NEW YORK, N.Y. – June 29, 2009 – Recipients of the 2009 Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards, presented by Colin Higgins Foundation, include the youngest HIV Counselor and Tester in Los Angeles county, an organizer who is spearheading the first youth-run nonprofit to serve transgender youth in the Detroit area, and a peer educator working to empower and educate LGBTQ youth of color to reduce HIV/AIDS in the Washington, DC area. Francisco "Frank" Armenta, Lance Hicks, and Terra Tempest Moore are three remarkable young people who have risen above the pain and discrimination they have experienced and bravely created the communities and safe spaces they needed for themselves and their peers to survive.

Acclaimed screenwriter/director, Colin Higgins, creator of such films as Harold and Maude and Nine to Five, set up his foundation in 1986 to further his humanitarian concerns.  After his death from AIDS related illnesses in 1988, the Colin Higgins Foundation has concentrated its support on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities.  The 2009 winners of the Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards reflect the strength and courage of a generation on the rise.  The Colin Higgins Foundation is proud to honor these three extraordinary individuals for all the contributions they have made to their communities in areas where critical needs were not being met.  

Coming from across the country, each of the three awardees has their own unique story, yet they share similar hardships like so many LGBT youth — from enduring physical and emotional abuse from family members, to being kicked out of their homes, to seeking social services from providers that have no training on the specific issues facing LGBT youth, to confronting bullying and harassment in public high schools coming from both students and the school administration. "Our honorees this year are truly an inspiration because when they faced bigotry and harassment, they transcended those obstacles through leadership, and boldly made the choice to be agents of change in their communities," said Tierney Gleason, Program Administrator of the Colin Higgins Foundation.

The three honorees are connected by their drive to make sure those around them and those that come after them have a safer space to simply be themselves. "My motivation for being an activist is looking towards the future — my future, and the future of the many communities that I call home," says Terra Tempest Moore, 22. She adds, "I hope my work has made it so things will be easier for others."
Through his involvement in the Trans Youth Group at the Affirmations LGBT Center in Michigan, Lance Hicks explains, "We had both homeless youth of color from Detroit and white youth from the suburbs with cars in our group. Through my work with transgender youth, I really want to break through the race and class divisions that exist in southeast Michigan."

With his activism to increase youth HIV testing, Frank Armenta says, "Providers need to be aware of our cultural needs, and sensitive to the fact that we are not only dealing with a diagnosis and being gay, but also struggling with our families, struggling to eat, to find work, to feel safe, to have a safe space to sleep. I am dedicated to improving how counselors go about testing queer youth of color."
Youth Courage Award recipients receive a grant of $10,000 and will be honored at The Trevor Project Gala in New York City on June 29th and in December at their Cracked Xmas event in Los Angeles. The Trevor Project <http://www.thetrevorproject.org> operates the nation's only 24/7 suicide and crisis prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. The awardees will also receive an expense-paid trip to attend the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change presented by the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce in February.

The accomplishments of this year's winners are a testament to how much change can be ignited beginning with just one person. As Terra Moore reminds us, "When I speak, if only one mind is changed, if only one stereotype is challenged, a connection has been made." The three winners join a pioneering group of previous winners, all of whom have demonstrated the ability to inspire others, build bridges across communities, and provide insight and leadership far beyond their years. A list of previous winners can be found at www.colinhiggins.org.

Meet the 2009 Youth Courage Award Winners:

Francisco "Frank" Armenta, 21 - Battling homophobia on a daily basis in East Los Angeles, Frank was routinely harassed and called a "faggot" throughout high school. After being kicked out of class by a teacher for "gay" artwork on his binder, Frank called a parent-teacher meeting, only to learn that his Mexican-Catholic family would not stand up for him due to their embarrassment that he was gay. This experience fueled him to become an activist, spanning from collaborating with the GSA to design a new web-based "Be An Ally" campaign to support LGBT youth at his predominantly Latino high school, to becoming the youngest certified HIV Counselor and Tester in LA county. Through his activism to increase youth HIV testing, Frank has been able to provide invaluable recommendations to key policy makers on best practices for treating queer youth of color during the testing process. Currently, Frank works at REACH LA (http://www.reachla.org) as a Social Enterprise Assistant and Peer Health Counselor, and continues to fuse his passion for art and graphic design with his activism by creating all the electronic and print media for the Ovahness program serving queer young men of color. He also volunteers his graphic design skills to many other community groups serving LGBT youth.

Lance Hicks, 19 - Born female in the Metro Detroit area to a white mother from the suburbs and a Black father from the city, Lance moved back and forth between communities divided along race and class lines, struggling intensely to come to grips with being biracial and questioning his gender identity. At age 15, Lance came out as transgender and began transitioning at his high school in a predominantly white suburban town where he was still trying to find his place. Lance organized his high school's first Transgender Day of Remembrance, which opened him up to bullying and harassment by other students. In search of a community, he began attending the youth group at Affirmations, the LGBT center serving southeast Michigan. Lance founded the center's first Trans Youth Group, and organized with staff to make the center's space and services more inclusive of trans and gender non-conforming people. Currently, Lance is one of the organizers of the Midwest Trans Youth Conference, and is working to get GenderSpark, a collectively organized, youth — run nonprofit organization, up and running. GenderSpark (http://www.genderspark.org), the only organization dedicated to serving trans youth in southeast Michigan, provides resources and education around the acceptance, safety, and rights of transgender and gender-variant people.

Terra Tempest Moore, 22 - Terra grew up in a large multiracial family in Maryland and DC, the middle son of five children. Labeled gay at 14 - an identity forced upon her - Terra began to feel disconnected from her family, and faced abuse from her older brother. Feeling suicidal, Terra pretended to be someone she was not in order to survive. Her life changed when a friend led her to the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (http://www.smyal.org) (SMYAL), the only organization solely dedicated to supporting LGBTQ youth in the Metro DC area. With a safe space to explore who she was, Terra stopped hiding and bravely stepped into the world as a transwoman in 2005. Coming out as transgender was difficult for Terra's family to accept — they view her transition as the loss of a family member. These experiences moved Terra to become an activist with numerous social justice organizations including SMYAL, Different Avenues, DC Trans Coalition, and Advocates for Youth, to name a few. An all-around leader amongst LGBTQ youth in DC, Terra currently serves as a Peer Educator and Co-Chair of STIGMA (Spreading Truth Is Gaining Mass Appeal), a program housed at Metro Teen AIDS (http://www.metroteenaids.org) established to reduce HIV/AIDS amongst LGBTQ youth of color.

About Colin Higgins Foundation

Colin Higgins (1941 - 1988), acclaimed screenwriter, director and producer of films such as Harold and Maude and Nine to Five, established the Colin Higgins Foundation in 1986 to further his humanitarian goals. In addition to the Youth Courage Awards, Colin Higgins Foundation supports organizations that build the power and leadership of LGBT youth (ages 13-24) through grassroots organizing and/or comprehensive leadership development and organizations dedicated to HIV/AIDS service, advocacy and prevention. Colin Higgins Foundation is administered by Tides Foundation. To learn more, visit www.colinhiggins.org.

About Tides

The Tides mission is to partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations across the country and around the globe to promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 that provides an array of services to amplify the efforts of forward-thinking individuals and organizations to make the world a better place. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and granted $108 million in 2008 alone. For more information, visit www.tides.org.

###

Copyright © 2009, Colin Higgins Foundation, Tides, Tides Foundation. Other names used in this press release may be trademarks of their respective owners.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 23, 2009

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts: Philip Mudd, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security; Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, State Department; Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, State Department; and Edward M. Avalos, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, United States Department of Agriculture.

President Obama said, "As we work to solve the problems our nation faces, my administration will be strengthened by the addition of these dedicated individuals. I am confident that they will meet the expectations the American people demand and deserve of their public servants."

...

Eric P. Schwartz, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, State Department

Eric P. Schwartz is Executive Director of the Connect U.S. Fund, a foundation/NGO initiative focused on foreign and international affairs, and Visiting Lecturer of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.  Between 2005 and 2007, he served as UN Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, working to promote coordination, accountability to donors and beneficiaries, and best practices in the recovery effort.  Prior to that, he served as lead expert on conflict prevention and reconstruction for the Congressionally mandated Task Force on United Nations Reform, and as a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  Between 1993 and 2001, Schwartz served at the National Security Council, ultimately as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs.  For eight years, he was the NSC official responsible for refugee issues, and managed Administration policy responses on the rescue of Kurdish refugees from Northern Iraq, the resettlement of Vietnamese boat people, and safe haven for Haitian refugees and Kosovars.  Prior to that, he served at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he  was responsible for most of the Committee's work on Asian refugee issues, including Vietnamese boat people, Laotian refugees and the U.S. immigration issues relating to the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong.

> Click here to read the full release.

San Francisco, CA - February 23, 2009 - Tides is pleased to announce that its Reproductive Justice Initiative granted more than $3 million in 2008 to support the U.S. reproductive justice movement. The initiative provides grants to grassroots organizing and advocacy efforts led by and for women from communities that experience disproportionately high reproductive health disparities and constraints. These are communities that have the greatest reproductive health needs, are leading many of the most effective efforts to expand reproductive freedom, but have historically received the least amount of funding. The initiative’s two component funds – The Catalyst Fund and the Reproductive Justice Fund – made grants to 36 organizations in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Currently in its sixth year of grantmaking, the Reproductive Justice Initiative has to date awarded $7.5 million to nearly 60 organizations.

The Catalyst Fund at Tides moved more than $1.4 million to women of color-led organizations and projects in eight communities across the nation in 2008. The Catalyst Fund was created to increase resources to women of color-led reproductive justice efforts. Funds raised from national funding partners are awarded as dollar for dollar challenge grants to women’s funds and community foundations, effectively doubling the resources that ultimately reach women of color-led organizations and increasing contributions from new donors to the reproductive justice movement.

“Women in the U.S. now face the best opportunity in history to advance reproductive freedom, and a strong multiracial movement is imperative to taking full advantage of this opportunity,” said Vanessa Daniel, Philanthropic Advisor, Tides Foundation. ”The Catalyst Fund gives funders an opportunity to reverse the persistent shortage of funding to women of color-led reproductive justice work, in support of a stronger, more united and effective movement for reproductive freedom.”

In 2008, the Tides Reproductive Justice Fund, a collaborative of individual and institutional donors, awarded $1.65 million to 26 organizations led by historically underrepresented women, including women of color, low-income, young, rural, immigrant women, and LGBT people Reproductive Justice Fund grantees have been essential to many of the most important reproductive rights victories of the past decade, including: defeating parental notification laws in California and a fetal rights ballot initiative in Colorado; ending the federal prison shackling of pregnant women during childbirth; and pressuring major cosmetics companies to remove reproductive toxins from their products. Reproductive Justice Fund grantees are broadening the base of support for reproductive rights and justice by building new alliances with labor, environmental, and other progressive movements.

Tides has a deep commitment to women’s rights and reproductive justice and a total $9.6 million went to those activities in 2008. This includes $3 million from the Tides Reproductive Justice Initiative and an additional $6.6 million in grantmaking from individual and institutional donors at Tides. Tides awarded over $108 million in grants in 2008, making it the largest year in its 33 year history and topping the previous year by more than $15 million.

• Learn more about the Catalyst Fund at Tides
• Learn more about the Tides Reproductive Justice Fund

2008 Catalyst Fund Grantees: 

• Women's Foundation of California - $300,000
• Women's Fund of Milwaukee - $75,000
• Chicago Foundation for Women - $100,000
• New Mexico Community Foundation - $100,000
• New York Women’s Foundation - $300,000
• Women’s Fund of Miami - $75,000
• Women’s Fund of Hawai’i - $50,000
• Fund for Southern Communities - $100,000
• Third Wave Foundation - $60,000
• Ms. Foundation for Women - $100,000
• National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health - $15,000
• Alaska Community Action on Toxics - $30,000
• SisterSong Reproductive Health Collective - $30,000

National Foundations Partnering with The Catalyst Fund at Tides

• Anonymous
• Compton Foundation
• Ford Foundation
• General Service Foundation
• Gerbode Foundation
• Irving Harris Foundation
• Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
• John Merck Fund
• Mary Wohlford Foundation
• Moriah Fund
• Overbrook Foundation
• David & Lucille Packard Foundation
• Public Welfare Foundation
• Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

2008 Reproductive Justice Fund Grantees:

• Alaska Community Action - $50,000
• Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice - $330,000*
• CA Healthy Nail Salons Collaborative - $20,000
• CA Latinas for Reproductive Justice - $50,000
• Choice USA - $230,000*
• Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights - $30,000
• Different Avenues - $20,000
• Faith Aloud - $20,000
• Generations Ahead - $40,000
• Idaho Women's Network - $40,000
• Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health - $25,000
• Legal Services for Prisoners with Children - $30,000
• MetroTeenAIDS - $30,000
• Migrant Health Promotion - $30,000
• National Advocates for Pregnant Women - $50,000
• National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum - $25,000
• National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health - $35,000
• Native American Community Board - $40,000
• Rebecca Project for Human Rights - $70,000
• SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective - $290,000*
• SPARK Reproductive Justice Now (formerly Georgians for Choice ) - $55,000
• Western States Center - $35,000
• West Virginia Focus: Reproductive Education and Equality (WV Free) - $40,000
• Women's Voices for the Earth - $30,000
• Young Women United - $35,000

* Grants to Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, ChoiceUSA and SisterSong were done in partnership with Tides Reproductive Justice Fund donors and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

About Tides
The Tides mission is to partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations across the country and around the globe to promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 that provides an array of services to amplify the efforts of forward-thinking individuals and organizations to make the world a better place. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and granted $108 million in 2008 alone. For more information, visit www.tides.org.

