1095 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
94103

• Assets: $615,291 (2005)
• Grants Received: $1,574,176 (2005)
• Grants Awarded: $1,347,495 (2005)

The Agape Foundation Fund for Nonviolent Social Change is a small, non-profit, public foundation established in 1969 (in Palo Alto, California) to finance the activities of organizations opposed to the war in Southeast Asia. Its name, "Agape," is a Greek word meaning "the unselfish love of one person for another." The Foundation characterizes its originators as "[p]acifists, World War II conscientious objectors, and anti-Vietnam War activists" who sought "to build a movement that seriously challenged the Pentagon and the American culture of violence." Aimed at countering America's alleged warlike proclivities and forestalling their inevitably disastrous consequences, the Agape Foundation's self-defined purpose is "to fund nonviolent social change organizations committed to peace and justice issues." "Unlike social services that aid and assist individuals," says Agape, "social change efforts confront the root causes of social problems by challenging the responsible systems and institutions."

Directing its philanthropy primarily toward grassroots organizations throughout the western United States, the Agape Foundation's objectives are firmly rooted in socialist values, as evidenced by its declaration: "We are committed to true human security through equitably redistributing resources, and challenging all forms of oppression." The Foundation further boasts of its commitment to "creating systemic change for social justice," which writer Barry Loberfeld has described as "the theory that implies and justifies the practice of socialism . . . domination by the State . . . the absence of a free market . . . repudiation of property rights . . . the opposite of capitalism." Such are the ideals of the Agape Foundation.

The Agape Foundation makes no grants exceeding $2,000. Some of its disbursements are in the form of seed grants to new, California-based, peace and justice organizations to help them launch or expand their operations; these recipient groups are generally under five years old and have annual budgets of less than $100,000. The Foundation also makes emergency grants to help such organizations "respond to unforeseen governmental, corporate, environmental or military events." In 2004 the Agape Foundation awarded $1.18 million to 61 grassroots, peace and justice organizations, bringing its 35-year grantmaking total to $8.8 million, and pushing its total number of donees during that period to more than 700.

A member organization of the Peace and Security Funders Group, in recent years the Agape Foundation has provided funding for such anti-war, anti-military, and anti-nuclear power organizations as the following:

• East Asia-U.S.-Puerto Rico Women's Network, which describes itself as an organization that brings together "activists and teachers from East Asia, the U.S. and Puerto Rico to engage in dialogue, analysis, and activism to oppose militarism and promote genuine security."
• Environmentalists Against War, a coalition of environmentalist groups and individuals that conduct anti-war workshops, presentations, and teach-ins condemning the U.S. War in Iraq as an ill-advised venture motivated by American lust for oil.
• Grandmothers for Peace International, which professes a commitment "to raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons, waste and power, and the effects of global militarism."
• Livermore Conversion Project, whose efforts are directed toward "educating and organizing in the Bay Area to bring about the abolition of nuclear weapons."
• Not In Our Name: With ties to the Revolutionary Communist Party, this Maoist organization opposes America's "injustices"; its pursuit of "endless war"; its greed-driven "transfusions of blood for oil"; its determination to "erode [our] freedoms"; and its eagerness to "invade countries, bomb civilians, kill more children, [and annihilate] families on foreign soil." 
• War Resisters League: This was perhaps the first major anti-war organization to blame America for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On that very day, WRL stated, "We urge Congress and George Bush that whatever response or policy the U.S. develops, it will be clear that this nation will no longer target civilians. . . . The policies of militarism pursued by the United States have resulted in millions of deaths." 
• Witness for Peace: This pro-Castro organization coordinates trips for American college students to Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Colombia, to let them see firsthand the alleged "horrors" created by American foreign policy.
• Women for a Better World, which declares its intent "to unite women across cultural, racial and class divisions to work together to build a just, sustainable and peaceful world where women and children are safe."

