Search Nonprofits

Vaga Lume Association is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in 2001 grounded in the belief that investing in people is the best way to transform a reality. Its mission is to create opportunities for cultural exchange by reading, writing and orality, valuing the empowerment of people and rural communities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region. Vaga Lume works in 160 rural communities (indigenous, riverside, roadside, rural settlement people or quilombolas - Brazilian with African descent) of 23 municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region, which encompasses nine federal states (Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima and Tocantins), occupies 59% of the Brazilian territory and has 20 million people (12% of the Brazilian population). Despite the fact that education and culture are basic social rights, protected by the Brazilian Constitution and under human rights international treaties ratified by Brazil, its access and implementation in the Amazon region are very limited. It is one of the poverty zones in Brazil - with a GDP per capita 30% lower than the national value - where 42% of the population survives with less than US$ 5.00 a day. Due to the outstanding impact of Vaga Lume's work in the region, the organization is recognized by many international and national awards such as the Juscelino Kubitschek Award of Merit for Regional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean given by the Inter-American Development Bank (2009); the Millennium Development Goals Award, conferred by the United Nations and the Brazilian government (2005); the Vivaleitura Award, from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education (2008); and the Chico Mendes Environment Award, given by the Ministry of Environment (2006 and 2008). In 2011, Vaga Lume received its most important recognition: the 4th place at the Intercultural Innovation Award, conferred by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. As an awardee, in 2012, Vaga Lume was welcomed to the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI), a network formed by the UNAOC, the BMW Group and the ten 2011 winners. Through this network, the UNAOC and the BMW Group challenged all winners to replicate and scale up their actions to promote intercultural dialogue and offered training, consultancy and institutional support to assist organizations to accomplish such results.

Empowering immigrants and others to become self-sufficient, productive and civically engaged. Hispanic Unity of Florida, Inc. (HUF) was founded 34 years ago, in 1982, by community leaders who recognized south Florida's growing role as a haven for immigrants and refugees. HUF is the largest 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization in Broward County dedicated to serving the immigrant population by fulfilling its mission of "Empowering Immigrants and others to become self-sufficient, productive and civically engaged". HUF's goal is to ease immigrants' acculturation transition by providing skills, services and tools to help them build their new lives in their adopted country. Recognizing that focusing on and providing coaching on an individual basis is more likely to achieve educational and economic success, HUF offers a one-stop, integrated and multiservice approach designed to serve entire families and meet their evolving needs as they build new lives. Annually, we serve 17,000 diverse and multicultural clients from the United States and from more than 25 other countries.

Our mission is to promote dignity, community, and self-sufficiency by working with marginalized populations in rural Honduras on a long-term basis, facilitating access to health care, education, and livable wages. Our comprehensive approach to grassroots community development promotes local traditions, encourages community leadership, and emphasizes collective ownership. Un Mundo seeks to improve the present and future socio-economic conditions and the quality of life of the families in rural Honduras who are living in extreme poverty by providing them with tools and resources to be self-sufficient and unified. Our work began from spontaneous relief actions after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in 1998, and we grew to gain 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2001. Initially, the organization was sustained by the generosity of international volunteers, but we have gradually evolved such that more and more of our project work is managed by local Honduran leaders. Within a few years, we expect that we will be able to realize our vision of seeing equitable, fruitful, life-giving projects in the Cangrejal River Valley being 100% run by the local communities.

IGLYO - The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth & Student Organisation is the world's largest LGBTQI youth and student network, counting more than 100 Member Organisations in over 40 countries across the Council of Europe Region. IGLYO's mission is to strengthen the rights of LGBTQI youth, fight for equality and inclusion, and empower LGBTQI youth voices. IGLYO represents the diverse rights and intersectional needs of LGBTQI young people and works hard to ensure that their futures are bright. We achieve our objectives through international training and events, targeted capacity building programmes, intercultural exchanges and peer learning, thematic research and advocacy actions, online tools and resources, digital story-telling and campaigning, networking activities, and more. Since our establishment in 1984, IGLYO has been growing steadily with new Members joining every year. Our Members are organisations who represent and/or support LGBTQI youth and/or students, work with LGBTQI youth or issues, comprise mainly of LGBTQI youth, or have a specific department working for/with youth.