At Momentum, the best new thinking provokes conversation, invites debate, and creates pathways for dynamic new relationships. Momentum is more than a conference—it’s a space for creativity and connection.

WHO

Momentum 2009 hosts a group of 300 forward-thinking activists, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. These dynamic participants come together to be informed, surprised, and engaged.

WHEN

Monday September 7, 2009 at 4:00 pm, through Wednesday night, September 9, 2009
where W San Francisco

WHY

We come together to push the envelope, challenge barriers, and focus on innovative perspectives and ideas. Speakers at Momentum 2009 will shine a spotlight on the critical issues facing our society today by inviting surprising and innovative perspectives and ideas, and illuminating actions that can lead to change.

HOW

• Plenary style presentations with theatrical quality production
• Simulcast space for bloggers and multi-taskers
• Structured opportunities for in-depth conversations with key presenters
• Entertaining and informative evening events

Please join us.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA; DECEMBER 3, 2008; The NonprofitCenters Network and Tides Shared Spaces released the first in a series of guidebooks today on the economic, environmental and community benefits of shared workspace and services.  Planting a Seed: Foundations Build Communities with Shared Nonprofit Workspace illuminates the benefits and challenges foundations experience in creating mission-focused office facilities for themselves and other nonprofit organizations. The free guidebook showcases foundations that have succeeded and provides concrete examples of the resulting benefits to the nonprofits, communities, and the foundations themselves.

“As the challenges facing the world continue to mount, philanthropic organizations are seizing on new ways to help their communities and the nonprofit organizations within them.  We are fostering nonprofit sustainability through real estate investment and are seeing real benefits from long-term infrastructure cost savings.” --China Brotsky, Senior Vice President at Tides and Managing Director of Tides Shared Spaces.

Especially suited for foundations and nonprofits planning to weather hard economic times, Planting a Seed is an inspirational and practical tool for foundations interested in using their own headquarters or investing in nonprofit building projects to promote healthy, vibrant communities. Nonprofit centers become strategic investments for foundations that reflect their mission and values. Foundations have turned office buildings into community assets by developing diverse spaces providing everything from quality workspace to community conference centers to incubators for social change.

Nonprofit centers also increase long-term savings, create employment opportunities for local residents and support local businesses. These shared workspaces showcase the work of foundations’ tenants and grantees. Set in green spaces and grounded in eco-friendly values, nonprofit centers enhance sustainability by modeling energy efficiency and by using sustainable materials to create healthy workplaces.

The guide includes seventeen profiles of facility projects across the United States which model best practices in providing quality office and community space for nonprofit organizations. Revealing the logistics and inner workings, the guide details key information about their histories, operations and financing.

Sample visionary nonprofit centers include:

• The Wilson Historic District, which grew from the Meadows family’s desire to combine historic preservation with adaptive reuse of some of the last remaining examples of Victorian architecture in the city of Dallas. Their efforts created a nonprofit campus, revitalized a once deteriorating neighborhood, and served as a model for many other foundations.
• The Knight Nonprofit Center, which was created after Hurricane Katrina to house nonprofit organizations left homeless by the devastation of the storm. Once the renovations are completed in January 2009, the Center will be a stable, state of the art home to 22 organizations working to rebuild the region.
• The Thoreau Center for Sustainability in San Francisco, which was created during the early stages of the green building movement. By living its commitment to a healthy and sustainable environment, Tides was the first foundation to combine a nonprofit center with green design.

Download a free copy of the guidebook at www.nonprofitcenters.org/publications.

About Tides Shared Spaces: Tides Shared Spaces creates, operates and promotes sustainable workspace for nonprofits and strengthens nonprofit capacity in the real estate arena. Tides Shared Spaces is part of the Tides network of organizations which actively promotes change toward broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Founded in 1976, Tides provides an array of services that amplify the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces together provide fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operate and support green nonprofit centers and have granted more than $600 million since 2000 alone. For more information, visit www.tidessharedspaces.org.

About The NonprofitCenters Network:  The NonprofitCenters Network offers training, technical assistance, consulting, education resources, and connections to help communities develop and manage their own nonprofit centers. Our vision is a future when every nonprofit organization has access to the workspace it needs to support and promote healthy, vibrant communities. The NonprofitCenters Network is a program of Tides Shared Spaces. www.nonprofitcenters.org.

For media inquiries, contact Christine Coleman at 415.561.6354.

September 10, 2008 - Members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization founded by family members of those killed, who have united to turn their grief into action for peace, lend their support to a global campaign working to ban cluster bombs. They will join with international campaigners at an event in New York on Friday, September 12th to raise awareness about the campaign.

"I have seen very young children in Afghanistan with artificial arms and legs from having picked up cluster submunitions that are brightly colored and attract children who think they are toys," said Adele Welty, a member of Peaceful Tomorrows whose fire fighter son died in the 9/11 attacks. "No one in this country is aware of the constant danger to people in many countries, most of them children, from thousands of these explosive devices still buried and live, waiting in deadly traps under the earth."

Campaigners say signing the cluster bomb treaty will re-establish America's standing in the world and improve its foreign relations. They are appealing to all presidential candidates to consider the treaty as an initial step in a new and better foreign policy.

"If the US wants to promote security at home and abroad it should be signing international treaties that protect civilians during and after armed conflict," said Lora Lumpe, Coordinator of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs. "Banning cluster munitions would be a strong message to the world that the US is a force for peace, not aggression."

Cluster munitions are outdated and indiscriminate weapons that kill too many civilians at the time of use and for years after when they fail to explode on impact.

"Cluster bombs are an inappropriate weapon for the type of war we fight today, when you're fighting for the people, amongst the people," said Simon Conway, former soldier and a Cluster Munition Coalition spokesperson. "If you are fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, you're not going to achieve that with indiscriminate killers like cluster bombs."

Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has used cluster bombs in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 and in Iraq in 2003, causing hundreds of civilians casualties.

The Bush Administration has been a staunch opponent to the treaty, which was formally adopted by 107 nations in Dublin on 30 May 2008. The negotiations were attended by Senator Patrick Leahy who, with Senator Dianne Feinstein, championed a measure signed into law that prohibits the export of cluster bombs.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions will be signed by the majority of the world's governments in Norway, on 3 December 2008. It will immediately ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs and ensure medical, socio-economic and psychological support is given to victims, including clearance of contaminated land.

What are cluster bombs?

Cluster munitions are large weapons which are deployed from the air and from the ground and release up to hundreds of smaller submunitions. Submunitions released by airdropped cluster bombs are most often called "bomblets," while those delivered from the ground by artillery or rockets are usually referred to as "grenades."

What's the problem with this weapon?

Air-dropped or ground-launched, they cause two major humanitarian problems and risks to civilians. First, their widespread dispersal means they cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians so the humanitarian impact can be extreme, especially when the weapon is used in or near populated areas. Many submunitions fail to detonate on impact and become de facto antipersonnel mines killing and maiming people long after the conflict has ended. These duds are more lethal than antipersonnel mines; incidents involving submunition duds are much more likely to cause death than injury.

Who has used cluster munitions?

At least 14 countries have used cluster munitions: Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Israel, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia (USSR), Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, UK, US, and FR Yugoslavia. A small number of non-state armed groups have used the weapon (such as Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006). Billions of submunitions are stockpiled by some 76 countries. A total of 34 states are known to have produced over 210 different types cluster munitions. More than two dozen countries have been affected by the use of cluster munitions including Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Uganda, and Vietnam, as well as Chechnya, Falkland/Malvinas, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Western Sahara.

Why is a ban on cluster munitions necessary?

Simply put, cluster munitions kill and injure too many civilians. The weapon caused more civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapon system. Cluster munitions stand out as the weapon that poses the gravest dangers to civilians since antipersonnel mines, which were banned in 1997. Yet there is currently no provision in international law to specifically address problems caused by cluster munitions. Israel's massive use of the weapon in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year following the ceasefire and served as the catalyst that has propelled governments to attempt to secure a legally-binding international instrument tackling cluster munitions in 2008.

States that adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions (107):

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYR), Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zambia.

Contact:
September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
office(at)peacefultomorrows.org
Phone: 212.598.0970

A new report released today, "U.S. Population, Energy & Climate Change", shows how the nation's high per-capita energy use and its sizable, expanding population are combining to have a profound affect both on American's daily lives and on a broader scale, the world's climate. The report highlights the scientific evidence of how the nation's energy and demographic trends, together, are emerging as a new "twin-set" of major policy issues for the country. The science-based report was produced by the Center for Environment and Population (CEP), an independent non-profit research and policy organization.

"We all know that less 'unsustainable' energy use in America will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and slow climate change. Yet, we haven't seriously considered the biggest overlooked 'climate change factor' – that is, population", said Vicky Markham, author of the report. "In the climate change equation, population is the 'big multiplier' - particularly when linked with American's unique high per-capita energy use and resource consumption - because it intensifies the rate, scale, and scope of both the root causes and effects of climate change in the U.S. and worldwide. Because of this, America's biggest 'population' issue today is its connection to energy use and climate change."

The new report documents how major U.S. demographic factors – including growth along the U.S. coasts, metropolitan areas, and in the West; increase in high-energy consuming households and per-capita vehicle use, and; widespread land development to accommodate the growth – are all inextricably linked to the causes and effects of climate change.

"Population factors simply aren't taken seriously as part of the energy and climate change equation, and must be, if we are to be effective in balancing our energy needs with the ability to sustain a growing U.S. and global population", said Ms. Markham. "If we don't, any gains made on energy or climate change will be undermined because of our growth in numbers of people, coupled with our high per-person energy use. In the U.S., we need to look at climate change and population as two sides of the same coin - that's not how it's been done up to now." 

This means "making population and demography a core part of the energy and climate change national debate, policy, and action, including considerations of where the U.S. growth is occurring (metro areas, coasts, South and West); how we live (vehicle use, land development, household energy use); every American's choices made regarding energy use, environmental sustainability, and family size, and; youth as a key audience", according to the report.

Other report highlights include:

• There is growing evidence that population, linked to energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, is a key factor in climate change. In the U.S., population is related to the causes of climate change mainly through high per-capita energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Population factors exacerbate climate change's effects in the nation when there is population pressure on the natural resource base at specific sites, for example, when there is high population density and continued rapid growth in coastal, urban, suburban or ecologically vulnerable areas in the U.S.

• In the global context of these issues, the U.S. stands out:  it has by far the largest population amongst other industrialized nations worldwide, the only sizable one with significant population growth, <u>and;</u> it uses more energy than any other nation and is the largest carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas emitter of industrialized nations in the world. This has major implications for global climate change because the American population's energy consumption habits are so disproportionate to the rest of the worlds'. The U.S. represents 5% of the world population, consumes 25% of the world's energy, and generates five times the world average of C02 emissions (the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change).

• With 8,000 people added each day in the U.S. and 3 million people added each year, there’s real potential to reach 1 billion high-energy consuming Americans by 2100. Meeting the energy demands of this large and rapidly growing population that consumes elevated levels of resources and energy - while at the same time reducing the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change - will prove daunting in the coming decades.

• U.S. "households" are a key demographic in the rise of per-capita energy use. The U.S. residential sector is the largest such energy use sector worldwide, with household appliances the fastest growing energy consumers nationwide, after vehicles.

• The South and West are  U.S. "population-climate change" hot spots, because they are the fastest growing, most heavily populated U.S. regions, <u>and</u> especially vulnerable to climate change impacts of sea level rise, increased incidence of severe storms and hurricanes, and severe droughts.

• Evidence shows that more American youth - a total demographic of over half of the U.S. population - are now beginning to make decisions about energy use and even family size based on new rationales that for the first time include "environmental sustainability" and "climate change".

To see the Report online, go to www.cepnet.org.

The "U.S. Population, Energy & Climate Change" report is produced by the Center for Environment and Population (CEP), a project of the Tides Center.  For more information see www.cepnet.org.

Contact:
Vicky Markham
Phone: 203-966-3425
Email: vmarkham(at)cepnet.org

Statement from Tides CEO Drummond Pike

Returning from a two week vacation, I have learned that the New York Times reported that I am the anonymous person who purchased from ACORN the collectable debt that was restitution for a terrible misappropriation of funds eight years ago. The story is true.

Completely independent of Tides, I engaged in this purchase personally in order to assist the incoming leadership of ACORN as they work with funders and others to improve their governance and financial practices. ACORN is now financially whole and able to move forward. Any risk of non-payment of the obligation is now mine to bear.

My desire to keep this confidential was solely to keep my employer, Tides, out of any conversation or news reporting about the ACORN matter. The Tides Board was informed about this matter before the New York Times article appeared.

Sincerely,
Drummond Pike
CEO, Tides

Statement from Tides Board Chair john powell

As a public charity Tides is built on the trust of partners like you, and continues to be as we work to promote positive change towards a healthy and just society. A recent New York Times story stated Tides CEO Drummond Pike personally purchased the promissory note held by ACORN and that Tides was not involved. The story was accurate: Tides funds were not – nor would ever be – used for this purpose; and, Pike informed members of the Tides board of this personal financial activity.

