News about grants, gifts
Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman for The Akshaya Patra Foundation, has received the honor of Padma Shri from the Government of India. This award is recognition of Akshaya Foundation’s service in education for government school children.
The Pershing Square Foundation made a £3.7 million grant to the University of Oxford’s 1+1 MBA program. The Foundation’s grant will support five social entrepreneurs as they get two graduate degrees at Oxford in addition to covering their living expenses.
MLSE Foundation granted the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hamilton the $50,000 Toronto Maple Leafs Community Action Grant presented by the Just Energy Foundation. The grant will be used to help fund its Skate the Dream program, a nine-week introductory hockey program designed for children who have little to no experience playing the sport.
BirdLife International received a £320,000 gift from Birdfair 2015 to help vulnerable migratory birds in the Eastern Mediterranean.
News about people, groups
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) completed the final steps of its transition from a donor supported project into a permanent international organization. AFI is a global peer-learning network of over 100 policymaking and regulatory institutions from more than 90 developing and emerging countries working together to advance financial inclusion policy.
The American Academy in Rome announced the recipients of the Rome Prize for spring 2016. The recipients join the list of artists and scholars who are invited each year to live and work within the Academy’s community in Rome.
AmeriCares has shipments of antibiotics, cardiovascular medicine, intravenous fluids and diabetes medication in transit to Syria. The shipments will support the Syrian American Medical Society.
The European Venture Philanthropy Association released its latest report capturing the findings of ten years of practice. The report is titled A Practical Guide to Venture Philanthropy and Social Impact Investment.
In 2015, DKT Nigeria launched a program to increase access to and provision of long acting and reversible contraceptives in Lagos. The program is supported by DKT International and provided free family planning services to 2,000 women, 66% of whom are first-time users of modern contraceptives.
The charitable foundation of the Grace Hotels Group will support ELEPAP – Rehabilitation for The Disabled.
Dr. Fred Wrona, Chief Scientist of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency has been invited by the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Natural Environmental Research Council Arctic Office and the Canadian High Commission, to lend his scientific expertise at The Arctic in 2045: a long-term vision.
Sixteen teachers were awarded the Satya Bharti Innovative Teachers Award, jointly constituted by the Bharti Foundation and Education Department Jodhpur.
One Drop has created an expert level advisory committee on international water, sanitation and hygiene programs to advise their Board of Directors and management team. The committee will be chaired by Clarissa Brocklehurst, an internationally recognized expert in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene.
News about opportunities, initiatives
Donation boxes for Forests Ontario’s Provincial Donation Box Program will be displayed at checkout counters at any of the more than 650 LCBO stores throughout Ontario, until March 31. Funds raised through the program will help Forests Ontario plant and manage three million trees across the province.
Clinatec has launched a €30m fundraising campaign to speed research in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and motor disabilities.
The Government of Ontario has tasked Ontario Centres of Excellence with managing province’s new C$74 million emissions reduction program.
The Skoll World Forum will take place from April 13th to 15th at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
In Defense of Animals has launched the “Strength in Kindness” High School tour led by former Mr. Universe, Billy Simmonds. Mr. Simmonds is touring Australian High Schools to teach students about the importance of eating healthy, staying fit and acting with kindness towards fellow human beings and animals.
Operation Blessing International has ramped up its fight against the Zika virus in Central America and the Caribbean through efforts including the distribution of bed nets to pregnant women, pre-natal care, educating the public about how to avoid getting infected, fumigation of homes, as well as the use of tiny fish to eat mosquito larvae in standing water in and around homes and villages.
If you are interested in having your organization’s news announced in the next News Bits, please send announcements or press releases to news@philanthropyjournal.com.