Taghyeer Organization/ We Love Reading Program is an innovative model that provides a practical, cost efficient, sustainable, grassroots approach empowering communities from low and mid income communities around the world to create changemakers through reading. WLR supports the activism of local volunteers to increase reading levels among children 2-10 by focusing on the readaloud experience to instill the love of reading for pleasure among children to become lifelong learners. We aim to create system change. We create changemakers by recruiting and training adults and youth from local communities to provide read-aloud sessions for local children in safe, public spaces. Each year, WLR volunteers read to tens of thousands of children in public parks, community centers, mosques and other faith-based settings, nurseries, refugee camps, and other locales. We serve diverse populations and communities irrespective of gender, religion, social status, disability, literacy level, educational experience, etc. The training is either implemented in face-to-face settings or via our online platform to allow reaching wider audience of people wanting to volunteer and become reading ambassadors.

Biosphere Expeditions is an award-winning not-for-profit conservation organisation, and a member of IUCN and the UN's Environment Programme. For us successful conservation is the collective effort of individuals. We invite everyone to join us on our wildlife and wilderness projects all over the world. Whether young or old, become a citizen scientist for one or two weeks, or more. The foundation of our work is science and local need. We focus on sustainable conservation projects that target clearly defined, critical issues that humankind has the power to change. You, our international volunteers, work hand-in-hand with local biologists and communities to drive positive outcomes for biodiversity - the creation of a protected area for snow leopards in the Altai is just one recent example. Biosphere Expeditions is a member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Governing Council & Global Ministerial Environment Forum. Achievements include the implementation of our conservation recommendations and species protection plans by numerous national and regional governments and NGOs, the creation of protected areas on four continents, scientific and lay publications, as well as capacity-building, training and education all over the world.

Libraries Without Borders is an international nonprofit that expands access to information, education and cultural resources to vulnerable populations around the world. Our interventions address the structural causes of economic and human underdevelopment, reduce the digital divide, and promote cultural resilience. By focusing on the curation and customization of educational materials, along with the logistics and security involved with delivery, storage and construction of learning spaces, we have been able to develop innovative programs, create and re-envision library spaces and support librarians in over 25 countries. Most recently, we received the Library of Congress' International Literacy Award (2016) and won the Google Impact Challenge (2015). We advocate the idea of the library as a toolbox for communities to disseminate knowledge, promote social harmony, accompany the least fortunate, and ultimately, pursue human and economic development. We work in five areas of intervention: 1. EDUCATION LWB establishes libraries and information resource centers in universities and schools. This support manifests itself in the donation of materials, technical equipment, texts, and multimedia and electronic resources. LWB also provides support to teachers in their education responsibilities by putting in place educational resource centers as well as creating educational digital content. 2. INFORMATION AND CULTURE LWB supports the development of structures providing access to books, information and culture in developing countries. LWB enters into partnerships with libraries to help them develop their textual and digital resources and set up quality cultural programs. LWB also accompanies the creation of cultural projects for specific and disadvantaged groups such as visually impaired persons, prisoners and refugee populations. 3. CAPACITY BUILDING LWB initiates innovative specialized resource projects to reinforce the capacities of specific groups such as professionals from the medical or justice sectors. In facilitating access to verified and quality-controlled information, LWB accompanies their daily work in servicing their communities as well as their scientific research. 4. CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE LWB assists in the conservation and promotion of local written or oral heritage through the creation of specialized structures (libraries, cultural centers) and the training of personnel in these professions. Within the framework of promoting local knowledge and supporting publishers in developing countries, LWB also promotes the diffusion of local literature. 5. CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP LWB works alongside cultural entrepreneurs to design innovative and sustainable economic models. By setting up income-generating activities and training in management strategies, libraries are re-invented as social and cultural entrepreneurs with major economic benefits for their communities.

With the goal of helping under-served communities in India, Nepal, and Tibet receive the vital services they need, Karuna-Shechen was founded in 2000 by Matthieu Ricard (www.matthieuricard.org), renown TED speaker, author, and humanitarian. We strive to reduce inequalities and work toward a fairer and more compassionate world. We trust that communities can be lifted out of poverty, that change is possible, and that the well-being of every individual, regardless of race, gender, class, or caste, is essential. We believe that building on local strengths and knowledge is the most efficient way to respond to the specific needs and aspirations of our beneficiaries. Rooted in the ideal of "compassion in action", we serve others with joy and determination by cultivating altruism in our hearts and actions. We provide vulnerable and disadvantaged populations access to health care, education and vocational training, clean water, solar electricity, and other sustainable solutions that offer options to find a livelihood and a better life. We work with a grassroots network of local partners, and give special attention to the education and empowerment of girls and women. Karuna-Shechen's name expresses its mission while paying homage to its roots: Karuna means "compassion" in Sanskrit, and Shechen is the name of a major monastery in Tibet.