Sincerely,
john powell
Tides Board Chair

• Maria Teresa Petersen discuss the new face of the electorate;
• Eboo Patel’s inspirational vision of interfaith youth activism;
• Mary Anne Hitt use GoogleEarth to illustrate the devastating affects of mountaintop removal coal mining;
• Melissa Bradley bring real suggestions for building wealth across society;
• Stephen Lewis deliver a forceful and moving indictment of violence against women across the globe;
• Colin Finlay share his striking images from the tip of the arctic to the plains of Africa; and
• Deborah Small draw the similarities between the War on Drugs and the War in Iraq.

We will be posting more videos of Momentum presentations in the coming weeks. A complete list of Momentum speakers and their plenary topics is available on the site as well.

We will also be posting information on the next Momentum conference as soon as it becomes available. So please sign up for updates and spread the word.

"Andrea was a truly remarkable individual," said Quinn Delaney, Tides board member. "What I found most remarkable about her was the genuine respect she had for each person and for people who were brave enough to fight for truth to power. Her work on the Tides' board had a significant impact in shaping the organization, and we will miss her wisdom and candid commentary."

Donations in Andrea's honor may be sent to the Applied Research Center for her organization, "Nina's Place."  To read Andrea's vision, please visit the website http://www.arc.org/content/view/534.  Applied Research Center, 32 Broadway, Suite 1801, New York, NY 10004, Attn:  Rinku Sen.

Thoreau Center for Sustainability in the Presidio, San Francisco, was selected to participate in next month’s 2008 Architecture and the City Festival. Sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Center for Architecture and Design, the festival highlights work by architects and organizations who see design as a means to creating community-based change, and by doing so positively affect the urban landscape. The 2008 theme Design for Community aims to showcase the way in which buildings impact our streets and neighborhoods, and, more importantly, how they help to shape our communities into better, livable places.

Since opening its doors in 1996, the Thoreau Center, formerly the Letterman Army Hospital, has been a model of historic preservation and environmental design, noted for being one of the first to introduce green building principles to an historical building. Today, the Center houses over 60 nonprofits working for a healthy environment and a just world.

Marsha Maytum of Leddy Maytum and Stacy Architects and Bruce DeMartini of Tides will be conducting tours of the Thoreau Center on September 2 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. Maytum was lead designer of Thoreau Center, The Bay School and Building 38, in the Presidio.

To learn more, go to www.aiasf.org/archandcity

About Thoreau Centers for Sustainability
Thoreau Centers for Sustainability are green nonprofit centers that house more than 70 nonprofit organizations in San Francisco and New York. The centers serve as models to others interested in starting similar real-estate endeavors.

Thoreau Centers for Sustainability are operated by Tides Shared Spaces, the Tides initiative that creates, operates and promotes sustainable workspace for nonprofits and strengthens nonprofit capacity in the real estate arena.

The Tides vision is a world of broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected.

About Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The company's portfolio of SaaS applications, including its award-winning CRM, available at www.salesforce.com/products/, has revolutionized the ways that customers manage and share business information over the Internet.  The company’s Force.com PaaS enables customers, developers and partners to build powerful on-demand applications that deliver the benefits of multi-tenancy across the enterprise. Applications built on the Force.com platform, available at www.force.com, can be easily shared, exchanged and installed with a few simple clicks via salesforce.com's Force.com AppExchange marketplace available at www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.

As of July 31, 2008, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 47,700 customers including ABN AMRO, Dow Jones Newswires, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, Sprint Nextel, and SunTrust Banks.  Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all.  Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available.  Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM". For more information please visit www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

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Copyright (c) 2008 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

"As the nation and the world struggle to reduce green house gas emissions in an effort to slow climate change, and to find alternatives to fossil fuel energy sources, nuclear power is back on the table as a viable energy option," said Drummond Pike, CEO and founder, Tides. "However, nuclear power remains a dangerous and flawed solution. From the mining of uranium to storage of spent fuel, it creates an unacceptable chain of destruction and risk. Glenn Carroll, Paul Gunter, and Arjun Makhijani are working to halt nuclear energy production and to call attention to its abuses and dangers; and we are so pleased to honor them with the JBL Award."

This year marks the 18th anniversary of the JBL Awards which are named after Jane Bagley Lehman, one of the founders of Tides Foundation and the Chair of the Board until her death in 1988. An unconventional philanthropist, her insatiable curiosity was matched by a willingness to take risks. Jane was most intrigued by the approaches and strategies of advocates and organizers and their willingness to challenge traditional assumptions. She also cared deeply that the results of these efforts be translated into the broader area of public policy.

The 2007/2008 JBL Award Winners:

GLENN CARROLL  - Through a unique mix of art and activism, Glenn Carroll has fought to stop nuclear proliferation for over two decades. After the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, Glenn joined 'Georgians Against Nuclear Energy', (now Nuclear Watch South) where she has contributed graphics and illustrations to educate the public about nuclear issues, testified at public hearings and led legal interventions at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since 1988. Glenn’s multi-faceted approach to the nuclear problem reached critical mass when she presented a painting exhibit on nuclear energy and environmental issues at Georgia Tech and undertook a legal intervention opposing the reactor on its downtown Atlanta campus. After raising the issue during the 1996 Olympics, a clear victory was obtained when Georgia Tech elected to permanently shut the reactor in 1997. Glenn has also served on the Board of the Campaign for a Prosperous Georgia, and as President of the Georgia Environmental Council.

PAUL GUNTER - An activist and energy policy analyst, Paul Gunter has been an ardent critic of atomic power development for over thirty years. He is a lead spokesman on nuclear reactor hazards and security issues, and a prominent regulatory watchdog over the nuclear power industry. In 1976, he co-founded the antinuclear Clamshell Alliance which opposed the construction of the Seabrook atomic power plant on the New Hampshire seacoast through non-violent direct action, and marked the country’s first opposition movement to nuclear power. Before joining the 'Beyond Nuclear' program at the Nuclear Policy Institute, Paul served for 16 years as director of the Reactor Watchdog Project with Nuclear Information and Resource.

ARJUN MAKHIJANI - A recognized authority on energy and nuclear issues, Arjun Makhijani is the principal author of the first study of energy efficiency potential of the U.S. economy, and of the book: Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy (2007), the first study to show that it is technically and economically feasible to phase out fossil fuels and nuclear power, and a rallying point for groups advocating against a resurgence of nuclear power. Arjun was named a Ploughshares Hero in 2006 for his work in nuclear armament, and last year, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical society. He has testified before Congress, consulted for numerous organizations, and appeared on local and national media, including 60 minutes, All Things Considered, and CBS and ABC Evening News. Arjun is currently the President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.

About Tides
Tides actively promotes change toward broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 and provides an array of services that amplifies the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces have collaborated with over 15,000 individuals and organizations that have touched millions of lives across the country and around the globe. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and has granted more than $600 million since 2000 alone. For more information, visit www.tides.org.

Copyright © 2008, Tides, Tides Foundation, Tides Center, Tides Shared Spaces. Other names used in this press release may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Inquiries:
Christine Coleman
Tides
415-561-6354
ccoleman(at)tides.org

Emily Howe
212-245-0510
ehowe(at)pro-mediacommunications.com

Press Contact:
Vanessa Daniel
Tides Foundation
415-561-6302
vdaniel(at)tides.org

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – June 26, 2008 - This year's winners of The Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards have shown remarkable bravery throughout their young lives, facing down the range of problems confronting LGBTQ youth of color in the United States. Devon Bearden, Kyle Rapinan and Perre Shelton are three young people who have transformed their adversity – displacement from their homes, confrontation with the foster care system, violence from family members and peers – into inspiration for their art, activism and advocacy. Named for the acclaimed writer/director of Harold and Maude and Nine to Five, the Colin Higgins Foundation was established in 1986 to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. The 2008 awardees represent a new generation of peer activists, working to create safe spaces for fellow queer youth while themselves facing the extreme hardships.

Recipients of the 2008 Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards each received a grant of $10,000 and will be honored at The Trevor Project Awards Gala in New York City on June 30th (www.trevorproject.org). The Trevor Project operates the nation’s only 24/7 suicide and crisis prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. The recipients will also be awarded an expense-paid trip to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s “Creating Change Conference” in 2009.

Of his work with Chicago's Youth Pride Center, winner Perre Shelton says, "I see the kinds of choices young people are confronted with and the love they are looking for. I want to teach people to love themselves so they can make healthy choices."

Colin Higgins Foundation's Youth Courage Awards program is administered by Tides Foundation which partners with donors and institutions by offering donor-advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for progressive social change philanthropy. Since the year 2000, Tides Foundation has served as one of the nation's leading funders of LGBT and AIDS / HIV activism nationally and globally. Tides has granted more than $7 million to LGBT issues and more than $21 million to AIDS / HIV issues. Tides LGBT work also includes the Out of Home Youth Fund which focuses on improving the lives of LGBT youth living in foster care, in the juvenile justice system and on the streets.

The 2008 Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award winners include:

DEVON BEARDEN, 16. Devon has spent her life living for extended periods of time with her nana when her chronically ill mother was unable to care for her.  While living with her nana, an out lesbian and activist who is the co-founder and current director of the Center for Artistic Revolution, CAR, in Little Rock , Arkansas , Devon searched in vain for resources for LGBTQ youth. While CAR serves the LGBTQ community, its youth program was very small. When Devon asked her nana about National Day of Silence, her nana told her, "Our resources are very limited, if you want to make this happen, then you have to step up." Devon then organized the school's first "Day of Silence," and mobilized a youth contingent to oppose a law that would have barred LGBTQ people from becoming adoptive or foster parents. She then started a GSA at Central High School. She participated in the ACLU's Freedom Files documentary about the fight for LGBTQ equality and was recently awarded the Arkansas ACLU's Champion of Liberty Award for her advocacy. Devon is also one of the founding members of CAR's youth and young adult program DYSC, Diverse Youth for Social Change. The program now boasts over 70 members, most of whom are LGBTQ youth. Recently Devon moved to Greensville , South Carolina to be with her mother and started the first GSA at her new high school there.  Devon wants to "live to see the day when people realize how backwards it was to treat queers the way they do now." In all her work, Devon is purposeful about making the connections between racism, classism and gender identity and in stressing the importance of reaching youth of color.

KYLE RAPINAN, 17. Raised in Seattle Washington, Kyle ran away from home his freshman year of high school to escape his older brother, whose beatings were so severe that Kyle - whom he called "little faggot" - was hospitalized several times each year. While homeless and fighting in the courts to gain protection from his brother and an agreement from his mother to allow him to transfer into foster care, Kyle began working for the rights of LGBT youth. During this time, school was a safer haven for Kyle and he began working to ensure that all LGBT students could enjoy a safe school and learning environment. Kyle leads his high school's Gay Straight Alliance, which provides training for teachers and administrators, organizes dances and safe spaces for LGBT youth. He is the Washington state representative for GLSEN National and a member of Safe Schools Coalition with American Friends Service Committee. He has advocated for LGBT youth in his home state and in others, such as Florida, where he collected signatures for a commitment for safer schools. Kyle says it has been important for him to bring his full experience as someone who grew up poor and as a person of color, into discussions of LGBT rights. Kyle is exploring a career in politics to advance social justice.

PERRE SHELTON, 20. Hailing from Calumet City, Illinois, Perre was a three sport athlete his freshman year of high school when he became the target of a group of ten boys, who began regularly "bashing" him on his way home from school, leaving him bruised and bloodied. Not ready to be out to his family, Perre hid his injuries, telling his mother they were from sports. Chicago became Perre’s home as an activist and artist, and has deeply informed his growth in both areas. At 15 Perre came out and began entering slam poetry competitions. He quickly rose to the top of the local slam scene, winning Chicago's citywide "Louder than Bomb" competition and becoming the youngest Def Jam poet featured on HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry". Today Perre works with the Youth Pride Center, chairing the youth council that shapes programs, leads writing workshops, and mentors young poets. He is supporting YPC's move to Chicago's South Side, where there are few resources for African American LGBT youth. Perre is a student at Harold Washington College and plans to teach high school English after graduating and to someday operate his own youth center. He also currently works with Taproots Inc., traveling to colleges, high schools and churches spreading HIV/AIDS awareness through poetry and interactive conversation with young people.

The winners of this year's Colin Higgins Courage Awards join a stellar group of previous winners, all of whom have demonstrated the capacity to inspire others to discover their own value through their example, their tenacity and their leadership. A list of previous winners can be found at www.colinhiggins.org.

About Colin Higgins Foundation
Colin Higgins, acclaimed screenwriter, director and producer of films such as Harold and Maude and Nine to Five, established the Colin Higgins Foundation in 1986 to further his humanitarian goals. In addition to the Youth Courage Awards, Colin Higgins Foundation supports organizations that build the power and leadership of LGBT youth (ages 13-24) through grassroots organizing and/or comprehensive leadership development to bring about institutional change in the legal, political, economic, or cultural structures that impact their lives. The foundation focuses on historically underprivileged constituencies including, youth of color, transgender, immigrant, low-income or rural youth and/or youth in reservation communities. To learn more, please visit www.colinhiggins.org.

About Tides Foundation
Tides actively promotes change toward broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 and provides an array of services that amplifies the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces have collaborated with over 15,000 individuals and organizations that have touched millions of lives across the country and around the globe. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and has granted more than $600 million since 2000 alone. For more information, visit www.tides.org.

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Copyright © 2008, Colin Higgins Foundation, Tides, Tides Foundation. Other names used in this press release may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes. Within that group are thousands of Iraqi professionals who worked side-by-side their American allies to rebuild their homeland after the US-led invasion. Unfortunately, when the tides turned, this innocent group of people was caught in the middle—between insurgents who saw them as traitors and the American organizations they worked for that didn’t have the wherewithal or will to help them.

