Best practices and innovations in individual philanthropy and social investment around the world

Feature Summer 2008
Interview with Jon Stryker -- A Journey to Inclusive Philanthropy
In less than a decade, Jon Stryker has quietly emerged as one of the leading global funders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. In 2000, Stryker founded the Arcus Foundation, whose mission is to achieve social justice that is inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity and race, and to ensure conservation and respect of the great apes. Since 2000, Arcus has awarded grants totaling more than $122 million in these two program areas. Two years ago, Arcus launched an international LGBT rights program to support groups working for LGBT rights at the international level as well as locally in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In 2008, the foundation will award $2 million internationally -- a modest sum that nevertheless increases total LGBT funding by nearly 20%. Stryker, who has been a Global Philanthropists Circle member since 2004, talked with Global Giving Matters about his journey as a philanthropist, the challenges of funding international LGBT groups, and why LGBT rights and human rights are one and the same. full article

Feature February-April 2008
Conservation, Climate Change and Communities
Global Giving Matters looks at how three members of the Global Philanthropists Circle are supporting conservation, biodiversity, and carbon reduction while also addressing the needs of poor communities in the developing world. Avoided Deforestation Partners, founded by Jeff Horowitz, is building market-driven solutions for saving tropical rainforests and ecosystems with communities and indigenous people at the center. Daniel Feffer, in partnership with his family's paper company Suzano, is restoring Parque das Neblinas, a 2,800-hectare preserve in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Finally, Enki Tan, through his work on the board of Conservation International, is supporting a pair of innovative preservation initiatives in Indonesia. full article

Feature February-April 2008
Responsibility to Protect -- Philanthropy to Prevent
In 2000, several years after the world had stood by as the genocide in Rwanda unfolded in slow motion, Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations challenged the UN General Assembly to reconcile the principle of state sovereignty with the moral imperative to intervene when states commit atrocities against their own people. In response, the Canadian government created the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty which later established the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine (R2P) and that doctrine has been carried forward by international philanthropy. full article
 
 

Global Giving Matters is a newsletter on best practices and innovations in philanthropy and social investment. It is produced jointly by Synergos and the World Economic Forum for members of WEF and the Global Philanthropists Circle. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors provides support for its distribution.
 
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