Washington, DC - On Wednesday, December 9, GFC was honored to host a delegation of Russian women as part of the Vital Voices Global Partnership. Sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center, 12 women arrived from Russia to discuss issues relating to the prevention of domestic violence and human trafficking. They included NGO leaders and government officials, eager to find solutions to some of the most difficult issues plaguing their nation.

Our conference room was set up for a true Russian welcome, thanks to Lisa Fiala, GFC program officer for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russia. Tea was served, along with delicious pastries from a local Kazakh baker. It felt as though we were in a mini United Nations, with simultaneous translation streaming into participants’ earphones, switching instantly from English to Russian and back again. Read more

New York, NY - Imagine you have seven minutes to touch the hearts of people who could potentially have a significant impact on your life and your career. Seven minutes is all the time allotted for aspiring documentary filmmakers to give a summary, including a short trailer, of their upcoming projects to a room of influential people at The Good Pitch, a forum to bring together filmmakers and change makers.

Over the past few years, The Global Fund for Children has been active in promoting the power of film to bring to life characters and narratives from around the world and to humanize poverty through true stories of courage and hope. Our investments in award-winning films like War Child and Journey of a Red Fridge have made us a known entity in the world of documentary film. Read more

Washington, DC - On Sunday, July 26, three young Hungarian boys had the chance to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix race and watch the Porsche Supercup from a VIP box. They got to meet a real international race car driver and even walk down to the pit to see the car up close. An opportunity like this does not come along often for anyone, let alone these young boys.

The boys participate in programs run by the Tudor Foundation, a GFC grantee partner in Hungary that works with gifted youth who do not have the means to develop their abilities or continue their education past the primary years. Tudor’s workshops help children build self-confidence, gain critical-thinking skills, and begin to set goals and form aspirations for the future. These boys were the lucky recipients of a prize for winning a competition put together by the Tudor Foundation. Read more

Washington, DC - Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Bridge Conference for the second year in a row. Each year, nonprofit professionals and direct-marketing services, consultants, and experts get together to bridge the gap between fundraising and communications. This was also a chance for me to refill my waning supply of branded coffee mugs, highlighting pens, magnets, and bottle openers.

As expected, social media reigned over the breakout sessions and seemed to be on everyone’s mind. One could hardly finish a sentence before having it “tweeted” out into cyberspace by fellow conference-goers, inevitably carrying the hash tag #bridge09 for easy reading access.

As BlackBerrys and laptops kept these cyber conversations alive, some attendees couldn’t help but ask, “Is this all just a bunch of nonsense?” Read more

Washington, DC With all the amazing grantees we support around the world and the excitement of international Knowledge Exchanges like the one we just concluded in India, it is sometimes easy to forget that we have grantees who are doing important and incredible work right here in Washington, DC!

Last week, our colleague Kate Collins was visiting from our UK office. My DC colleague Sarah Ireland and I decided to take her to visit a local grantee partner. Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop meets once a week in the DC jail to lead a book club and writing workshop for young inmates. While we weren’t able to visit one of Free Minds’ workshops in the jail, we were invited to see the group’s office and meet some of the men who have benefited from Free Minds’ programs. Read more