The List Project, a New York-based non-profit, is filling in where government agencies have left off. The Project works to assist Iraqi refugees who have risked their lives to help Americans and have since come under attack by their fellow Iraqis. Correspondent Scott Pelley followed List Project founder Kirk Johnson to Jordan to meet the refugees awaiting acceptance into the US. Tune in to CBS on Sunday evening to hear their stories.

To learn more about The List Project and how you can help those who helped the US, visit www.thelistproject.org.

“60 Minutes” airs at 7pm on CBS in the DC, NYC, and LA markets. For more information, visit: www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/60minutes/main13502.shtml

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Christopher Herrera
Tides Foundation
415.561.6400
cherrera(at)tides.org

SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY 30, 2008 — Tides Foundation announces the winner of the second annual $10,000 Pizzigati Prize. Barry Warsaw, a software developer dedicated to identifying and solving the technological problems that confront social change movements, has won the Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest.

Barry Warsaw is being recognized for his work as the lead developer of GNU Mailman, the open source application that hundreds of nonprofits around the world are now using to manage electronic mail discussions and e-newsletter lists.

The Pizzigati Prize — an award program launched two years ago by Tides Foundation’s Florence and Frances Family Fund — aims to honor individuals who, in the spirit of open source computing, fashion outstanding applications that help nonprofits become more effective in their ongoing social change efforts.

Mr. Warsaw’s free Mailman application, the judges for this year’s Pizzigati Prize observed, has built up a large, experienced base of users who have been more than willing to help new users make the best possible use of the software. And Mailman’s design and development team actively listens to — and interacts with — everyday users.

These interactions reflect Warsaw’s core software development values.  A software engineer for over 25 years, Warsaw emphasizes the importance of healthy communities in software development. “I hope that the Mailman project has served as a good model for open source software development. More than that, I hope that the community of Mailman users reflects my deeply held ideals of how we start by treating each other with empathy, kindness, and respect, and how we create positive social change by sharing those lessons with the wider world around us.”

The Pizzigati Prize honors the brief life of Tony Pizzigati, an early advocate of open source computing who spent his college years at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, where he worked at the world-famous MIT Media Lab and later the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. Three years after his 1992 graduation, Pizzigati, then 24 and a software consultant, died in an auto accident on his way into Silicon Valley.

The four judges on the Pizzigati Prize judging panel (Allison Fine, George Hotelling, Joseph Mouzon, and Katrin Verclas) have each earned wide respect within the nonprofit computing world.

More information about the judges and the judging criteria appear on the Pizzigati Prize Web site at www.pizzigatiprize.org. Also available on the site: links to the work of this year’s six prize finalists. This Year’s Pizzigati Prize finalists, besides Barry Warsaw, included:

• August Detlefsen, for the Open Architecture Network, the first open source community dedicated to improving living conditions for the world’s poor through innovative and sustainable design.
• Nate Aune, for Plone4Artists, a suite of products for Plone, an open source content management system.
• Heather Cronk, for PledgeBank, a nonprofit Web site designed to get groups of people motivated to meet challenges they otherwise might not undertake.
• Subramanya Sastry, for NewsRack, a Web application that helps researchers and nonprofits more precisely track the news that impacts their work.
• T.J. Downes, for Kalender, an open source application that nonprofits can use for planning and scheduling a wide variety of events.

The deadline for the third annual Pizzigati Prize will be September 1, 2008. Application forms and background information will be available shortly on the Pizzigati Prize Web site.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Vanessa Daniel: 415-561-6302, vdaniel(at)tides.org

SAN FRANCISCO, CA; JANUARY 2, 2008; The Catalyst Fund at Tides Foundation has awarded $800,000 in matching grants to eight local public foundations to support reproductive justice work led by women of color. The Women of Color Working Group of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights - a group of 15 foundations; created the Catalyst Fund earlier this year to address the shortage of funding to the sector of women who experience the greatest health disparities.

“The Women of Color Working Group believes that organizations led by those women most impacted by reproductive health disparities have the expertise to create solutions and policies that best address their community’s needs.” said Vanessa Daniel, the Tides Foundation Program Advisor who manages the fund.

“The persistent shortage of funding for an entire sector of women is weakening the ability of all women in the US to secure their reproductive rights. As funders we have the power and responsibility to reverse this trend, and with Catalyst, we now have a key opportunity.” said Working Group member Adisa Douglas of the Public Welfare Foundation.

The Catalyst Fund’s first round of grants will result in almost $1.5 million in new funding to women of color led organizations, because each local foundation must match the amount awarded by Catalyst dollar for dollar. The Catalyst Fund will also provide fundraising and strategic communications training to assist local funding partners in successfully meeting the match and in sustaining increased funding for these organizations in the future.

The first round of grantees includes:

• Chicago Foundation for Women $100,000
• New Mexico Community Foundation $100,000
• New York Women’s Foundation $100,000
• Women’s Foundation of California $100,000
• Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee $60,000 
• Women’s Fund of Hawai’i $100,000
• Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County $100,000
• Women’s Fund of New Jersey $140,000

Foundations represented in the Women of Color Working Group include:

• California Wellness Foundation
• Chicago Foundation for Women
• David & Lucille Packard Foundation
• Ford Foundation
• General Service Foundation
• Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
• Moriah Fund
• Ms. Foundation
• Overbrook Foundation
• Public Welfare Foundation
• Third Wave Foundation
• Tides Foundation
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Women’s Foundation of California

About Tides Foundation:
Tides offers an array of services that amplifies the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces make up the Tides organizations. Tides Foundation partners with donors to increase and organize resources for positive social change, facilitating effective grantmaking programs, creating opportunities for learning, and building community among donors and grantees. We bring together people, ideas, and resources to actively promote change toward a healthy and just society. For more information, visit www.tidesfoundation.org.

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San Francisco, CA — December 5, 2007— The HIV Collaborative Fund, a partnership of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition and Tides, announced today that it has received a three-year grant for $5.2 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support community-based organizations in sub-Saharan Africa engaged in advocacy and educational activities to increase access to HIV treatment and prevention services.

The HIV Collaborative Fund uses a unique funding mechanism in which all funding decisions are guided by the members of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), a global coalition of people living with AIDS and their advocates, to strengthen access to comprehensive and equitable treatment, care and prevention services. The HIV Collaborative Fund is a project of Tides. Fiscal sponsorship is provided by Tides Center and grants are administered through Tides Foundation.

“People living with HIV and grassroots organizations have a unique and important role to play in advocating for HIV services, fighting stigma, partnering in the delivery of lifesaving prevention and care services, and strengthening governmental leadership on AIDS,” said Joe Cerrell, Director of Global Health Policy and Advocacy at the Gates Foundation.

“Support from the Gates Foundation will allow ITPC to strengthen its network capacity across sub-Saharan Africa and create models for service delivery, advocacy and communications that we will apply around the world,” said Greg Gray, ITPC’s International Coordinator.

ITPC members around the world advocate for increased access to HIV treatment, evidence-based prevention services, and the human rights of people living with AIDS. The Coalition’s semi-annual Missing the Target reports provide an on-the-ground assessment of the impact of HIV treatment programs in countries around the world. The recommendations for improved care in these reports have been adopted by several institutions, and published in several publications, including the independent and widely respected medical journal The Lancet.

Since 2003, over 500 organizations around the world have received grants through the HIV Collaborative Fund. Examples of funded programs include:

• The Women’s Network for Unity (WNU) in Cambodia, a community organization in Phnom Penh, created a project focused on expanding access to HIV/AIDS treatment for sex workers.
• The South India Positive Network serves aravanigal (members of the indigenous male-to-female transgender community) and men who have sex with men in Chennai with prevention services and treatment education.
• Solidarity for AIDS Organization in the Teso region of eastern Uganda, formed when no other service provider was operating in the area because of political instability and armed rebel groups. SAO’s founders were community members living in displacement camps and conduct community education, distribute condoms and works to increase treatment for HIV in those camps.

About The HIV Collaborative Fund
The HIV Collaborative Fund was founded in 2003 and provides small grants to community-based organizations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Funding is also provided for technical assistance, program evaluation and regional network support. Over 15 donors support these activities including the World Health Organization, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Steven Lewis Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Ford Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The HIV Collaborative Fund is a project of Tides (www.tides.org) and all funding decisions are guided by the members of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition. Descriptions of all funded projects are available at www.hivcollaborativefund.org.

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Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York is an environmentally sustainable workspace shared by twelve nonprofit organizations and programs. Located at 55 Exchange Place in the old JP Morgan Building, across from the New York Stock Exchange, it is the first shared community and conference space for nonprofits in Lower Manhattan. It is also one of the first office spaces in New York City registered for LEED CI (Commercial Interiors) certification. LEED is the national benchmark for certifying high-performance green interiors which reduce environmental impact, are less costly to operate and provide healthy and productive work spaces.

Tides is pioneering social investment opportunities in creating green nonprofit centers by offering values-based investors an opportunity to earn a strong financial return while supporting dozens of nonprofit groups. Bridge financing for Thoreau Center New York was provided by Wells Fargo Bank with long term financing from Calvert Foundation, Tides Foundation and tax exempt bonds issued by New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA).

“Green nonprofit centers help increase efficiencies in the nonprofit sector and reduce nonprofit organizations’ exposure to rental market fluctuations,” said Gita Rao, Investment Officer, Calvert Foundation.  “We are pleased to be a part of the Thoreau Center real estate project conceived and developed by Tides Shared Spaces. We have been able to rely on their experience and competency to deliver a finished project with both social and environmental benefits.”

“Nonprofits have an especially hard time finding affordable office space,” said China Brotsky, Vice President at Tides and Managing Director of Tides Shared Spaces.  “That’s why we both create shared spaces for nonprofits and have a program dedicated to helping others start their own green nonprofit centers. Together, groups can gain real purchasing power to access higher quality workspace, infrastructure and technology; and they also expand their network, gaining access to new ideas, potential partners and opportunities.”

Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York houses Tides’ East Coast office and eleven other organizations, some of which also use Tides for their grantmaking and fiscal sponsorship needs. Tides sophisticated financial and management tools help nonprofits focus on their vision and have greater efficiency and impact in their work.

“By buying and renovating Thoreau Center New York, Tides Shared Spaces made it possible for us to acquire a long-term home and a conference center to serve our community,” said Lillian Rodriguez Lopez, Executive Director at Hispanic Federation. “Knowing we have such a partnership makes our capital campaign donors comfortable with giving.”

NYC Nonprofits Want Green Shared Spaces:
Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York fulfills important needs for nonprofits. In response to dozens of inquiries about leasing the highly desirable Thoreau Center space, Tides Shared Spaces conducted a survey of New York City nonprofits to learn more about their needs. The survey results showed that there is a critical need for more centers to house the thousands of nonprofit organizations in New York City. Half the respondents reported that their current workspace is inadequate and 43 percent of respondents rated green buildings as an important or crucial aspect of choosing an office space. Nonprofit centers give New York nonprofits the opportunity to lease or buy quality space in important areas where nonprofits are often priced out of the rental market, and Thoreau Center for Sustainability ensures that nonprofits are part of the mix of residential and business space in Lower Manhattan. For more information about the survey, please visit http://www.tidessharedspaces.org.

Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York Opening Event:
An opening celebration for Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York will be held on Wednesday, October 3, 2007. For more information about attending the event or a tour of the facility, please call 212-509-1049.

For inquiries about Tides’ services or Thoreau Center for Sustainability in New York, please contact 212-509-1049or nyinfo(at)tides.org.

About Tides
The Tides vision is a world of broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic processes and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected. Tides is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 and provides an array of services that amplifies the efforts of forward-thinking philanthropists, foundations, activists and organizations to make the world a better place. Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Shared Spaces have collaborated with over 15,000 individuals and organizations that have touched millions of lives across the country and around the globe. With offices in San Francisco and New York City, Tides provides fiscal sponsorship for over 200 groups across the country, operates and supports green nonprofit centers and has granted more than $500 million since 2000 alone.

About Tides Shared Spaces
Tides Shared Spaces is the Tides initiative that creates, operates and promotes sustainable workspace for nonprofits and strengthens nonprofit capacity in the real estate arena. Tides Shared Spaces operates Thoreau Centers for Sustainability in San Francisco and New York. These green nonprofit centers house the Tides offices and more than 70 other organizations. In addition, Tides Shared Spaces directs The NonprofitCenters Network, a program that provides education and peer networking for people who run nonprofit centers, those who are in the process of creating one and their philanthropic and real estate partners.

About Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York
Thoreau Center for Sustainability New York is a green nonprofit center with twelve tenants in Lower Manhattan. It was modeled on the success of Thoreau Center for Sustainability in San Francisco, a thriving 150,000 square foot nonprofit center with over 60 tenants. Both centers are operated by Tides Shared Spaces and serve as models to others interested in starting similar endeavors. Thoreau Center New York’s renovation used an environmentally sustainable architectural plan incorporating elements such as recycled building materials, non-toxic paints and energy efficient mechanical systems. Aspects of the center’s sustainable operations include the use of clean renewable energy, nontoxic cleaning products and extensive recycling programs.

For more information, visit www.tides.org and www.tideshsaredspaces.org.

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Copyright © 2007, Tides, Tides Center, Tides Foundation, Tides, Inc., Tides Shared Spaces, Thoreau Center for Sustainability, The NonprofitCenters Network. Other names used in this press release may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The following 2007 Fellows will receive a $21,000 award over the next three years: Nao Bustamante, Skowmon Hastanan, Rajkamal Kahlon, Ivan Monforte, Jennifer Monson, Clifford Owens, and Swoon.

The Lambent Fellowship in the Arts program supports visual and performing artists in all five boroughs of New York City.  A selection panel of artists and arts professionals made anonymous nominations to the Lambent Fellowship’s selection committee, who chose finalists to be considered by the Tides Foundation Board of Directors.

“The Lambent Fellowship program celebrates and fosters the intersection between art and social change,” explained Michelle Coffey, Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Tides Foundation. “The recipients reflect New York’s rich diversity and their works offer great insights into the role of art in critiquing, shaping and changing our ideas, our communities, and our society.  The Lambent Fellowship program pays tribute to artists who are making exciting and high quality work, while at the same time are in line with Tides Foundation’s mission of creating a positive impact on people's lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, justice, and a healthy, sustainable environment.”

About the Artists:

Nao Bustamante is an internationally known performance and video artist originating from the San Joaquin Valley of California, now residing in New York. Her (often precarious) work encompasses performance art, sculpture, installation and video. Bustamante has presented in Galleries, Museums, Universities and underground sites all around the world. Her work has been exhibited, among other locales, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts, and the Kiasma Museum of Helsinki. In 2001 she received the prestigious Anonymous Was a Woman fellowship and in 2007 named a New York Foundation for the Arts fellow. Currently she holds the position as Associate Professor of New Media and Live Art at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

Skowmon Hastanan, visual artist, creates work from a unique perspective relating to the immigrant experience occurring outside the United States. She moved from Bangkok to New York at the end of the Vietnam War. Her works derive from memories of the American military presence in Thailand and her experience growing up in New York City. The narrative involves the result of the political interaction between the USA and Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and how it directly and indirectly resulted in the establishment of a sex trade, trafficking of person, and the creating of gender and racial stereotypes. Skowmon examines today's media's use of old clichéd Asian mystiques to sell sexual fantasy. Using images of mail-order brides and escort services that appear on the Internet and in classified ads, she explores feminine identity from these found images.

Rajkamal Kahlon, visual artist, interrogates the ideological positions of representation as they are linked to forms of racial and colonial authority. In her dialectical engagement with historical texts she critiques the will to "make" humans implicit in the visual practices backed by repressive regimes of power in part through the use of violent imagery framed by psychedelia and the human body turned grotesque through its traumatic encounters with colonialism, military rule and torture.

Ivan Monforte uses simple gestures and materials, as well as emotional language and content, as strategic tools to address themes of loss and mourning, representations of class, gender, race and sexuality, as well as the pursuit of love.  He often utilizes social sculptures and performance based videos in his work to challenge the viewers' relationship to art viewing, making and collecting.

Jennifer Monson creates dance systems and performances that arise from the confluence of environmental research and in depth artistic process. Her work explores concepts of wilderness in relation to the built and natural environments with a special focus on urban ecologies. Embodying contradictions inherent in the concept of nature, Monson's work re-negotiates relationships between art, environment, power, and place.

Clifford Owens makes art through photography, video, performance, installation and texts. His work has focused on the "social contract" of an art experience within an art institution, and the social function of a studio visit. Clifford was born in Baltimore,  Maryland in 1971 and he lives and works in Queens, New York.

Swoon is an artist whose work begins with figurative drawing, portraiture, and traditional print making techniques and extends to urban interventions and community-based collective experiments. Among other projects she has been wheat pasting an ongoing series of portraits on New York City streets for the past six years, and is currently involved in the Miss Rockaway Armada, a floating experiment in ecologically sustainable living practices, which travels the Mississippi River carrying theater, music, visual art and a variety of workshops. With each of these practices she is attempting to create a free, publicly available, and outward reaching context for the creation of and experience of contemporary art.

This new request for proposals (RFP) follows three previous rounds of grants awarding a total of $3.7 million. The most recent round, awarded in December 2006, funded 44 grantees in 18 states with two-year grants totaling $1.2 million. Syringe Access Fund grants support community-, street- and pharmacy-based syringe access programs, as well as state-level policy education efforts to eliminate legal barriers to this life-saving intervention. Of the $1.2 million awarded in 2006, 80% of funding supported direct services and 20% supported state-level policy work.

> You can find the new RFP for the Syringe Access Fund Here

Background: The Connection Between Injection Drug Use, HIV and Hepatitis C

Injection drug use has accounted for approximately one-third of all adult AIDS cases reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also estimates that 60% of Hepatitis C cases are linked to injection drug use. Blood-borne infections such as these can be transmitted directly among injection drug users when infected users share syringes or engage in high-risk sexual contact. Women who are infected with HIV through injecting or unprotected sex with an infected injection drug user can transmit the virus to their babies during pregnancy or while nursing.

Access to sterile injection equipment, including syringes, has been proven to reduce the risk of HIV infection without contributing to increased drug use. This is the conclusion of many independent, peer-reviewed studies and evaluations conducted in the U.S. and internationally since the early 1990's, including a 1997 Report to Congress prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services. As an HIV prevention intervention, syringe access is endorsed by such organizations as the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine, the American Public Health Association, National Institutes of Health, and the American Pharmaceutical Association. Most recently, a September 2006 report prepared by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences concluded: "Given consistent evidence that multi-component HIV prevention programs that include sterile needle and syringe access reduce drug-related HIV risks, such programs should be implemented where feasible."

About the Syringe Access Fund

The Syringe Access Fund is a multi-year grant making initiative consisting of the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Irene Diamond Fund, the Tides Foundation and the National AIDS Fund (with the addition of a sixth funder - Public Welfare Foundation - in 2007). The Syringe Access Fund was created in 2004 to respond to the deadly connection between injection drug use and HIV, particularly in communities of color and among women.

Since 2004, the Syringe Access Fund has reviewed 242 proposals and awarded 92 grants (to 83 individual grantees) totaling more than $3.25 million. In addition to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, programs in the following states have been awarded two-year grants since 2004: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington. The wide range and increasing number of localities that are now implementing syringe access programs reflects a growing awareness of the efficacy of such programs among public health officials nationally.

Despite overwhelming evidence of the effectiveness of syringe access programs, the federal government has prohibited the use of federal funds for such purposes since 1988, and state and local laws related to the sale and possession of syringes may interfere with local programs' ability to provide such services. In addition, private funders may be reluctant to fund such programs given the political controversy that has sometimes surfaced with regard to these programs. The Syringe Access Fund was created to help fill this gap, and consists of a growing number of funders who believe that sound scientific evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of syringe access programs must drive both policy and practice.

Examples of Syringe Access Fund Grants in Action

As examples of funding since 2004, Syringe Access Fund grants have been awarded to support a van for a mobile clinic in Staten Island, and to open a Sunday exchange site in San Francisco where none existed. In Los Angeles, a four-agency partnership used its grant to purchase syringes for exchange through a city-sanctioned and city-funded exchange program that is not allowed to use city funds for syringes. In New Jersey, two separate policy grants supported statewide efforts related to legislation allowing for the creation of up to six pilot needle exchange programs (which Governor Corzine signed into law in December 2006). In Texas, a policy grant is supporting opinion research to identify religious, community and political leaders who will support a building policy education efforts.

Lists of grantees from all three previous funding rounds are available on the Syringe Access Fund page of the Tides Foundation website at: www.tidesfoundation.org/services-strategies/collective-giving/syringe-access-fund.

About the 2007 Round of Grants

The current funding partners are committing more than $1.2 million to this new round of grants in 2007. A Request for Proposals (RFP) has been posted on the Tides Foundation website at www.tidesfoundation.org/services-strategies/collective-giving/syringe-access-fund and project proposals are due June 20, 2007. Two-year awards will be announced by September 2007.

Additional funding partners are invited to join the Syringe Access Fund in support of grants during 2007 and additional years. Interested funders may contact Gary Schwartz at the Tides Foundation at gschwartz@tides.org, and/or Sam Avrett at savrett@earthlink.net.

About the Funding Partners

Since 1952, the Levi Strauss Foundation has funded community-based organizations focused on social change in areas where Levi Strauss & Co. has a business presence. The Foundation was one of the first funders to respond to HIV/AIDS in 1985, and since then, has awarded over $37 million in funding for such programs.

Since its creation in 1992 by Founder and Chairman Sir Elton John, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) has raised over $125 million for HIV/AIDS programs in 55 countries around the globe. EJAF supports community-based prevention education programs, harm reduction programs, and direct services to persons living with HIV/AIDS, especially populations with special needs.

The Irene Diamond Fund, established in 1994 by the late philanthropist Irene Diamond, focuses on HIV/AIDS, human rights and the performing arts. The foundation, based in New York City, supports a limited number of self-selected projects, and since its inception has provided over $31 million in funding to combat HIV/AIDS.

The National AIDS Fund's (NAF) mission is to reduce the incidence and impact of HIV/AIDS by promoting leadership and generating resources for effective community responses. Through its network of Community Partnerships, NAF promotes local planning and provides grants and technical support to as many as 400 service organizations annually. Since 1988, NAF and its partners have invested over $142 million to combat HIV/AIDS.

Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions by offering donor-advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for progressive social change philanthropy. Tides Foundation provides administrative and programmatic support to the Syringe Access Fund, including coordination of grant review, selection and awards.

In 2007, a sixth funder has joined the Syringe Access Fund: Public Welfare Foundation, established in 1948, supports organizations that help people overcome barriers to full participation in society, pursuing a strategy of "service, advocacy, and empowerment" for meeting basic human needs and promoting democratic participation for people around the globe. This year, Public Welfare Foundation will make grants totalling $20 million to address human needs in disadvantaged communities.

Contact Information:

Information about the Syringe Access Fund is available online at:

www.tidesfoundation.org/services-strategies/collective-giving/syringe-access-fund.

For further information, please feel free to contact Sam Avrett at savrett@earthlink.net.

The JBL Awards focused on recognizing individuals that have been integral to the rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast.  The devastating aftermath left by Hurricane Katrina magnifies the long term social, political, and economic policies that have disproportionately hit communities of color and low-income communities.  A successful progressive strategy for rebuilding in the Gulf Coast needs to address the systemic problems affecting those communities.  The need for public infrastructure systems, a social safety-net, environmental monitoring and toxic clean-up, and the crucial element of civic participation to achieve these goals, are some of the issues the JBL awardees incorporated into their work.

This year’s awards were expanded to include seven activists due to the broad range of vital activities going on in the Gulf region.  Tides Foundation is hosting an event in New Orleans on Monday, June 11th, 2007 to recognize and honor these amazing activists, organizers and change agents.

This year marks the 17th anniversary of Tides Foundation’s JBL Awards.  The award is named after Jane Bagley Lehman, one of the founders of Tides Foundation and the Chair of the Board until her death in 1988.  An unconventional philanthropist, her insatiable curiosity was matched by a willingness to take risks. Jane was most intrigued by the approaches and strategies of advocates and organizers and their willingness to challenge traditional assumptions. She also cared deeply that the results of these efforts be translated into the broader area of public policy.

(In no particular order.)

Anne Rolfes

Anne Rolfes grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and is the founding executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.  Since the hurricanes, the major focus of her work has been to help organize the local communities affected by the storms so that they can make informed choices regarding their health and safety. She teaches community members sampling techniques to measure toxic sediments on their homesites located in the footprint of the Murphy Oil Spill and the Katrina disaster.  Anne’s current project is planning a gathering called “Fenceline Neighbor Power Conference.” This conference will bring together dispersed communities facing similar environmental problems to talk and work more collaboratively together. 

Father Vien thé Ngyuen

Father Vien thé Nguyen is the pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church in East New Orleans. He has been integrally involved in the struggle and rebuilding of Versailles in New Orleans East, home to one of the largest concentration’s of Vietnamese Americans in the United States.  Since saving lives during the storm, he has become known throughout the city and has grown to prominence in the fight and eventual win against the Chef Menteur landfill in New Orleans East.  Father Ngyuen is deeply committed to working to ensure that communities have a strong voice in determining public policies that invest in effective government systems which truly serve people.

Tanya Harris

Tanya Harris was born and raised in New Orleans.  Her family is deeply rooted in the Lower Ninth Ward and have been members of ACORN for over 23 years.  Tanya is currently the head organizer for New Orleans ACORN and since Katrina she has been working tirelessly to organize displaced residents from New Orleans and assist them in rebuilding their lives and communities.  Tanya has organized and recruited thousands of volunteers to help gut homes all across the city, saved thousands of homes from being seized by the city as public nuisance without due process, stopped land grab bills at the state legislature, and won certified water for the entire city. 

Rev. Jennifer Jones-Bridgett

A native of Baton Rouge, LA, Reverend Jennifer Jones-Bridgett is an ordained Baptist Minister and presently the executive director of PICO Louisiana InterFaiths Together (LIFT).  She believes that justice is not just a matter of putting the right policies in place or involving the community in a planning process, it means ensuring that families have the power to also define the agenda and control the future of the Gulf Coast.  It means equipping historically marginalized residents to organize themselves for power.  Reverend Jones-Bridgett strongly believes in community building across lines of race, class and denomination.

Malik Rahim

Malik Rahim, a veteran community organizer, was raised in New Orleans and has been fighting for racial, economic and environmental justice for the last thirty years. In 1970, he co-founded the Louisiana chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and the platform of the BPP has remained his guiding principles.  Malik co-founded the Common Ground Collective with Sharon Johnson and Scott Crow on September 5, 2005, only days after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, Common Ground has been working to deliver services and resources to the most marginalized communities in the Greater New Orleans area. Common Ground has initiated 15 program areas that have served over half a million people in the areas of medical care, legal assistance and advocacy, food and water distribution, roof tarping, house gutting, toxic remediation, children’s programs, a women’s center and much more.