The Foundation Casa Tres Patios (C3P) is a center for contemporary thought that promotes social justice through research, critical pedagogy, creativity and capacity building. C3P works with vulnerable populations including children, young people, prison inmates, community groups and other institutions. We articulate our research program with our educational program so that we can clearly understand the situations of each community group in order to reduce poverty and economic inequality by providing skills that compliment the formal education system and which are necessary in the 21st century to acquire decent work. We promote gender equality, peace and justice in order to create an environment in which all citizens can live and work freely without fear and repression. Our programs have benefited more than 5,000 people including 3,000 girls, boys and young people, members of the LGTBI community, ex-FARC combatants, municipal employees, inmates in the prison system in Medellin, other community based organizations and the general public in Medellin and the surrounding areas. Through our research and educational programs we inspire, motivate and accompany individuals and organizations in the creation of new visions for the future, and in turning those visions into reality.

The welcoming community of Siena Retreat Center provides retreats and programs that renew lives and deepen holistic spirituality in an environment of peace, joy, and beauty. In the spirit of the Racine Dominicans, we seek to be a catalyst for a more just and compassionate world. HISTORY: The seeds of Siena Retreat Center were sown in 1966, when several area women gathered to discuss the societal shifts of the 1960s and the ideas initiated by the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council. The Racine Dominican sisters' leadership invited the group for a weekend at their new mother house, Siena Center. Soon, numerous groups requested space for their own retreats and gatherings, the sisters' sponsored their own enrichment programs and retreats, and a full retreat ministry was born. In 2010 the Retreat Program was incorporated as Siena Retreat Center, Inc., with a Board of Directors and governance by the Racine Dominicans. A new building was built on the north end of the campus in 2013, and the Center celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016. The Center serves over 6,000 people annually through sponsored, hosted, and private retreats, as well as spiritual direction. Siena Retreat Center is a sponsored ministry of the Racine Dominicans whose mission is shaped by the pursuit of truth and a dedication to promoting justice. It is named after St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th century Dominican of great religious and spiritual influence.

To establish model medical facilities in order to alleviate the sufferings of poor and resource less patients and provide them quality medical care. To help the humanity in distress at times of natural calamities like Earth Quakes, Accidents, IDPs crisis and so forth. To conduct training programmes for Community Health Workers in collaboration with other community based organizations and donor agencies. To create awareness among the general public for improvement of their health through health education. To help deserving and talented students and provide financial support to widows and poor families who cannot afford treatment on their own. To achieve simple treatment goals through cost effective local medicines including Herbs and Folk Home Remedies designed to cure as many patients as possible with few side effects. To provide best possible treatment to the poor and needy patients through qualified and specialist doctors. To develop a Health Education Programme designed to improve the quality of life through preventative measures. To conduct training programmes for Community Health Workers in collaboration with other community based organizations and donor agencies. To establish a Centre of Excellence for the treatment of Tuberculosis (in line with WHOs, DOT programme), Hepatitis-C and other Infectious Diseases. To provide immediate relief in case of natural disasters and calamities and also to take active part in rehabilitation of the affected population.

The Arc/k Project is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to digitally archive that which is too valuable, too important, and too unique to be lost or forgotten. We envision the creation of a sustainable archival quality process to counter the threats and destruction of treasured objects and locations due to war, iconoclastic movements, poverty, neglect, climate change and even vandalism as some conspire to rob humanity of its collective culture as well as memory. To preserve our global heritage, we seek to capture and archive culturally and historically significant objects and locations via emerging modern digital formats including 3D imaging as well as the immersive technologies of augmented and virtual realities. With a goal to achieve the highest archival quality accuracy and authenticity, we are promoting the science of photogrammetry to populate the data for our digital formats. We are now looking to collaborate with like-minded individuals, museums, organizations and academic institutions to create case studies using the photogrammetry process to digitally archive and preserve objects and locations via grants or volunteer work. Also here is Arc/k's mission statement as it's laid out in our Articles of Incorporation -- "The specific purpose of this corporation shall be to preserve cultural assets across geopolitical regions, religions, races, and political borders, and to carry on other charitable activities associated with this purpose as allowed by law."