At the MacArthur Foundation, new chief pushes for large-scale financing

Julia Stasch, president at the MacArthur Foundation. Photo from: MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation began its grant-making operations in 1978, following the death of John D. MacArthur, an insurance and real estate magnate who at that time one of the three wealthiest men in America. MacArthur had entrusted his assets — an estimated $1 billion — to the foundation’s first board of directors to make sure his fortune would be put to good use even beyond his lifetime. Over three decades later, the foundation has expanded its work to roughly 50 countries, with assets reaching $6.5 billion. It is headquartered in Chicago, United States, and has offices in India, Mexico and Nigeria. The MacArthur Foundation is managed by its board of directors, which includes recently appointed president Julia Stasch. Together with the foundation committees, the board determines the organization’s policies and strategies and is in charge of approving initiatives and grants exceeding $500,000. The two bodies are also responsible for oversight of investments and auditing. In 2014, the foundation disbursed $231.4 million in grants and program-related investments. Of this, $73.2 million went to its international programs. The MacArthur Foundation currently finances five international programs in the areas of environmental protection, human rights, peace and security, health, and education. Detailed below are the foundation’s interventions in each of these sectors. Conservation and sustainable development Interventions in the environment sector are geared toward preserving ecosystems and species, raising awareness on the benefits of environmental preservation and promoting environmentally sustainable development. In line with these objectives, the foundation finances activities that allow for better understanding of environmental pressures, as well as develop appropriate responses to such issues. The MacArthur Foundation also supports rural poor communities in managing environmental resources to enable them to maximize benefits while ensuring sustainability. Finally, the foundation helps build communities’ capacity to respond to the root causes of ecosystem degradation, while also setting up incentives for environmental preservation. Top grantees for 2014: ● World Wildlife Fund● Pathfinder International● Forest Trends Human rights and international justice Programs in this area revolve around strengthening freedom of expression and criminal justice, while giving strong emphasis on accountability. The foundation finances programs that empower human rights advocates, heighten political accountability and promote Internet openness and security. To improve criminal justice, the foundation centers its grant-making on bolstering state accountability for mass atrocities, while also providing support for enacting key reforms in the justice sector. The foundation concentrates these efforts in the African Great Lakes region, especially Uganda, as well as Nigeria and Mexico. Top grantees for 2014: ● Security Council Report● Human Rights First● Benetech International peace and security The MacArthur Foundation contributes to peace and security efforts by financing programs for nuclear security. This involves supporting measures against nuclear terrorism, such as preventing terrorist access to fissile materials used in the production of nuclear weapons. The foundation also pursues technical and political means of ending reliance on weapons-grade materials, such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium, for energy generation. Further, efforts in reviewing nuclear energy safety standards are supported, as well as the development of new approaches to nuclear security in light of national efforts — by Iran and North Korea, for instance — to acquire nuclear armaments. Lastly, the foundation supports its partners in providing advanced nuclear security training at both graduate and postdoctoral levels. Top grantees for 2014: ● Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation● Princeton University● Nuclear Threat Initiative Girls’ secondary education in developing countries In education, the MacArthur Foundation enables marginalized girls to attend and finish secondary school. At the same time, the foundation supports formal and nonformal educational opportunities to help girls develop the necessary skills for livelihoods, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, communication and leadership, and entrepreneurial and technical skills. Currently, the foundation devotes its education budget on the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education program, which finances in-country interventions that boost innovation, evidence-based policy reforms, as well as learning and dissemination of findings to relevant stakeholders. Top grantees for 2014: ● Education Partnership Center● Center for Universal Education● International Initiative for Impact Evaluation Population and reproductive health Grant-making in this area focuses on improving rates of maternal mortality while strengthening maternal and reproductive health care. In Mexico, the foundation uses its resources to develop the field of professional midwifery. Meanwhile, bolstering maternal health care remains a priority in India, while training of health workers is the major focus for Nigeria. Organizations that promote innovation in crafting policies, programs and services in the health sector are also supported by the foundation. Top grantees for 2014: ● Population Council● Reproductive Health Matters● Centro para los Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende While the foundation has supported these sectors for decades, the new leadership at the MacArthur Foundation heralds several changes in the philanthropy’s programming. In a recent statement, Stasch announced that the foundation will be deviating from projects and programs that have an indefinite life span in favor of a more results-oriented approach to financing, allocating more of its resources for larger-scale, time-bound programs with well-defined objectives. This move is not without its consequences. As the foundation intends to heighten allocations in some areas, other sectors stand to get left behind. Two of its international programs are already scheduled to be closed out, namely girls’ secondary education and population and reproductive health, with grant-making scheduled to end in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Stasch also noted that programming for international peace and security will be scaled down, although it won’t be dropped completely. In place of these international programs, the MacArthur Foundation looks to step up its work in addressing climate change on a global scale. To jump-start its efforts, the foundation’s climate solutions program has awarded $50 million in grants this year, targeting organizations that work in the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mobilize political entities for climate action and encourage the shift to a low-carbon economy. Future efforts in this area will be geared toward engaging key countries such as India and China as part of the foundation’s work to achieve global sustainability. The MacArthur Foundation is also exploring possibilities in furthering efforts to diffuse threats caused by nuclear weapons, as well as providing higher levels of funding for Nigeria in support of its anti-corruption efforts and criminal justice reform. Apart from overhauling sector programming, the foundation has taken steps to revamp its grant management system with the development of an online tool, which will be launched Sept. 8, 2015. The new interface will allow grant seekers to apply for funding as well as enable grantees to check the status of their proposals, grants, reports and payments, all in real time. The system is also expected to facilitate communications between grantees and the foundation staff, making coordination more efficient. Before MacArthur’s strategic shift, another major foundation announced huge changes in its grant-making approach. Earlier this year, the Ford Foundation made the push for general support over programmatic funding. While the two differ in their methodology, it is clear that philanthropies are now re-examining — perhaps more than ever — how to create the most impact with their limited, albeit vast resources. Contact Email: