The West Foundation

WHO WE ARE

A 62 year-old family foundation working in international community development through effective partnerships with U.S. 501(c)(3) organizations.

WHAT WE FUND

Education (Focus: Girls & Women)
Livelihoods Development
Grassroots Healthcare
Environmental Management (Focus: Potable Water Supply)

FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS

Thousand Currents (formerly IDEX) has funded, connected, and walked alongside visionary leaders around the world for 30+ years.

Nurturing Minds is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming lives and communities by educating Tanzanian girls.

RECENT GRANTS

Nurturing Minds

$10,000 in general operating support for the 2017 fiscal year. Nurturing Minds is the fundraising arm of the Sega Girls School, a boarding school for disadvantaged girls in Tanzania. Sega scholars are bright and motivated students who previously dropped out — or were deemed at high-risk of dropping out of school — due to conditions related to poverty. While at...
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Building Tomorrow

$10,000 unrestricted grant to advance its overall mission of bringing education to Ugandan students. Building Tomorrow’s strong and sustained partnership with the Ugandan government is an impressive credit to its leadership team and efficacy as an organization. With over 10,000 students served to date and 41 employees, many of whom are Ugandan, the organization is an established leader among its...
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Cooperative for Education

Cooperative for Education received a multi-year, unrestricted grant of $30,000 ($10,000 per year over three years) to deliver its education and literacy programs in the Guatemalan Highlands. Co-Ed’s cadre of services includes a revolving schoolbook program, the installation of computer labs in rural communities, and a culture of reading training program for teachers. Additionally, through its Thousand Girls initiative, the...
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Boys Hope Girls Hope

Boys Hope Girls Hope received a $7500 grant of unrestricted funds to be allocated towards its Guatemalan arm Esperanza Juvenil. In 2016, the West Foundation supported the highly successful Road to Excellence program which connects 170 youth with college, career, and life skills programming. High school completion rates and college entrance rates for this program remain at the remarkable level...
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Giving Back to Africa

Giving Back to Africa was awarded multi-year unrestricted funding at the level of $10,000 annually for three-years (2017-2020). Over the course of the next few years, GBA anticipates expanding its US-based and DRC-staff with the aim of strengthening overall program development. GBA’s three-year vision includes an ongoing commitment to the Teacher Learning Circles program, a continued emphasis on Community Service...
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Proliteracy

Proliteracy requests $10,000 in renewed support for the second year of its African Women’s Health Literacy Project. Over the course of this 3-year initiative, Proliteracy will co-develop participatory health and literacy manuals with trusted NGO partners in Liberia, South Africa and Rwanda. Each independent curriculum will focus on the specific health needs of unique target populations. Previously, the organization received...
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GoodWeave International

GoodWeave International submitted a proposal for a $10,000 general operating grant. GoodWeave is laser focused on eradicating child labor in the global supply chain. The bulk of its efforts target the carpet weaving industry in South Asia which, as a region, accounts for half of the 168 million child laborers globally. In addition to carpet weaving, through its Sourcing Freedom...
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Lifewater

Lifewater requests $10,000 in unrestricted funds. Lifewater’s approach to transformational community development leverages hygiene education and infrastructure development to simultaneously decrease water borne disease and improve access to education for girls in the region. Their multi-tiered approach begins with public health education, which leads to latrine pit construction and culminates with clean water system development. Lifewater’s approach is closely aligned...
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Companion Community Development Alternatives

Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA) $10,000 in flexible funds to better plan, implement and strategically finance solar power and clean water projects in Salvadoran and Nicaraguan villages. CoCoDa aims to diversify and broaden its fundraising base through a variety of new strategies, including hosting double-bottom-line events such as the Solar Powered Water Project Conference in October of 2017. This conference...
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Hesperian Health Guides

Hesperian Health Guides was awarded $30,000 in flexible, multi-year support ($15,000 per year over the next two years) for its ongoing book projects in its grassroots healthcare series. The 2017 tranche will cover ongoing production of the following books: Health Actions for Women (Spanish language adaptation), Workers’ Guide to Health and Safety (Spanish language adaptation), new translations of Health Actions...
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BLOG: PARTNER NEWS...AND OUR OWN TWO CENTS

CoCoDA Febrero Fiesta

We are proud, at the West Foundation, of our commitment to supporting our partners in projects big and small. On February 26, the West Foundation joined CoCoDA for Febrero Fiesta in support of their water, public health and education projects in El Salvador and Nicaragua. The West Foundation team enjoyed a delicious meal, watched lively dance, and learned more about...
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Hesperian Health Guides

Hesperian Health Guides, a constituent of the West Foundation for the past 16 years, has released its latest book in a series of health manuals designed to assist people with little access to medical services in the Global South. Health Actions for Women assists women in creating change in their communities by providing inspiring activities, strategies, and stories that help...
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Goodweave Honored

Constituent organization Goodweave was recently honored when its founder, Kailash Satyarthi, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with youth activist Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” Our congratulations to Mr. Satyarthi and Ms. Yousafzai for this recognition of their inspiring work.