the power of story and popular culture to make activism accessible and sustainable. Over our 19 years together, we have achieved that. We mobilized Harry Potter fans in a multi-year campaign for Warner Bros. to use Fair Trade chocolate for their Harry Potter-branded chocolates, believing that products inspired by the series should not be complicit in the injustices it criticizes (Not in Harry’s Name). Inspired by the beloved knowledge-seeking Hermione, we hosted an annual book drive in which fans donated over 400,000 books to communities in need around the world (Accio Books). We also organized the Granger Leadership Academy to train and empower fans to become activists and take actions to make the world a more loving, just, and magical place, just like the heroes of their favorite stories. We’ve fought for LGBTQIA+ equality, gender equity, immigrant justice, climate justice, and so much more in our many campaigns.

When we started this organization, the idea of mobilizing fans towards social justice was novel and revolutionary. Now, we live in a world where fan organizing has become so much more recognizable–from K-pop fans taking action to the #FreeBritney movement–by activists, movement organizations, and everyday people. While we can’t take the credit for all of this momentum, Fandom Forward certainly paved the way for fan organizing to become so much more mainstream than it was 19 years ago.

Many of you may be surprised or saddened by this announcement. However, we believe there is value in recognizing when our time is over and when it’s time to pass the baton over to the next generation of fan organizers. Fandom Forward’s chapter in the great saga of organizing, especially fan organizing, is coming to a close. However, our work and our legacy persists in the communities we built and the fans and organizers we are connected with.

The years ahead are expected to be filled with challenges and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Although it will be through other communities we are a part of, we who became activists and organizers at Fandom Forward will continue to contribute our experiences, stories, and efforts through the infinite possible avenues available to us.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our community and supported us through the years. We couldn’t have done this without you.

We wish all of you love, hope, creativity, and inspiration as we continue our journey forward, and hope to cross paths in unexpected and enriching ways in the coming years.

We hope that all of you will continue your journeys in fan organizing by checking out:

Local communities and organizers (We encourage you to suggest some fandom inspiration)

Fan communities that have a social justice lens and/or are involved in community actions

Other fan organizers working in this space, including but not limited to:

• Black Nerds Create
• Hashtag Ruthless Productions
• Jay Justice
• Latinx Geeks
• Seaweed Brain Podcast
• Trek the Vote
• A Tribe Called Geek (Johnnie Jae)
• Working Families Party
  (Contact smortensen@workingfamilies.org if you are interested in getting involved in fandom-specific projects!)
• @BTSabolitionmemes (on Instagram)