This article was published more than 4 years ago.
Every day, courageous human rights defenders choose to resist the forces of oppression, injustice, and inequality. For more than 15 years, the Fund for Global Human Rights has been there to support them.
I have been a proud member of the Fund’s global board of directors since 2010. As a scholar and activist, I’ve spent decades at the intersection of human rights, philanthropy, and development.
I know the Fund is a transformational leader in the field of human rights.
Since it was founded in 2002, the Fund has awarded more than $95 million to trailblazing activists working in more than 50 countries. From Honduras to Uganda, the Fund has invested in more than 650 frontline human rights groups working to build a world where all people live with dignity and have the power to secure their rights to equality and justice.
But the Fund’s local partners receive more than just financial assistance. The Fund’s leadership and staff are dedicated allies, willing and ready to go the extra mile to create lasting change.
The Fund focuses on strengthening local organizations and fostering strong, sustainable movements that can confront abuses of power, people, and resources—and win.
From India, where LGBTQ activists successfully challenged legal discrimination, to Tunisia, where years of advocacy by frontline women’s rights groups resulted in the country’s first law addressing domestic violence, Fund grantees have made bold strides toward a better world.
But around the globe, human rights are under attack. Governments are passing regressive new laws that limit freedoms and deny equality. This is a critical moment for our movement.
There’s a Ghanaian proverb that says when the going gets tough, the only thing you truly have is your values. So those values had better be strong and enduring.
Since the beginning, the values of respect, integrity, agility, sustainability, and inclusivity have been the foundation of the Fund’s work. As the Fund family has grown, these bedrock principles remain, uncompromised, at its heart.
But there’s another core value that inspires me to support the Fund: Hope.
Because that’s what the Fund’s staff bring every day to their work. That’s what the Fund’s local partners give to their communities. And that’s what the Fund’s supporters provide with their contributions.
I’ve dedicated my life’s work to the belief that out of hope comes action—and out of action comes progress. The Fund’s success is a thriving testament to the transformational power of hope. By raising awareness, shifting power, and building movements, we can realize the possibility of a better future.
I am so proud to share the Fund’s extraordinary work, and I am honored to stand side-by-side with our partners, in courage and conviction, against injustice. We’re all in this together—please join me and help support the quest for human rights.
More than ever, frontline activists need partners like the Fund to address the rising tides of oppression and inequality. We live in dark times, but thanks to the Fund for Global Human Rights, I have hope.