Victoria Cintra

Victoria Cintra was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States when she was eight years old.  She is currently the Gulf Coast outreach organizer for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA), an organization that provides assistance and advocacy for immigrant workers across the state.  Since Katrina, Victoria has spoken forcefully and articulately on the struggle for justice for the thousands of immigrant workers who have come to rebuild the Gulf Coast.  She has become a forceful immigrant advocate with FEMA, the Red Cross, private contractors and state and local governments.  Victoria has been integral in identifying health hazard issues impacting immigrant workers, disparities between ethnic groups, discriminatory practices by both government and non government agencies and testifying before international commissions.

Derrick Evans

Derrick Evans is a sixth-generation native of Turkey Creek, a Mississippi Gulf Coast community settled by freed slaves in 1866.  Derrick founded Turkey Creek Community Initiatives to promote sustainable local development that is both environmentally and culturally sensitive.  After Katrina, Derrick maxed out credit cards and loaded up a U-Haul truck with $20,000 worth of water, gas and other supplies to build a volunteer camp in Turkey Creek. Since the storm, he has been a tireless organizer and advocate for the needs and rights of coastal communities.  Derrick was also one of the founding organizers of the Steps Coalition, a collaboration of groups fighting for fair and equal justice in the allocation of resources in rebuilding South Mississippi.

The Reproductive Justice Fund is part of the Reproductive Justice Initiative at Tides Foundation. The RJF is a funding collaborative of individual and institutional donors that supports efforts to broaden the base of the U.S. reproductive justice movement in order to increase its power to effect public policy and public opinion. The RJF funds organizations that use grassroots organizing and policy advocacy to build the power and leadership of historically underrepresented women, including women of color, low-income, young, rural, immigrant and LGBT women. The RJF prioritizes organizations that pull reproductive justice from the margins to the center of progressive political organizing by building effective cross-movement alliances between reproductive justice and labor, environmental, economic justice, criminal justice, civil rights and other social justice concerns.

Learn more about the Tides Reproductive Justice Initiative.

In 2006, Tides Foundation's RJF made grants to 24 organizations:

Bridgeport, CT and San Francisco, CA, Oct. 3, 2006 –   Launched in March 2006, AltruShare specializes in community investment while offering comprehensive and competitive brokerage services including best execution, superior service and value to institutional investors. 

Led by a management team with more than 40 years of domestic and international experience in institutional brokerage and portfolio trading, AltruShare’s agency-only model offers superior brokerage services free of traditional conflict of interests.  Through its “Community Investment Enterprise” business model, AltruShare combines traditional brokerage services with social responsibility without incurring any costs to its clients.  The firm sponsors cutting edge independent research on community investment, including portfolio audits, industry reports, community research; it also offers market analysis and intelligence, block trading, algorithmic trading and direct market access.

Tides Foundation and Underdog Foundation have a combined 40 years experience in community-based investment, which will help AltruShare determine the best ways to reinvest its profits – from the AltruShare Opportunity Funds – in communities where it conducts business.  AltruShare will focus its social responsibility initiatives on revitalizing underserved communities through youth development, education, and economic opportunity.  It has already conducted a “needs analysis” in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.  Although AltruShare will work closely with its nonprofit owners, AltruShare is a for-profit venture that will support research and community investment through its own profits.  It does not accept donations and its nonprofit owners will not have a say in the management of the brokerage business. 

“AltruShare competes on best execution, service and value, and uses the latest technology, but what makes us different is that we represent a new partnership between Wall Street and Main Street because AltruShare was created to reinvest in the communities we serve.  We offer superior quality and execution and at the same time reinvest in underserved communities without any cost to the investor,” said Peter Drasher, co-founder and managing partner, AltruShare. 

“Tides and Underdog bring a terrific track record of national expertise, 40 years of experience in community-based investment and philanthropy, and a commitment to innovation.  Our goal is to develop a sustainable source of support for economically disadvantaged communities.  We feel that given the same service and cost, clients will choose a brokerage firm whose profits are reinvested in the community,” said Dawn Edwards, co-founder and president, AltruShare.

Changes in government and the philanthropic sector have been driving the need for innovative approaches to solving the needs of underserved communities.

"We look forward to serving as AltruShare's philanthropic partner as the firm grows and develops its innovative Community Investment Enterprise model, which will – through the AltruShare Opportunity Fund at Tides – support youth, education and economic development in diverse and underserved communities around the country," said Drummond Pike, CEO, Tides Foundation.

The Underdog Foundation will be managing a national community investment program for Altrushare to help communities which are often ignored or forgotten – communities who are considered the underdog. 

“From day one, Peter was clear that he didn’t want giving something back to communities to be the last thing he did in his company; he wanted it to be the first thing.  At the Underdog Foundation, we’ve been lucky to work with people using their companies or investments to innovate and to make the biggest possible difference with their philanthropy.  It’s amazing that Peter found a business model that allows institutional investors a way to get best execution and still know that their trading business is giving back to those communities with the greatest needs,” said David Berge, president, Underdog Foundation.

Read more about AltruShare and Tides Foundation in Pensions & Investments Online.

About Tides Foundation

Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions by offering donor advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for progressive social change philanthropy.  Tides is committed to strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the progressive movement through national and global philanthropy - creating a positive impact on people’s lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, economic justice and a healthy, sustainable environment.  For more information, visit www.tidesfoundation.org.

About Underdog Foundation

The Underdog Foundation works to meet community and environmental needs that cannot be met through simple investments.  The Underdog Foundation, which does not accept unsolicited applications, supports non-profit organizations doing important work in our communities through grant making, community investment, technical assistance, and strategic nonprofit/for-profit partnerships. They have special expertise in applying an array of innovative community investment models to provide effective capital to communities and organizations that have compelling needs but may have been excluded from access to capital.  For more information, visit www.underdogventures.com. 

About AltruShare Securities

Launched in 2006, AltruShare Securities, LLC, is the first institutional brokerage firm specializing in community investment, and the only nonprofit owned brokerage firm.  AltruShare combines comprehensive and competitive institutional brokerage services, a unique research product, an experienced management and trading staff.  A for-profit venture, AltruShare’s profits support the AltruShare Opportunity Funds, which benefit locally based community programs addressing youth development, education, and economic opportunity.   For more information, call 203-330-8100 or visit www.AltruShare.com.

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June 24, 2006 –New York, NY– Tides Foundation has named six New York artists to receive its 2006 Lambent Fellowship in the Arts award. These performing and visual artists will be granted $ 126,000 for their artistic excellence and the potential to add fresh voices to the art world of Metropolitan New York.

Now in its fourth year, Tides Foundation’s Lambent Fellowship in the Arts program aims to support diversity and stimulate New York’s cultural dialogue.  The Lambent Fellowship is awarded in three-year installments and is completely unrestricted; it is intended to support each fellow’s artistic expression in whatever way he or she chooses.

The following 2006 Fellows will receive a $21,000 award: Visual Artists Francisca Benitez, Judi Werthein, Lynn Jadamec Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga; and Performing Artists Miguel Gutierrez, and RoseAnne Spradlin. 

The Lambent Fellowship in the Arts program supports visual and performing artists in all five boroughs of New York City.  A selection panel of artists and arts professionals made anonymous nominations to the Lambent Fellowship’s selection committee, who chose finalists to be considered by the Tides Foundation Board of Directors.

“A major component of the Lambent Fellowship’s mission is to add fresh voices to the cultural discourse in New York City,” explained Ishmael Houston-Jones, the program’s coordinator. “Each of these four women and two men are residents of the City who approach their artwork with great innovation and rigor.”

“The Lambent Fellowship program pays tribute to New York City based artists who are making exciting and high quality work while at the same time are in line with Tides Foundation’s mission of creating a positive impact on people's lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, justice, and a healthy, sustainable environment,” added Michelle Coffey, Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Tides Foundation New York.

Past fellows are: Sanford Biggers, Patty Chang, Yvonne Meier, Julie Atlas Muz, Sekou Sundiata, and Javier Tellez.

The fifth round of Lambent Fellows will be announced in the summer, 2007.

About the Artists:

Francisca Benitez, visual artist, explores cultural intersections and their expression in space. She uses the city as a laboratory, textbook and site for speculation. Her work reflects on how hierarchies and power structures manifest themselves and on how people subvert them. Through video, sound, photography, maps, text and collages she amplifies and deconstructs found situations and urban phenomena to question the systems in place. 

Lynn Jadamec, visual artist,composes oil paintings that respond to the environmental complexity and diversity of the greater New York Metropolitan area. She actively seeks out compositions that depict the city's unique urban environmental complexity and describe visually the never static human interaction within it. The viewer is presented with a synthesis of interactions between commerce, culture and community through a paint application full of light and color. The imagery conveys a sense of strength, pride and inclusion of which the viewer can contemplate in a meditative manner of viewing.

Miguel Gutierrez, performing artist, is a Brooklyn based dance and music artist whose work is primarily concerned with questions regarding the nature of existence, asking who we are and why we’re here, both in life and in the theater. He creates group work in an ongoing collaboration with dancers, visual and music artists as the director of Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, while maintaining a solo performance practice.

RoseAnne Spradlin, performing artist, creates work that probes the body - often with explicitly anatomical or sexual themes, while cross-referencing performance installation and contemporary dance.  Spradlin's work communicates most readily in the realm of feeling; Spradlin seeks a fragile liberation for both performers and audiences through the theatrical experience.

Judi Werthein, visual artist,engages audiences in participative multimedia public installations that questions systems of distribution, class and freedom in different socio-economic-political systems in relation to “globalism”. Through constructed scenarios she brings art to a wider audience placing it into the realm of “Real Life”

Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, visual artist, approaches art as a social practice that seeks to establish dialogue in public spaces. Having been born of immigrant parents and grown up between Nicaragua and San Francisco, a strong awareness of inequality and discrimination was established at an early age. Themes such as immigration, discrimination, gentrification and the effects of globalization extend from highly subjective experiences and observations into works that tactfully engage others through populist metaphors while maintaining critical perspectives. Over the past several years, Ricardo has established a practice based in research and investigation leading to the final presentation. This is a practice that utilizes whatever media possible to present the content in a manner that may generate interaction and discussion by others.  

TIDES FOUNDATION: Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions by offering donor advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for progressive social change philanthropy.  Tides is committed to strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the progressive movement through national and global philanthropy - creating a positive impact on people’s lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, economic justice and a healthy, sustainable environment.

The new Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest will honor individuals who, in the spirit of open source computing, develop outstanding applications that help nonprofits become more effective in their ongoing efforts for social change.

"Within the world of public interest computing, no significant prize has up to now existed," said Tides Foundation Director of Philanthropic Services Tod Hill. "The Pizzigati Prize aims to honor people working in the field and help create real solutions for activists working for positive social change."

Applications for the first Pizzigati Prize competition must be submitted to Tides Foundation by May 4, 2006. The inaugural winner will be named in June 2006 and receive a $10,000 cash award.

Judging the applications will be three widely respected leaders in public interest computing:

• Activist, philanthropist, and writer Allison Fine currently works from the Hudson Valley community of Irvington, New York. She is the founder of Innovation Network, Inc., a national project that has been providing consulting, training, and Web-based tools for nonprofits and funders since 1992. In 2004-2005, she served, as the CEO of the E-Volve Foundation. Her new book, Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age.
  
• Joseph Mouzon recently initiated and completed the merger of Network for Good and Groundspring to form the largest nonprofit technology service provider in the United States, a "TSP" that's helping over 6,000 nonprofits generate $42 million in online donations. He is currently serving as the executive director of nonprofit services for this newly merged organization and oversees all sales, service, business development, strategic planning, and financial management activities.
• Katrin Verclas is the managing director of the Innovation Funder Network, an affinity group of funders exploring the use of information and communications technology for social change. She also runs the Secretariat of MobileActive (www.mobileactive.org), a global community of activists and nonprofits using mobile phones in civic engagement and advocacy.

The Pizzigati Prize honors the brief life of Tony Pizzigati, an early advocate of open source computing. Born in 1971, Pizzigati spent his college years at MIT, where he worked at the world-famous MIT Media Lab and later the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. Pizzigati moved to California in 1994, to work as a software consultant, and died the following spring in an auto accident on his way into Silicon Valley.

More information about the Pizzigati Prize, including the judging criteria, timeline and the online application form, can be found at the prize Web site: www.pizzigatiprize.org.

Questions about this initiative can be directed, through this Web site, to the prize administrator, Jason Sanders, Philanthropic Advisor at Tides Foundation.

Media Contact:
Jason Sanders
Tides Foundation
415.561.6400
jsanders@tides.org

In addition, Thoreau Center for Sustainability, a multi-tenant nonprofit center, was honored with a first place CORY Award at the 6th Annual Commercial Recycler of the Year Awards in San Francisco on April 27, 2006. Thoreau Center placed first last year in the same category. The Commercial Recycler of the Year Awards pay tribute to outstanding office buildings, food establishments and hotels committed to the environment through their recycling programs, leadership, policies and innovations.

The award program is hosted by Building and Office Managers Association (BOMA) San Francisco, in conjunction with the San Francisco Department of the Environment and Golden Gate Disposal and Recycling Company.

