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- Assets: $3,398,374 (2005)
- Grants Received: $1,008,770 (2005)
- Grants Awarded: $864,235 (2005)
The Threshold Foundation was established in 1981 by Richard Perl, who convened a small group of fellow wealthy activists to brainstorm how they could best utilize their financial resources for the public good. Perl is currently the President of the ManyOne Foundation and a leader in the Social Venture Network; he was formerly the CEO of Infinite Possibilities International, which oversaw the business dealings of Dr. Deepak Chopra, the "alternative medicine" guru and exposed plagiarist.
Today the Threshold Foundation describes itself as "a membership organization comprised of individuals with significant financial resources who contribute their time, money and energies to examine the personal and social consequences of wealth and contribute to making a more just, joyful and sustainable world through their philanthropic endeavors."
Reasoning from the premise that American society is rife with injustice and thus needs a radical transformation, Threshold seeks to be "a quiet catalyst to the social change movement, by seeding thousands of non-profits and by supporting the evolution of many sister donor organizations and socially responsible business networks throughout the world."
A member organization of the Peace and Security Funders Group, the Threshold Foundation is housed in the same building as the Jenifer Altman Foundation, the Columbia Foundation, and the Energy Foundation, even sharing some of the same phone numbers with those three.
The Threshold Foundation's philanthropy is divided among several major program areas:
Policy and Systemic Change Committee: This program "seeks to create a just, sustainable, democratic and peaceful world by supporting projects that work for systemic policy change by addressing the root causes of harmful and unjust conditions, or by protecting and strengthening democratic institutions."
Coexistence and Community Committee: This program "supports organizations that foster tolerance, promote peace and work toward social and economic justice."
New Visions for Culture and Society Committee: This program "supports prophets, artists, activists, scientists and other visionaries in bringing forth diverse projects that heal and transform our relationship to one another and the planet."
Strategic Media Committee: Funding what it calls "strategic media reform projects," this committee's mission "reflects the community's concern that the current corporate-controlled, commercial media structure, presents a crisis for democracy." Further, it "will fund creative approaches to building a more diverse and democratic media structure."
Sustainable Planet Committee: Viewing capitalism and industry as inherently destructive to the natural environment, this program aims at "meeting the needs of people now without compromising the needs of future generations; bringing all human activities into harmony with nature for the benefit of all beings; ... transforming both human culture and technology to live within the physical limits of the local and global ecosystems; ... protecting threatened ecosystems to preserve biodiversity and prevent extinction; ... addressing global ecological issues such as climate change; empowering local and indigenous communities; and deploying new clean technologies."
Democracy Committee: Working "to strengthen democracy in the United States and protect it from threats," this committee "supports efforts to ensure that elections are conducted with integrity and without discrimination; [that] every vote is correctly counted; and [that] special interests do not enjoy favored status or unfair access to decision makers. … The committee will fund projects that seek to ... empower marginalized communities to register [and] vote, and [it will] challenge barriers to voting access such as: felon disenfranchisement, the requirements of documented proof of citizenship, and identity cards."
Among the many recipients of Threshold Foundation grants are: the Tides Center; the Tides Foundation; Friends of the Earth; the Rainforest Action Network; the Northwest Environment Watch; the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment; the Genetic Engineering Action Network; the Alliance for Global Justice; the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardners Association; Essential Information; the Biotechnology Working Group; the Ruckus Society; Redefining Progress; Arawaka; the Arizona Advocacy Network; the California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group; the Center for Council Training; CorpWatch; Courage to Refuse; the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence; the Coexistence Initiative; Challenge Day; the Center for Economic Justice; the Drug Policy Alliance; Fringe Benefits; Friends of the Ten Mile; the Independent Media Institute; the Institute for Public Accuracy; the Global Greengrants Fund; the Government Accountability Project; the International Development Exchange; the International Forum on Globalization; the International Media Project/National Radio Project; Internews Interactive; Jubilee USA Network; the Nuclear Policy Research Institute; MidEast Citizen Diplomacy; the Network of Educators on the Americas/Tellin' Stories Project; the New World Foundation; the Public Education Center; the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy; Transforming Violence; Women Living Free; the Western Shoshone Defense Project; the Western States Center; the Youth Gender Project; Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform; the Unity Foundation; the Women's Action for New Directions Education Fund; the National Network of Grantmakers; the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy; and the Third Wave Foundation.
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