By Barry Knight and Colin Greer I dream’d in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the Attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth; I dream’d that was the new City of Friends. Walt Whitman The unseen driver of our troubles causes no pain. But it is quietly destroying you…
Our organization, MICAIA, works in different parts of Mozambique to help people achieve local prosperity. PSJP’s recent paper on ‘Dignity and Development’ looked at the concept of dignity in development and philanthropy and this occasioned me to reflect on our own approach to our work. MICAIA has chosen to build its theory of change, and our practices,…
The Philanthropy in Russia published earlier this year by PSJP, CAF Russia, WINGS and Alliance report notes a dearth of foundations or individuals willing to support progressive causes in Russia. ‘Progressive causes are more likely to be supported where money is raised from the public’ says Maria Chertok of CAF Russia. This post on Alliance by Elisabeth…
PSJP’s recently published paper on ‘Dignity and Development’ looks at the concept of dignity in development and philanthropy. At the Zambian Governance Foundation for Civil Society (ZGF) this paper provided us with an opportunity to revisit our own journey from a dignity lens. In this blog post we would like to share the practices at…
By Jenny Hodgson (The title of this blog was inspired by a conversation with a colleague at the Africa Philanthropy Network conference in November 2018.) On 28 November 2018, together with GFCF board chair, Rita Thapa, and several community philanthropy partners from across India, I attended the launch of the Dalit Community Foundation in Patna, the capital of India’s…
PSJP’s recently published paper on ‘Dignity and Development’ looks at the idea of ‘dignity’in development and philanthropy. The first point to be made is the need to recognize that development practitioners do not impart dignity to others. We do not ‘empower’ people – a word that carries a taint of colonialism in its definition of…
In conversation with a foundation director after a recent event on the philanthropy circuit in São Paulo, I mentioned the Brazilian philanthropy sector’s enthusiasm for the rising global trend in impact investing. The foundation director agreed, but reminded me that Brazilian philanthropy has yet to fully embrace the practice of grantmaking – and thus a…
By Steven McCaffery Strategic litigation can be a powerful tool for positive social change, but when is it the right investment for philanthropy? A new book draws on the international experience of successful campaigns and offers real-world lessons on avoiding the pitfalls. From policing in New York, to classroom conditions in post-apartheid South Africa, the push…
When it comes to the role of dignity in development, there is a conversation of growing rigour and seriousness. It is in that context that we welcome this paper on dignity in Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace’s ‘Defining Key Concepts’ series. Dignity has been the starting point for many conversations in development and global…
In a remote time and place – it might have been anywhere – there was a village. The villagers cultivated their fields, harvested their crops and suffered the usual pains and pleasures people do. Then one day, a giant came. ‘This village belongs to me now,’ said the giant. ‘You must pay tribute to me…