Celebrating Financial Reform in the U.S. – An Advance for Social Justice
26 August 2010 | Posted by Vivien LabatonVivien Labaton, Director of Strategic Programme Initiatives at The Atlantic Philanthropies, reflects on the recent passage of financial reform in the United States and the activities of Atlantic grantees to help bring it about.
More >A “Life Course” Approach Breaks Down Silos to Strengthen Social Justice
29 July 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheI am just concluding almost a month working from Atlantic’s offices in Ireland. Among the many terrific experiences I’ve had was a visit to the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), where last week my colleagues and I met with the faculty of the Life Course Institute. The Institute, established with Atlantic’s support, is an innovative effort to advance an integrated approach to research on policy and services for older people, children and families, and people with disabilities.
More >New Senior Staff Hires Strengthen Atlantic for Social Justice Mission and Spending Down Assets
7 July 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheI don’t usually use this space for organisational announcements, but we have recently made three new appointments to Atlantic’s senior staff, who together bring enormous strengths to our mission and each of whom illustrates something important about where the foundation is going in its final years. One joins us this week and all will be aboard by the end of summer.
More >Long Fought Human Rights Victories Show the Importance of Staying the Course
30 June 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheA core premise of Atlantic’s approach to philanthropy, underlying our plan to spend the foundation’s assets by the end of this decade, is that addressing issues now can prevent them from becoming larger, more serious challenges later. But investing now doesn’t always mean that change will come about quickly.
More >Changing the Story: Using the Arts to Advance Social Justice
27 May 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheIn the 2008 film Sin Nombre, the audience follows a young Honduran woman named Sayra as she winds her way through Mexico and into the United States in search of a better life.
More >The Strengthening of Atlantic’s Social Justice Mission: What It Means for Our Funding
29 April 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheI’ve just returned from Denver, Colorado, where the annual conference of the Council on Foundations ended Tuesday. A significant theme of the conference this year, which Atlantic helped to organise, was what foundations can do to advance social justice. I was honoured to moderate a panel of global activists and philanthropic leaders addressing this subject, which included Atlantic grantees Avila Kilmurray of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Constance Rice of the Advancement Project, and Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change.
More >A Big Bet on Advocacy Helps to Make History on Health Care
22 March 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarche“Health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.” I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to hear President Obama speak those words, a few hours ago, after signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Around me listening to the President were advocates who have worked hard for many months – and in some cases, for many decades – to bring this moment about, and colleague foundations whose years of steady investment laid the groundwork that we have built upon.
More >A Growing Drumbeat from Activists Energizes Drive for Urgent Immigration Reform
18 March 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheThis Sunday, I will join 100,000 other supporters of comprehensive immigration reform in the United States – a cause to which Atlantic has been deeply committed since 2004 – in a march on Washington to demand that the U.S. Congress act this year. I hope you will join me, and here are the details.
More >Update from Northern Ireland: February Agreement Puts Government Back on the Track to Peace
21 February 2010 | Posted by Martin OBrienMartin O’Brien, Programme Director for Atlantic’s Reconciliation & Human Rights Programme and a veteran human rights advocate in Northern Ireland, gives us an update on recent developments with the new devolved power sharing government and its impact on peacebuilding.
More >Viet Nam Journal: Over 11 Years, Atlantic Grants Help Spur a Country’s Transformation in Health
21 January 2010 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheSeveral of the staff of the Hue Central Hospital were kind enough to come to work last Sunday morning to give my Atlantic colleagues and me a tour of what has become a world-class facility in the ten years since our Founding Chairman, Chuck Feeney, first paid a visit.
More >As the Year Turns and Always, It Is Stories That Move Us and Lead Us to Action
21 December 2009 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheMy last few year-end columns have focused on the stories of those Atlantic is privileged to work with around the world because, as always, that is where the emphasis must be. It is why we do this work and what keeps us going.
More >Atlantic Founding Chairman Grants Speed Medical Research and Collaboration on Several Continents
14 December 2009 | Posted by Gara LaMarcheSince coming to Atlantic a few years ago, I’ve become aware, on an almost daily basis, of the enormous impact that this formerly anonymous foundation has had over the years across a range of areas and geographies.
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30 August 2010