Men Can Stop Rape was our Human Rights beneficiary for the first quarter of 2013. Executive Director Neil Irvin shared this report on how MCSR will use the grant they received from FBB. FBB members donated $8,595 to MCSR last quarter.

Men Can Stop Rape is incredibly appreciative of the gifts Foundation Beyond Belief members made to us during Q1 2013. The gift of $8,595 will help us grow our current programming for young men and start an exciting new initiative in the fall. In the short term, Foundation Beyond Belief’s members have helped support our summer programming in the District of Columbia aimed at role modeling healthy, nonviolent masculinity for youth in the elementary to middle school age range. This programming, started two years ago, is very important as we continue our commitment to provide Men of Strength (MOST) Club throughout the calendar year, not just when school is in session. At right is a photo of one of our MOST Club Mentors with some of the youth he worked with in the summer program last year.

Foundation Beyond Belief members’ gifts will also help us pilot our Men of Strength Club programming as a co-curricular (as opposed to extracurricular) part of the school day. Starting this fall, we will be working with a school in DC to provide MOST Club programming during a regular classroom period, rather than during lunch or after school, as with our other MOST Clubs. For the first time in the MOST Club’s history, every male student at the school will be exposed to our MOST Club curriculum emphasizing healthy, nonviolent masculinity, including lessons on healthy relationships and sexuality, nonviolent conflict resolution, and social-emotional learning. Again, we thank you for your generous gifts and all of the other good you are doing in the world, and we hope to keep in partnership with Foundation Beyond Belief and the humanist community.
 
Neil Irvin
Executive Director
Men Can Stop Rape

Meet our new interns for summer 2013! We’re excited to have Ellen, Dan, and Mark join the team.

Ellen Andrews is our membership intern for the summer. She is going to be a senior majoring in biology, with an emphasis in ecology and conservation, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the upcoming Outreach Chair for the Illini Secular Student Alliance. She’s new to the secular community, but eager to be a more active member. Contributing to positive change in the world is her chief purpose in life. When she has free time, Ellen enjoys spending it outside in the sunshine, hiking or just lazing and reading. She also likes traveling, spending time with her family and friends, and anything that involves being around animals.

You can reach Ellen at members@foundationbeyondbelief.org.

Daniel Hay is our new Beyond Belief Network intern. Dan will be graduating this semester from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s in molecular-cellular biology. For the past two years he has grown more and more active in the secular community, primarily as the Outreach Director for the Illini Secular Student Alliance, but also as an SSA Volunteer Network Coordinator for the Illinois/Indiana area and the moderator of the “Atheist Scouting” Facebook page. In his free time, Dan enjoys hiking, camping, and generally getting lost in the woods ... that is, when he’s not frightening friends and family with a disturbing knowledge of pathogens.

You can reach Dan at volunteers@foundationbeyondbelief.org.

Mark-Anthony Smith is our summer Humanist Giving intern. Mark is an MPA candidate at Florida State University. He also double majored in philosophy and political science as an undergraduate. A native Brooklynite, one of his goals is to advocate for equitable urban planning policies in the city. He is a lifelong atheist, skeptic, and humanist and wants to see the movement grow to become more diverse in not only its membership, but its purpose. In his free time he obsesses over the newest Kepler findings, cries over his NY Jets, and binges on trashy historical fiction novels like the Da Vinci Code purely for entertainment purposes. Finally, he insists that Stargate is better than both Star Wars and Star Trek, which he knows is the biggest blasphemy of all.

You can reach Mark at humanistgiving@foundationbeyondbelief.org.

Please join us in welcoming our newest FBB interns!

By Cathleen O’Grady, director of special projects, and AJ Chalom, Humanist Giving Program coordinator

Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Giving Program is bringing back some of the beneficiaries we’ve supported in the past as encore beneficiaries. Our first-quarter Challenge the Gap encore beneficiary was Buddhist Global Relief, and our current second-quarter encore Human Rights beneficiary is Innocence Project of Texas.