The Agape Foundation has also contributed money to the following economic justice, human rights, environmental, social justice, and progressive media organizations: 

• Income Families' Empowerment through Education, whose stated objective is "to empower low-income parents to determine, pursue and achieve their goals for education, employment and economic security."
• San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, which works "to build a grassroots movement of low-wage workers to achieve economic justice."
• Afghans for Afghans, which opposed America's post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan and encourages "cross-cultural understanding and social action by actively involving Americans and Canadians in making blankets and garments for displaced families in Afghanistan."
• Amnesty International, which gives America the lion's share of the blame for the degenerative state of world affairs, and which recently went so far as to compare President Bush unfavorably to Osama bin Laden and the architect of Cambodian genocide, Pol Pot.
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which opposes the Patriot Act and the U.S. war on terror, while supporting Palestinian "martyrdom" campaigns in Israel.
• Blue Triangle Network, an "all-volunteer, Bay Area organization working to defend Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrants from discriminatory attacks."
• California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty, which seeks "to empower Northern California's diverse faith communities to end the death penalty through advocacy, education and prayer."
• Clowns Without Borders, whose goal is "to collaborate with other humanitarian organizations and use the power of laughter, and collaborate, to improve the emotional, psychological, and sanitary experiences of refugees, especially children, in camps around the world."
• Families Against California's Three-Strikes (FACTS), which lobbies "to end the imprisonment of nonviolent offenders under the Three Strikes Law."
• The International Human Rights Initiative, which organized a February 2005 conference titled "From Attica to Abu Ghraib: Human Rights, Torture, and Resistance" - an event condemning America's alleged tradition of oppression and human rights abuses.
• National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement, which seeks "to protect the rights and dignity of Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian peoples, via the legal defense of rights, responsible media coverage and depiction, proactive collaboration with legislative and political bodies, and education and community outreach." 
• Survivors Take Action Against Abuse by Military Personnel, which works to publicize what it calls "information to victims of abuse by the U.S. military."
• California Communities Against Toxics, whose mission is "to advocate for environmental justice, pollution prevention and world peace."
• Greenwood Earth Alliance, which promotes what it calls "local and global environmental and economic sustainability, and racial and social justice." 
• Bell Project, which "promote[s] world peace" by "using melted-down firearms to cast bells that incorporate images of nonviolence and environmental harmony."
• Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship, which provides a leftist perspective on what it dubs "issues of peace and social justice around the world."
• Activist San Diego, which supports the activities of the anti-war organization Code Pink for Peace, and is a member organization of the Abolition 2000 and United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalitions.
• Ruckus Society, a violent anarchist group with eco-terrorist origins.
• Tides Foundation and Tides Center, a major funder of the political left.
• Rainforest Action Network, an anti-capitalism activist group whose members have participated in such events as the 1999 WTO protest riots in Seattle, anti-Israel rallies, and anti-Iraq War demonstrations.  

Apart from its grantmaking activities, the Agape Foundation administers a "fiscal sponsorship program" that "allows donors to make tax-deductible contributions to smaller groups in California who do not have their own tax-exempt status." The Foundation also makes available short-term, low-interest loans to peace and justice organizations in the western United States. These are called "donor-advised" contributions, where a benefactor can funnel his donation, earmarked for a specific group, through Agape, which in turn will forward the money to the intended recipient. This process permits the giver to claim a tax deduction for his donation, and allows the Agape Foundation to earn a handling fee in exchange for its assistance. Moreover, the Agape Foundation makes available short-term, low-interest loans to peace and justice organizations in the western United States.

Karen Topakian has been the Executive Director of the Agape Foundation since 1993. She is the former Director of the University of Rhode Island's Women's Center, and was a Nuclear Disarmament Campaigner for Greenpeace International, on whose board she currently sits.

Nina Dessart has been the Administrative Director of the Agape Foundation since January 2002. She formerly worked for Greenpeace International, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and the Rikers Island Correctional Facility, also in New York.