Thoreau Center for Sustainability received first place in the Small Building category and was chosen for its extensive recycling programs, which include the recycling of batteries, cell phones, light bulbs, printer cartridges, tennis shoes, and keys, in addition to the usual paper, glass and aluminum recycling. Thoreau Center uses post-consumer waste paper products, green janitorial cleaning products, and composts its kitchen waste in office spaces and at the onsite Acre Café. It also has an education program about recycling for its tenants and posts in public spaces its environmental policy stating Thoreau Center’s commitment to promoting sustainable practices in all its operations.
 
“It’s an honor to win this award and a direct reflection of the hard work of our staff and the tenants of Thoreau Center to make our recycling program a success,” said Becky Bacon of Equity Community Management Services, Thoreau Center’s building manager.

About Thoreau Center for Sustainability
Located in the historic Letterman Hospital buildings of San Francisco’s Presidio National Park, Thoreau Center for Sustainability is a highly successful multi-tenant nonprofit center. This 12-building facility houses over 60 organizations and 400 employees working for social and environmental sustainability, as well as two community-oriented art galleries. Thoreau Center has incorporated green design and historic preservation in its buildings and is an operating model for other multi-tenant nonprofit centers.

Thoreau Center is a program of Tides Network through its nonprofit real estate initiative, Tides Shared Spaces. Tides is a group of nonprofits that shares a common vision for a healthy society. For more information, visit www.tidessharedspaces.org.

Copyright 2006, Thoreau Center for Sustainability, Tides Network, Tides Shared Spaces, Tides Foundation. Other names used in this press release may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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The grant will primarily support the creation of a new desk for American Public Media’s Marketplace business programs, including Marketplace™, Marketplace Morning Report™, and Marketplace Money™, a personal finance program.  With a weekly audience of more than 8.5 million, the combined Marketplace programs have more listeners than any other business news program on television or radio. 

The new editorial desk will focus on covering sustainability and the economy, including environmental, economic, technological, cultural and other factors influencing the future of humanity.  Coverage will be aimed at helping the public better understand global realities that affect domestic and international economies and cultures. The grant, which will be disbursed over three years, will enable Marketplace to seek out diverse perspectives on sustainability related topics. 

“Nothing is more important to the future of the economy and, ultimately, to our survival than awareness of how our actions affect global sustainability,” said JJ Yore, executive producer of Marketplace and vice president, programming, for American Public Media. “Through this generous grant, we gain the resources to give these issues the attention they deserve.”

“More businesses today are contemplating a ‘double bottom line’—how their activities impact their profitability and the greater social good.  This was almost unthinkable 20 years go,” said Idelisse Malavé, executive director, Tides Foundation.  “People are adopting a broader view of their activities and how their decisions today will affect all of us tomorrow. Yet this has been a neglected perspective in the news media.  We are very excited to support an expanded analysis of major business trends from such a respected and independent news source.”
 
The grant also will fund coverage of sustainability on other American Public Media programs, including American RadioWorks documentaries; Speaking of Faith, a program on belief, meaning, ethics and ideas; and Weekend America, a magazine show which explores lifestyle, leisure, culture and attitude. 

"By providing support for sustainability coverage on these programs, the Tides Foundation grant provides a groundbreaking opportunity to reach a large and important audience,” said Jon McTaggart, senior vice president and chief operating officer of American Public Media. “Our ability to serve the public will be significantly enhanced as we offer coverage on sustainability across many programs, from many perspectives and at different times of the day and week,” said McTaggart.

The Kendeda Sustainability Fund, a donor-advised fund at Tides Foundation, was created in 2003 to explore how to live within the limits of the natural world in ways that promote community, equity, prosperity and health. It funds organizations in the areas of higher education, religion and faith, healthy buildings, materials and processes, and communications/media and the arts.

Through its grantmaking programs, Tides Foundation strengthens social change organizations and increases the capacity and effectiveness of the nonprofit and public sectors. It supports activities in the areas of economic and social justice, environmental sustainability and democratic renewal. In 2004, Tides Foundation awarded over $70 million to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations.

Marketplace, produced in Los Angeles, maintains five domestic bureaus plus bureaus in London and Tokyo. The 16-year-old program has been called the best business show on radio or television by the Columbia Journalism Review, and it has won the duPont-Columbia Award and the Peabody Award.

Marketplace is distributed worldwide by American Public Media. It is broadcast by more than 325 public radio stations and heard around the world via American Forces Radio & Television Service. American Public Media also makes the program available via World Radio Network (WRN), a direct broadcast satellite channel serving Europe, Asia and Africa.
About Tides Foundation
Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions by offering donor-advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for social change philanthropy. Tides Foundation is committed to strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations through national and global philanthropy.

Tides Foundation is a part of the Tides Organizations, a group of nonprofits that share a common vision for a healthy society—a society based on principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, a robust democratic process and sustainable environmental practices. The Tides Organizations also include Tides Center, Tides, Inc., Groundspring.org, Thoreau Center for Sustainability and Community Clinics Initiative. For more information, go to www.tidesfoundation.org.

About American Public Media
American Public Media™ is the nation's second-biggest producer of public radio programs, reaching 14.7 million listeners nationwide each week. Its national programs include A Prairie Home Companion®, Weekend America®, Saint Paul Sunday®, Marketplace®, Marketplace Money®, The Splendid Table®, Speaking of Faith® and special reports produced by its national documentary unit, American RadioWorks®. American Public Media is the national production and distribution division of Minnesota Public Radio®. Minnesota Public Radio, along with its sister company Southern California Public Radio, belongs to a larger family of companies within American Public Media Group, a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to develop resources, services and systems to support public media for public service. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be obtained at www.americanpublicmedia.org.

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BSCF’s funds will expand CCI’s current round of the funding available to California clinics, increasing the amount available to $4 million. The grantees of CCI’s Request for Proposals #8 issued in December 2004, will be announced on July 18, 2005. This RFP represents funding opportunities in CCI’s Technology and Major Capital Campaign Gifts programs and reflects CCI’s continuing commitment to strengthening the capacity of community health centers in California to be leaders for social change in their communities.

"We are pleased that BSCF has joined with Tides and The California Endowment to support clinics in their continued use of technology to improve health outcomes in low income communities," said Ellen Friedman, Managing Director, CCI, and Vice President of Tides Foundation and Tides Center.

The Blue Shield of California Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.2 million members, 4,300 employees and 20 offices throughout California. The Blue Shield of California Foundation provides charitable contributions, conducts research and supports programs with an emphasis on domestic violence prevention, medical technology assessment and reducing the number of uninsured. For more information, visit the Blue Shield of California Web site at www.mylifepath.com or the Foundation at www.blueshieldcafoundation.org.

The Community Clinics Initiative is a unique partnership between the Tides Family of Organizations and The California Endowment (TCE). Through $95 million in grants from TCE to Tides, the CCI program has been designed and implemented using the expertise in grantmaking, program infrastructure, and development that Tides offers. CCI brings together resources, information and action for strong clinics and healthy communities.

The award program is hosted by Building and Office Managers Association (BOMA) San Francisco, in conjunction with the San Francisco Department of the Environment and Golden Gate Disposal and Recycling Company.

Thoreau Center for Sustainability received first place in the Small Building category and was chosen for it's extensive recycling programs which include the recycling of batteries, cell phones, light bulbs and printer cartridges, in addition to the usual paper, glass and can recycling. Thoreau Center uses 100% post consumer waste paper products, green janitorial cleaning products, and composts its kitchen waste in office spaces and at the onsite Acre Café. It also has an education program about recycling for its tenants.

"It's an honor to win this award and a direct reflection of the hard work of our staff and the tenants of Thoreau Center to make our recycling program a success," said Becky Bacon, Thoreau Center Building Manager, ECB Management Services. "We intend to keep up our efforts to support a clean and healthy environment for everyone in the city of San Francisco."

The Thoreau Center buildings were renovated from their former dilapidated state as the Letterman Hospital buildings in 1996. The renovation incorporated green building principles using recycled building materials and an energy efficient design; and the Center's mission is to live in harmony with nature.

About Thoreau Center for Sustainability

Located in the historic Letterman Hospital buildings of San Francisco's Presidio National Park, Thoreau Center for Sustainability is a highly successful multi-tenant nonprofit center. This 12 building facility houses over 60 organizations and 400 people working for social and environmental sustainability as well as two community-oriented art galleries. Thoreau Center has incorporated green design and historic preservation in its buildings and is an operating model for other multi-tenant nonprofit centers.

Thoreau Center is a program of Tides, through it's nonprofit real estate initiative, Tides Shared Spaces. Tides is a group of nonprofits that share a common vision for a healthy society. Tides includes, Tides Foundation, Tides Center, Tides, Inc., Groundspring.org and Community Clinics Initiative. For more information, visit www.thoreau.org, www.nonprofitcenters.org or www.tides.org.

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With this substantial funding, Tides Center is deploying a scalable technology platform that will enable thousands of nonprofits and fiscal sponsors to operate more efficiently and effectively. This platform will greatly increase the availability of affordable, quality, administrative infrastructure and reduce duplication in the nonprofit sector. Tides Center also will use the grants to collaborate with others to improve standards of practice and accountability in the sector. Currently, Tides Center provides grants management, administrative, financial and human resources services to charitable initiatives not incorporated as 501(c)(3)s. Tides Center is the fiscal sponsor to hundreds of projects across the U.S. in such areas as economic development, social justice and the environment.

Kellogg Foundation initially funded Tides Center in 2003 with a $950,000 grant to support strategic planning and collaboration efforts. With this latest grant, Kellogg is investing in Tides Center's implementation of its plan. "Tides Center's history of enabling nonprofit leaders to focus on their missions and programs by sharing a common legal home and administrative infrastructure uniquely qualifies the organization to lead this important sector-wide initiative," said Tom Reis, Program Director at W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "We believe this initiative will transform many organizations in the nonprofit sector by increasing their financial sustainability, enhancing the effectiveness of their programs, and, ultimately, increasing their impact in the communities they serve. Kellogg Foundation is pleased to extend its relationship with Tides Center."

"In today's environment, affordable, up-to-date infrastructure and effective operating and governance practices are not merely a matter of convenience, but a matter of survival for nonprofits," said Willa Seldon, Executive Director, Tides Center. "Tides Center is honored to act as a leader in developing and making available these valuable services to the nonprofit sector. We also look forward to collaborating with other management support organizations as a part of this initiative."

"Fiscal sponsors allow social entrepreneurs to focus on what's mission critical," said Barbara Kibbe, Vice President, Program and Effectiveness at the Skoll Foundation. " As the largest national fiscal sponsor and the national leader, Tides Center is well placed and poised to grow its business, to strengthen the field of fiscal sponsorship domestically and to explore international expansion. All three of these strategic objectives support the incubation of social entrepreneurship and the development of infrastructure for the nonprofit sector."

"Tides Center has provided administrative support to The Children's Partnership for over 10 years as we have grown from the start-up stage to a well-functioning organization," said Wendy Lazarus, Founder and Co-President, The Children's Partnership. "We are delighted to see foundations investing in infrastructure for the nation's nonprofits, and we look forward to the expanded information technology and other new services that Tides Center will offer."

About Tides Center
Tides Center is the nation's leading fiscal sponsor for social change initiatives providing a legal home as well as administrative, human resources and financial infrastructure services nationwide. Since 1977, Tides Center has enabled social change innovators to focus their time and energy on their vision and program goals - rather than on operational issues. Tides Center manages combined budgets totaling more than $50 million annually and serves over 200 groups focused on community development, social justice, the environment and other issues.

Tides Center is a part of the Tides Family of Organizations, a group of nonprofits that share a common vision for a healthy society-a society based on principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, a robust democratic process and sustainable environmental practices. The Tides Family of Organizations includes Tides Center, Tides Foundation, Tides, Inc., Groundspring.org, Thoreau Center for Sustainability and Community Clinics Initiative. For more information, go to www.tidescenter.org.

About W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.

To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. For more information, go to http:/www.wkkf.org.

About Skoll Foundation
Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., the Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first employee and first president of eBay. Its mission is to advance systemic change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.

The Skoll Foundation invests in social entrepreneurs through three award programs and the new Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School at Oxford University. The foundation connects social entrepreneurs through its online community, Social Edge , at www.socialedge.org. It celebrates social entrepreneurs through projects such as a four-part public television documentary called "The New Heroes" that will be broadcast in 2005, and via the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, which is held every spring at the Skoll Centre. For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.

Drummond was selected for his unique contributions in developing the field of grantmaking. Throughout his career, he has supported grassroots and public interest organizations through environmental and social change philanthropy. Drummond founded Tides Foundation in 1976 and pioneered the use of donor advised funds to support grassroots and public interest organizations on a national scale. Drummond’s entrepreneurial approach to promoting healthy societies also led to the creation of Tides Center, the largest fiscal sponsorship organization in nation. Through his leadership, Tides has also fostered the creation of Groundspring.org, Thoreau Center for Sustainability and Tides Canada Foundation.

“We are pleased to recognize the legacy and significant contributions of Drummond Pike to the philanthropic sector,” said Lorraine Carlson, President of the Board, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter (AFP-GGC).  “Drummond’s vision to move away from the traditional foundation model changed philanthropy as we knew it in the seventies, and he is still challenging and changing the way that it works today. His goal of removing obstacles between people and their good intentions has grown into a impressive network of organizations providing a full spectrum of services to donors and nonprofits.”

Over the course of its 28 years, Tides Foundation has granted more than $400 million to thousands of nonprofit organizations working for positive social change. The foundation works with individual and institutional donors committed to a society based on fairness, equal justice and equally shared economic opportunities and it promotes environmental sustainability and a robust democratic process. In addition, Tides provides management and support services to more than 25 small private foundations, as well as the membership-based Threshold Foundation.