Our next encore will be in the Natural World category, and we want your help. Please fill out this survey to voice your opinion on who you think should be our Q3 2013 beneficiaries. The survey will be active until May 19. The survey also asks for your vote on the charities nominated for our Education category. Currently, our grant totals average $8,200 per beneficiary.

Natural World Encore Beneficiary Criteria:

Here were our basic criteria for choosing our encore beneficiary nominees:

1. They were beneficiaries in 2010 or 2011
2. They have been featured only once previously
3. They meet our current and more detailed vetting requirements

There are three previously featured Natural World charities up for consideration as encore beneficiaries. We will use this survey to determine member preference to help the board make an informed decision between the finalists:

• EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust), first featured in Q1 2010
• Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, first featured in Q1 2011
• Global Green USA, first featured in Q1 2010

EcoHealth Alliance uses science-based solutions and partnerships to protect global health and safeguard ecosystems. Their projects include preventing infectious disease pandemics, the illegal wildlife trade and exotic pets, conservation medicine, and focused conservation on certain species (elephants, bats, amphibians).

This charity was selected because of its rigorous basis in science, its strong connection with the Millennium Development Goals, and the fact that it draws the link between environmental protection and helping humans.
EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust) received a $1,145 grant from Foundation Beyond Belief. They have a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and an annual budget of $8.7 million.

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is dedicated to the conservation and protection of gorillas and their habitats in Africa, through research on gorillas and education initiatives. Programs include working against poaching and other threats, supporting national parks, building awareness and education, rehabilitating rescued gorillas, and studying gorillas to gain a better understanding of habitat and biodiversity, behavior and ecology, and the effect of the human landscape. They also argue that helping local human populations helps gorillas, so they are involved in educational projects (at all levels of education) and health projects, such as health clinics, clean water programs, intestinal parasite prevention, hygiene education, and protein access.

This organization has the ability to build a strong connection through its stories, and it has an innovative approach in extending its reach to surrounding communities and getting involved in educational and health projects, as well as a science-based approach to gorilla conservation.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund received a $2,500 grant from Foundation Beyond Belief. They have a 3-star rating on Charity Navigator and an annual budget of $4.5 million.

Global Green USA is the American affiliate of Green Cross International, founded by former Soviet Union President Gorbachev, to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future. Programs include green homes, green schools, recycling, energy efficiency and solar power, and weapons elimination. They have worked toward rebuilding New Orleans in a sustainable fashion.

Global Green USA is a candidate because of their multi-faceted approach to environmentalism, inclusion of social justice issues, global spread, and cohesion with Millennium Development Goals. They also have many achievements mentioned in their annual report.

Global Green USA received a grant of $1,275 from Foundation Beyond Belief. They have a 4-star rating on Charity Navigator and a budget of approximately $5 million.

Education Beneficiary Nominations:

Women’s Global Education Project works in Senegal and Kenya addressing education, literacy, health, and human rights issues. Their programs have impacted at least 4,000 individuals and their families. They provide scholarships for students to attend school, support adult literacy, and have made a significant effort encouraging girls and women to say no to female genital mutilation in their communities.

They have a strong correlation to Millennium Development Goals, impacting four high-priority MDGs and two lower priority MDGs based on Foundation Beyond Belief’s analysis. They also have a proven track record of success.

Women’s Global Education Project was a finalist for Q1 of 2013. They are too small for a Charity Navigator rating, but have been thoroughly vetted by FBB staff. They have an annual budget of $205,000.

Equal Education is a collection of educators, activists, community members, and students working to improve the quality and equality of South Africa’s education system. Using evidence-based techniques for improving education in the nation’s most impoverished schools, Equal Education focuses on building infrastructure, teacher competency, and education materials. Their campaigns include creating minimum standards for school infrastructure, creating an on-time program for high schools, and creating a generation of activists working toward equality in the education system.

Equal Education is a registered charity in a foreign country, and is not rated by US charity evaluators. However, it has been thoroughly vetted by FBB staff, including audited financial statements. Their annual budget is approximately the equivalent of $1 million.

Remember to go to the survey now and choose your preferred beneficiaries. Thanks!