US peacebuilding theorist John Paul Lederach talks about achieving “critical yeast” in difficult circumstances, with this arguably being of greater importance than “critical mass.” If the recently circulated report on philanthropy for social justice and peace in Latin America and the Caribbean is to be believed that is exactly what exists: critical yeast. The 32 foundations located and working in the region that participated in this study are mainly public or community foundations.

By Avila Kilmurray

In his book, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, Charles Dickens wrote that ‘It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times’; and as ever the Chinese have a proverb (some say a curse) – ‘May you live in interesting times’, but our lecture title today – ‘The Role of Philanthropy in Difficult Times’ undoubtedly has a resonance with Barry [Gaberman] given his many years of thoughtful and insightful contribution to global philanthropy.  Difficult times are invariably complex and bring with them both challenges and opportunities.  So my optimistic sub-text today is the following question:

By Avila Kilmurray

Courtesy of www.alliancemagazine.org

‘This is how the verb “to participate” is conjugated – I participate, you participate, they decide.’ This comment relates to international development aid but could be echoed by grant recipients of many philanthropic programmes. Who decides on the allocation of resources and how?

The recent European Foundation Centre (EFC) annual gathering held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in June 2012 provided a well-attended platform for the discussion of aspects of peace and social justice. Representatives of Charitable Trusts and Foundations from across Europe and beyond considered a wide range of issues including, among other sessions: