Human Rights Grants Awarded at The Overbrook Foundation's March Board Meeting

At The Overbrook Foundation’s Spring Board Meeting, our Board of Directors approved ten grants to be awarded through the Foundation’s Human Rights Program. All ten of these organizations have been previously supported by the Foundation, and with these grants, the Directors have renewed their commitment to these organizations and their missions.

To grow the Domestic Human Rights Movement, The Overbrook Foundation will award a $70,000 grant to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation for its Human Rights Program.

With renewed Overbrook support, the Proteus Fund will receive a grant of $100,000 for the Civil Marriage Collaborative and its work to promote marriage equality.

Freedom Network USA will also receive a grant renewal of $30,000 for its training and advocacy program to advance anti-trafficking efforts in the United States.

Grants of $40,000 to New America Media and $45,000 to Free Press will be awarded as part of the Foundation’s commitment to supporting ethnic media, non-profit media and media reform.

The Foundation will continue to support organizations that defend Human Rights Defenders through $25,000 grants awarded to both the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Environmental Defender Law Center for their work in Latin America. Human Rights Watch will continue to combat Human Rights Violations in Mexico in part due to the Overbrook grant of $45,000. An Overbrook grant for $35,000 will help the Indian Law Resource Center in its project to protect the Maya Q’eqchi’s Land and Resource Rights in Guatemala.

With the help of a $25,000 grant from The Foundation, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) will hold the Latin America and Caribbean Program Human Rights Institute to train and convene LGBT activists from all around Latin American and Caribbean.

In all, the Overbrook Foundation’s Human Rights Program, as directed by the Board, awarded a total of $440,000 in grants. As always, you can learn more about these grantees on their websites by clicking on their names in this post. Congratulations to these grantees and we look forward to their work promoting Human Rights in the year to come!

Environment Grants Awarded in December!

At its December Board of Directors Meeting, The Overbrook Foundation voted to award a total of $698,000 in grants to 13 organizations working to conserve Latin American Biodiversity, foster sustainable consumption and production practices in the United States or publish on environmental or conservation issues across various media platforms. Further investigation of these organizations and their Overbrook supported projects reveals the unique work that each group contributes on a diverse array of environmental issues.

For its biodiversity conservation program, Overbook will award six grants for a total of $293,000. The Foundation will support Amazon Watch with $40,000 grant for its Ecuador Rainforest Protection Program, IMAFLORA with a $43,000 grant for Biodiversity Conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest through Improvements to Cocoa Production and ISEAL Alliance with a $25,000 grant. In Mexico, People and Plants International will use a $60,000 grant to promoting community-based forestry and conservation in Central Mexico and Pronatura Noroeste A.C. will use a $50,000 grant to protect the Cabo Pulmo National Park Region, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Wildlife Conservation Society will receive a $75,000 grant to continue its work conserving Natural Resources and Improving Rural Livelihoods through Community-led Production Systems in the Pantanal and Cerrado of Brazil and Yasuni National Park, Ecuador.

For the Foundation's environmental media program, the University of Washington Foundation is awarded $45,000 grant for Conservation Magazine's 2012 Workplan.

The Overbrook Foundation's commitment to sustainable consumption is furthered with a $75,000 grant to Catalog Choice, a $25,000 grant to the DC Project, a $40,000 grant for ForestEthics, and a $45,000 grant for GreenBlue Institute. Other awarded grants include $125,000 for Global Development Incubator for its project on a strategic analysis of structures and mechanisms to enhance cohesion in conservation community and $50,000 for In Our Backyards (ioby.org) to improve its marketing strategy.

As in previous blog posts announcing these grant awards, you may click on any of the names of the organizations in this post to be transferred to their websites for more information on them and their work. The Overbrook Foundation Staff congratulates these organizations on their new grants and looks forward to the execution of these exciting projects in a time when environmental issues continue to be extremely pressing.

Human Rights Grants Awarded at The Overbrook Foundation's December Board Meeting

At its final Board Meeting of 2011, The Overbrook Foundation’s Board of Directors approved 14 grants totaling $550,000 for the Human Rights Program. The Foundation applauds these organizations for their existing achievements and it looks forward to their progress in promoting human rights and social justice in the upcoming year with this added support from The Overbrook Foundation.

The Foundation’s work to build a Domestic Human Rights Movement will be furthered through the approval of a $50,000 grant to the National Economic & Social Rights Initiative.

A grant of $25,000 will be awarded to Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders for its project to challenge the constitutionality of the Defense Against Marriage Act as a part of the Foundation's efforts to promote marriage equality in the United States.

To honor our commitment to Reproductive Justice in the United States, Overbrook will award grants to the National Advocates for Pregnant Women for $25,000 and to the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum for $30,000. Additionally, Overbrook approved a $40,000 grant to the Third Wave Foundation for its work on Reproductive Health, a $50,000 grant to the Tides Center/Groundswell Fund’s Catalyst Fund and a $30,000 grant to the Western States Center for its Gender Justice Initiative.

To promote nonprofit media in the United States, Overbrook will award grants to Breakthrough USA for its work on human rights-based videos and interactive games, to the Center for Public Integrity for investigative reporting on the money in American political campaigns, and to the New Press for its publication and promotion of books related to Human Rights in the United States. The Foundation will support these organizations with grants of $45,000, $45,000 and $35,000 respectively.

Four of the approved grants fit into the Foundation's International Human Rights program offering support to advocates of Gender Rights and Human Rights Defenders in Latin America. Disability Rights International will receive a $50,000 grant to build capacity of activists to prevent and end violence against women and girls with disabilities in Mexico and Guatemala, and Ipas will receive a $40,000 grant for advocacy and action on abortion policy in Latin America. To support their work with Latin American Human Rights Defenders, Overbrook will also award Front Line with a $50,000 grant for the protection of Latin American Human Rights Defenders and Reporters Without Borders with a $35,000 grant to defend freedom of information in Latin America.

Again, we are proud to support these organizations that are tirelessly working to advocate for and protect a large variety of critical human rights for people in the United States and Latin America! More information about 2011 grantees will soon be posted on The Overbrook Foundation Website.