The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is funding the NH After School organization.
Some philanthropic foundations as different as Soros’s leftist Open Society Institute and the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation support projects that represent the intentions of their donors. But too many foundations pursues goals contrary to any reasonable interpretation of their founders’ intent. Surely that is the case with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
How has this foundation changed?
In 2010 thirty percent of Mott grants—149 grants totaling $27.8 million—went to its division called “Pathways out of Poverty.” The Mott annual report describes one of these “pathways” in ways Saul Alinsky would have approved. The goal: “To enhance the power and effectiveness of the community–organizing field in order to strengthen and sustain the involvement of low–income communities in shaping their futures.” The objective: “Strong and effective community–organizing networks at the national, regional and state levels that foster community engagement and positive change in poor communities.”
The foundation devotes much of its resources to advancing these Alinsky-inspired community organizing groups. Among its grantees are the Center for Community Change (a whopping $15,947,700 since 1999); National Council of La Raza ($5,081,000 since 1999); the ACORN-affiliated American Institute for Social Justice ($4,297,500 since 1999); the National Training and Information Center ($4,165,090 since 1999); Pacific Institute for Community Organization ($2,900,000 since 1999); the Gamaliel Foundation ($1,785,000 since 1999); Local Initiatives Support Corporation ($740,000 since 1999); the Alinsky-founded Industrial Areas Foundation ($600,000 since 2000); Midwest Academy ($505,500 since 2000); and Interfaith Worker Justice ($150,000 since 2007).
Perhaps these foundations should be more closely examined before people sign on to their programs.
Read more: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation: From Community Service to Community Organizing