What We Believe

At the heart of our work is the belief that all people have the right to opportunity, equity and dignity.

As a limited life foundation, our grantmaking has been shaped, and continues to be shaped, by our Founding Chairman Chuck Feeney’s approach to philanthropy, characterised by personal engagement, modesty, pragmatism, good-value investments and his belief in Giving While Living.

In keeping with the founder’s Giving While Living philosophy, we believe in making large investments to capitalise on significant opportunities to solve urgent problems now, so they are less likely to become larger, more entrenched and more expensive challenges later. In so doing, we also seek to encourage others of significant wealth to engage in major philanthropic pursuits in their lifetime. We will become the largest foundation in history to conclude our grantmaking in our donor’s lifetime. We will complete active grantmaking by 2016 and distribute our entire endowment and close our doors by 2020.

Over the years, two fundamental themes have carried through our Ageing, Children & Youth, Population Health, Reconciliation & Human Rights and Founding Chairman programmes: 

The quality of our lives is inextricably linked to our health.

Across our grantmaking areas, grantees have targeted distinct deficits in health provision to address the needs of vulnerable populations, and built sustainable human and physical capital to reduce and eliminate those deficits. Some examples include: 

• Creating a more equitable primary care health care system in Viet Nam and instilling a culture of public health
• Enhancing health care for disadvantaged U.S. children through access to health insurance and Elev8 school-based clinics
• Increasing the number of nurses in South Africa who provide primary care to poor patients reliant upon the public health system
• Improving the care for older adults with dementia in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Building and supporting cancer research centres in Australia, Northern Ireland and the United States.

The freedoms and advances of humanity are nourished by education.

Atlantic has made investments both within and outside the walls of educational institutions, as well as in efforts to create an informed citizenry. Some examples include:

• Transforming Ireland’s higher education and research capacity through providing new and refurbished university buildings and infrastructure with the PRTLI
• Underwriting the creation of the CornellNYC Tech campus
• Preventing unreasonable expulsions and criminalisation of U.S. youth through school discipline reform
• Supporting awareness and advocacy campaigns to abolish the death penalty in the United States, prevent injuries and control tobacco use in Viet Nam, and ensure legal rights to civil partnerships for same-sex couples in Ireland
• Breaking down societal barriers by establishing and promoting integrated and shared education in Northern Ireland
• Supporting advocacy to secure affordable health care for millions of Americans, particularly low-income older adults and children
• Strengthening advocacy by young people for improved quality and equality in South African schools.

We are extremely proud of the work of our grantees and their achievements to date to make positive changes for millions of people around the world.