Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace is a global network of philanthropy practitioners working to increase the impact of grantmaking for social justice and peace.

We do this by:

• Developing tools and practices to advance this field of work
• Shifting the narrative in philanthropy to place social justice and peace at the center
• Supporting a community of practice for practitioners across the globe

We got our start in 2007, when Christopher Harris, then Senior Program Officer for Philanthropy at the Ford Foundation, convened a small group of practitioners and advocates to reflect on the meaning, practice and impact of philanthropy for social justice and peace. The group came to become known as the Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace.

The turning point happened in 2009, when the Working Group organized a meeting in Cairo, Egypt, which brought together 100 local, regional, and global leaders of foundations, philanthropy associations, and activists from around the world. Participants built connections and deepened the practice of philanthropy for social justice and peace.

We’ve since developed a plan to take what was started in Cairo and build it into a global network of practitioners. We honor and recognize the many individuals and groups committed to and working on these issues. We seek to incubate, catalyze and spread new work and link the individuals who are doing the work.

The Working Group still exists as a steering committee for the network, and we are in the process of hiring a Network coordinator. Our network is a global community of practice based on members’ needs and interest. We are not an organization but a network, with enough structure to be effective and no more.

In solidarity,
The Working Group

• Akwasi Aidoo, Trust Africa (Dakar, Senegal)
• Ana Criquillion, Central American Women's Fund (San Francisco, US)
• Emilienne Aulina de Leon, International Network of Women's Funds (Mexico City, Mexico)
• Christopher Harris, formerly of Ford Foundation (Philadelphia, US)
• Lisa Jordan, Bernard van Leer Foundation (The Hague, The Netherlands)
• Avila Kilmurray, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
• Barry Knight, CENTRIS (Newcastle, UK)
• Atallah Kuttab, SAANED (Amman, Jordan)
• Halima Mahommed, Global Fund for Community Foundations (Johannesburg, South Africa)
• Stephen Pittam, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (York, UK)
• Albert Ruesga, Greater New Orleans Foundation (New Orleans, US)
• Suzanne Siskel, Asia Foundation (San Francisco, US)
• Linda Guinee, (Working Group coordination and support), Interaction Institute for Social Change (Boston, US)