Drummond is one of seven leaders in philanthropy who will be honored during this year’s National Philanthropy Day events in the Bay Area hosted by The Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter, and Northern California Grantmakers. He was chosen for the award by unanimous agreement of a committee of nonprofit, philanthropic, and community leaders from throughout the Bay Area. The award ceremony will take place at a gala luncheon on Monday, November 15, 2004, at the San Francisco Marriott. It is hoped that the giving spirit of the awardees will inspire other individuals and organizations and spread the impact of community-giving. For more information about National Philanthropy Day, visit www.afp-ggc.org/npd/.

About Tides Foundation
Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions by offering donor-advised funds, philanthropic advice and management services for progressive social change philanthropy. Tides Foundation is committed to strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the progressive movement through national and global philanthropy.

Tides Foundation is a part of The Tides Organizations, a group of nonprofit organizations that share a common vision for a healthy society—a society based on the principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, robust democratic process and sustainable environmental practices.  The Tides Organizations include Tides Foundation, Tides Center, Tides, Inc, Groundspring.org, Thoreau Center for Sustainability and Community Clinics Initiative. For more information, go to www.tides.org.

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Over the past few months, Tides Foundation and Tides Center have been the subjects of a growing number of misleading news articles, opinion pieces and viral emails flying across the internet. Most of these concern the relationship between Tides Foundation, Tides Center, and the Heinz Endowments. More to the point, the majority of these attacks focus on how that relationship reflects on Teresa Heinz Kerry, who chairs the Howard Heinz Endowment, sits on the board of the Vira I. Heinz Endowment and is married to presidential nominee Senator John Kerry.

These reports have included a few correct facts, a few almost-correct facts, a good deal of false innuendo and several flat out false statements.

These reports generally confuse Tides Foundation—a grantmaking institution—with Tides Center—a separate nonprofit that provides administrative services such as payroll, insurance, human resources and fiscal sponsorship to more than 200 groups across the country. These reports gravely mis-characterize the relationship between the Heinz Endowments and Tides Foundation and Tides Center. And they confuse, baselessly attack or completely invent groups that we support.

This document contains information regarding:

• Tides Foundation, Tides Center and the Relationship with Heinz Endowments
• The Myth of "Fungible" Money
• Tides Foundation, Tides Center: Who We Are, What We Do
• Responses to Questions About Specific Organizations
• Our Values and Our Vision

We also strongly encourage those interested in the facts on these issues to visit the Heinz Endowments website. The News section of www.heinz.org contains highly detailed responses to many of the false and misleading accusations leveled at that organization.

Tides Foundation, Tides Center and the Relationship with Heinz Endowments

Tides Foundation, Tides Center and Tides Center (PA) have been accused of using grants from the Heinz Endowments to fund a long list of groups that have no connection whatsoever to the Heinz Endowments. There have also been completely false claims regarding the influence of the Heinz Endowments over the grantmaking and programmatic work of Tides Foundation and Tides Center.

• A complete list of all Heinz Endowment grants to Tides Foundation and Tides Center projects can be found at www.heinz.org.
• This list totals roughly $8 million in grants between 1994 and 2003, most of which went to specific projects housed at Tides Center.
• Tides Foundation received $230,000 of this money in grants between 1994 and 1998. These grants to Tides Foundation were used solely to support a pollution prevention initiative and other environmental projects in Western Pennsylvania. This was the only money ever received by Tides Foundation from the Heinz Endowments.
• The rest of the grant money from the Heinz Endowments supported specific Tides Center projects. All of these grants—which are explained in detail in the document linked above—were used exclusively for environmental, economic opportunity, and youth programs.
• Administering these grants constitutes the entirety of our very positive relationship with the Heinz Endowments. This relationship is no different than that of any other institutional donor or grantmaking partner.
• Apart from that institutional grantmaking relationship, neither Tides Foundation nor Tides Center has any relationship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, nor with persons involved in Senator Kerry's campaign, President Bush's campaign or any other candidate's campaign.
•  As a matter of record, here are some examples of the projects funded by The Heinz Endowments and administered by the Tides Center (PA):
  • Sustainable Pittsburgh—a nonpartisan, civic forum addressing economic growth, environmental health, and social equity that includes business and community leaders working to improve the quality of life in Pittsburgh.
  • Keys2Work—a program providing tools technology, and expertise that students and educators need about academic standards, the relationship between academics and needed workplace skills, training materials helpful to improving the prospects of employment for students.
  • Cool Space Locator—a nonprofit service to help businesses and organizations find effective locations for their enterprises thus facilitating reinvestment and revitalization in Pittsburgh's urban core.
  • Youth Places—a program focused on underserved, high risk youth ages 12-18, creating quality programs within their neighborhoods shaped to develop skills for youth to increase their opportunity for success.
    

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The Myth of "Fungible" Money

Many of the recent stories about Tides organizations and the Heinz Endowments include false claims of "laundering" or moving "fungible money" through Tides. Many of these claims originated in an opinion column written by a researcher for the conservative, Washington, D.C.-based Capital Research Center. The crux of CRC's argument is that money directed by the Heinz Endowments to Tides is "fungible." In other words, by supporting projects through Tides, CRC alleged that Heinz has secretly funneled money to every other organization that has ever received funding or services through Tides Foundation or Tides Center.

This is entirely false.

The grants to Tides Foundation—the last being six years ago—were used for specific environmental organizations. Likewise, all monies granted from Heinz Endowments to Tides Center have been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania and are governed by legally binding contracts. These monies cannot be redirected. These monies are the exact opposite of "fungible."

Information about every single Tides-related grant from the Heinz Endowments has always been readily available in Heinz public filings, annual reports and on their web site. Additionally, current 990 forms for Tides Foundation and Tides Center have always been available on our websites and on Guidestar. A complete listing of all Tides Foundation grants has also been made available ever since the launch of the website at www.tidesfoundation.org. Our most recent list of grantees can be seen here.

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Tides Foundation, Tides Center: Who We Are, What We Do

As a by-product of the misinformation about our relationship with the Heinz Endowments, Tides Foundation and Tides Center have come under attack for the grantees and projects we support.

For the record, all of our grantee and projects are always available on our respective websites:

• The listing of the most recent Tides Foundation grantees can be viewed at www.tidesfoundation.org/grants-impact/list-of-grantees.
• A complete, searchable list of Tides Center projects is available at the Tides Center website at www.tidescenter.org/projects-impact/project-directoryprojects-impact/project-directory. 

Tides Foundation
Tides Foundation made more than $50 million in grants to more than 6,000 nonprofit organizations working for positive social change in 2003. We have granted more than $400 million to tens of thousands of such vital organizations since 1976. The Foundation works with individual and institutional donors committed to a society based on fairness, equal justice and equally shared economic opportunities. We strongly promote an engaged and active democratic process and environmental sustainability.

The vast majority of grantmaking at Tides Foundation is through donor advised funds, the same financial vehicle administered in precisely the same way as those at Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and similar programs operated by Schwab, Vanguard, and more than 600 community foundations across the country. Tides works under the rigors of fund accounting, restricted grants, and annual audits, ensuring that all monies released by Tides are properly distributed and accounted for.

Tides Center
Tides Center is the nation's leading fiscal sponsor for charitable initiatives. Tides Center provides administrative and financial infrastructure services to more than 200 groups across the country. The nation's foremost foundations and grantmaking institutions—including the federal government—use these services to support a broad array of nonprofit programs.

These services enable organizations to dedicate their energy to their programmatic work. Each Tides Center projects raises funds for their individual program activities, with these funds being separately accounted for and administered. Tides Center takes a fee for the infrastructure services and then disperses the funds for the specific projects for which they were granted. Tides Center is a nonprofit organization that sustains itself on this fee-for-service model. In other words, we do not accept grants for general operation.

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Responses to Questions About Specific Organizations

Several groups have been mentioned repeatedly in various reports and emails regarding Tides Foundation and Tides Center. Below is information about these groups and their relationship to Tides Foundation or Tides Center.

Contrary to many rumors and false reports, no monies from The Heinz Endowments went to these groups through any Tides organization in any way.

International Action Center
There have been many reports claiming that Tides Foundation or Tides Center have supported Ramsey Clark's International Action Center. We have made no grants to this organization nor can we find any association with it in our records.

The Democratic Justice Fund
Many articles and emails have mentioned that Tides Foundation supported the Democratic Justice Fund. We not only supported this fund—we created it.

Immediately following the horrible attacks of September 11, 2001, Tides Foundation established the Tides 9/11 Fund as a "rapid response" complement to the outpouring of contributions surrounding the aftermath of the attacks. This fund was designed to meet a specific niche needs—namely to provide immediate relief to underserved communities, to address the sharp increase in anti-immigrant sentiment and to protect civil rights and civil liberties. (Tides Foundation directed many of our donors to sister organizations—such as the New York Community Trust's September 11th Fund—for direct assistance contributions.)

Tides Foundation and our partners quickly saw a clear need for a sustained philanthropic effort to address these critical issues, and therefore developed the Democratic Justice Fund to continue this funding.

The Democratic Justice Fund did not seek to ease restrictions from "terrorist" states as many reports have claimed. Tides Foundation does not condone nor support violence of any kind.

Council on American Islamic Relations
There have been many hateful claims about Tides Foundation and the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR). As part of the Tides 9/11 Fund, Tides Foundation made a onetime $5,000 grant to CAIR. The grant was specifically for CAIR's Interfaith Coalition Against Hate Crimes project in 2002. Based in Southern California the project was established to promote peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims and decrease hate crimes against Muslims.

CAIR has explicitly stated that they have no ties whatsoever to any violent or discriminatory organizations. For more information please visit their website at www.cair-net.org.

National Lawyers Guild
Tides Foundation has made grants totaling approximately $30,000 over the last ten years to support the National Lawyers Guild, one of the oldest and most respected civil rights organizations in the country.

The National Lawyers Guild goals are to eliminate racism; safeguard and strengthen the rights of workers, women, farmers, and minority groups; and maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties. For more information, please visit www.nlg.org.

Iraq Peace Fund and the Peace Strategies Fund
Months before the launch of the war against Iraq, Tides Foundation publicly opposed the war and strongly supported the peace and justice movement—the largest international movement for peace in the history of the planet. Through the Iraq Peace Fund and the Peace Strategies Fund, Tides Foundation supported dozens of organizations that were working toward a just and peaceful resolution to the growing international conflict.

The Ruckus Society
Tides Foundation has granted more than $150,000 to the Ruckus Society over the last five years. The Ruckus Society—who have been wrongly characterized as "anarchists"—have in fact trained and assisted thousands of activists in the use of nonviolent direct action. Ruckus promotes and teaches strategic nonviolent direct action against unjust institutions and policies, respect for all living things and a commitment to the power of diversity.

The organization was formed in 1995, sparked by a pro-logging bill that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the spring of 1995 and catalyzed a well-organized response from environmental activists. For more information, please visit them at www.ruckus.org.

Barrio Warriors
Barrio Warriors received $7,000 in grants from Tides Foundation over the last three years. They have been called "a radical Hispanic group whose primary goal is to return all of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to Mexico."

Barrio Warriors was in fact formed in 1992 by the director of the Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP). The program works with indigenous and Chicano young people who are caught in the cycle of gang violence, helping them turn their lives around for the positive. The Barrio Warriors are committed to working towards cultural awareness and self-identity through self-determination. They feel that one of the best ways to educate Barrio youth is through teaching the indigenous ways and by developing their writing, analytical and organizing skills. In addition to publishing youth writing and sponsoring events, the Barrio Warriors hold regular community discussions on Barrio unity, cultural pride and issues confronting Barrio youth such as police brutality, drugs, and community violence.

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
It has been specifically alleged that Tides Foundation and Tides Center redirected funds from The Heinz Endowments to a Tides Center project called September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.

This is completely untrue. No monies from The Heinz Endowments went to support this group in any way, as the media has suggested.

Tides Foundation made four grants in 2002 and 2003 to Peaceful Tomorrows for a combined total of $34,665. The group recently gained national attention when they held a news conference criticizing the use of images from September 11th in political advertisements. They have asked that such images not be used by candidates of any party and that candidates of all parties vigorously discuss issues of terrorism and domestic security. For more information please visit www.peacefultomorrows.org.

Planned Parenthood, NARAL
Tides organizations have a long and continuing commitment to supporting reproductive freedom. Tides Foundation has in fact recently launched a new Reproductive Justice Fund, working to continue broadening the reproductive justice movement. For more information, please visit us at www.tidesfoundation.org.

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Our Values and Our Vision

The above grantees and projects that have garnered so much ill-informed attention as of late represent literally a fraction of the activities at Tides Foundation and Tides Center.

From community clinics to civil rights organizations, from grasslands preservation activists to Native American youth programs, from economic justice coalitions to faith-based advocates for the homeless, Tides Foundation and Tides Center have supported an enormous breadth of organizations domestically and internationally for nearly 30 years.

All of our work is driven by our vision of a healthy society—a society based on principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, a robust democratic process and sustainable environmental practices. We are very grateful to those who support our work. We are proud of this work and will continue to work with and fund organizations and projects that help to make a positive contribution to our society.

If you disagree with our work and our values, we respect that. And if you want to let us know you disagree with our values, we respect that as well. Tides Center and Tides Foundation have been strong supporters of the freedom of expression over the years and firmly believe that all voices should be heard—as long as those voices are not intentionally spreading false and misleading information.

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