Mission: Dedicated to progressive social change: protecting human and environmental health, preserving biodiversity, preventing the commodification of life, and defending democracy. The foundations are committed to addressing root causes of problems and supporting systemic solutions. CSF and WML take special interest in important emerging issues that are not widely recognized by civil society and/or the general public.
Grantmaking Program Areas: Rights and Governance; Food Sovereignty; Emerging Technologies
Grantmaking Program Area Descriptions:
Rights and Governance: Grantmaking in this area is dedicated to restoring and protecting the tenets articulated in the US Constitution. We are especially focused on the areas of: Dissent – Protecting and advancing the rights to free speech and assembly. Open Government – Making the federal government more transparent, effective, and accountable.Rule of Law – Ensuring that US national security policies respect constitutional rights, domestic laws, and international treaties. The Constitution and the Courts – Building a progressive legal movement to counter conservative and corporate influence. In the realm of international governance, CSF and WML have also long funded in the area of: Trade – Making the rules of global commerce more democratic, just, and sustainable.
Food Sovereignty: Grantmaking in this area is designed to focuse on three cornerstones of agrobiodiversity and food system resilience: Preserving native and heirloom seeds;Building healthy and fertile soils; Protecting and restoring the populations and diversity of native pollinators
Emerging Technologies: Grantmaking in this area focuses on developments in three emerging and converging technologies in particular: Nanotechnology – the creation and commercialization of tiny bits of matter (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter); Synthetic biology – the design, manufacture and release of artificially created DNA; Geoengineering – intentional, large-scale climate manipulation through a range of methods Application Instructions: LOI instructions available online. The Foundations accept LOIs on an ongoing basis.
