(Chicago, IL) — Continuing its tradition of encouraging creativity and building effective institutions to help address some of the world’s most challenging problems, the MacArthur Foundation announced today that eight organizations in five countries will receive the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Though these nonprofit organizations have diverse missions — from defending equality in the Nigerian legal system to transforming low-income Chicago neighborhoods to advocating for conservation of natural resources in the Caribbean — they have much in common. All are highly creative and effective organizations that have made a remarkable impact in their fields, driving significant change on a modest budget. Each organization will receive up to $650,000, a significant sum considering their annual budgets range from just $200,000 to $4.5 million. Groups will use their awards for a range of purposes, including development of training and research facilities, technology upgrades, and the purchase of new office space.
“These organizations may be small but their impact is tremendous,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “From protecting human rights to improving urban neighborhoods to conserving biodiversity, they are blazing new paths and finding fresh solutions to some of our most difficult challenges. The MacArthur Foundation has a long history of supporting organizations around the world like these that demonstrate the creativity, drive, and vision to make the world more just and peaceful.”
The 2009 recipients of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions are:
- Access to Justice Lagos, Nigeria Access to Justice seeks to prevent police abuse, eliminate torture, and promote accountability for extra-judicial killings in Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy. The organization defends the right to equal access to courts of law, attacks corruption in the administration of justice, and supports legal struggles for human dignity. Its groundbreaking research exposed the systematic use of torture in criminal investigations and its advocacy efforts resulted in the resuscitation of moribund coroner laws and procedures to ensure that deaths in custody or suspicious circumstances are properly investigated.
- Caribbean Natural Resources Institute Port of Spain, Trinidad For over 30 years, the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute has championed participation in the cause of biodiversity conservation, built alliances among the region’s diverse island nations and organizations, and sensitively harmonized the needs of people and the health of their coastal environment. It has protected watersheds, ensured a role for civil society in managing threatened natural resources, designed innovative training programs and provided clear-sighted analysis in community-based tourism, sustainable fisheries and forestry. It is currently playing a leading role in helping governments and civil society in the Caribbean deal effectively with the extraordinary challenges of the climate crisis and economic turmoil through efforts to resolve conflicts between environmental and development goals.
- Center for Neighborhood Technology Chicago, Illinois The Center for Neighborhood Technology uses cutting-edge research to develop transformative approaches to improving the environmental sustainability and economic health of urban areas. The Center works with cities and regions to analyze greenhouse gas emissions and identify mitigation strategies. Other current projects include the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index; I-GO, a membership-based car sharing organization; and the Preservation Compact Energy Savers Program, which offers energy audits and low-cost loans to retrofit affordable rental housing.
- Centre for Independent Social Research St. Petersburg, Russia Nearly two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s social scientific disciplines remain underdeveloped. The Centre for Independent Social Research is an independent think tank that helps reinvigorate the field of sociology by unleashing the creative and entrepreneurial energies of dozens of younger scholars, who produce original, policy-relevant research. The Centre recently launched a high-quality, peer-reviewed, independent, and bilingual journal of sociological research published three times yearly — the first of its kind in Russia.
- Chicago Community Loan Fund Chicago, Illinois The Chicago Community Loan Fund is a leading resource for small and mid-size real estate developers and nonprofits in metropolitan Chicago, providing low-cost, flexible financing and technical assistance, including the promotion of sustainable building practices and good design. Its clients revitalize low- and moderate-income communities by increasing access to affordable housing, promoting job creation and economic development, and delivering social services. In 2008, the Fund celebrated the opening of Phase I of the Whistler Crossing redevelopment, a 132-unit, environmentally-friendly affordable housing development, at a time when the area faced a 13 percent unemployment rate.
- Mahila SEWA Trust Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Mahila SEWA Trust works for the welfare of members of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a trade union of poor, self-employed women workers that organizes women in India for employment and social security, including income, food and health security. Recently, SEWA launched a pilot community-based health program that operates in 106 villages of Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. A cadre of over 400 community health workers educates women on health insurance, diagnoses risks during pregnancy, ensures safe home delivery, and provides health education for pregnant women and new mothers.
- National Housing Conference & Center for Housing Policy Washington, DC These two affiliated organizations work in collaboration to address the nation’s housing challenges, which are particularly pressing during these difficult economic times. For more than 75 years, the National Housing Conference has advocated for policies and legislation that promote affordable housing. The Center for Housing Policy specializes in research and analysis designed to understand better America’s housing problems and to identify promising solutions that can be adopted at the national, state and local levels.
- Women of the Don Region Novocherkassk, Russia Women of the Don is a leading regional human rights organization in Russia with special expertise in combating police abuse. The organization also works on issues ranging from promoting women’s rights to providing humanitarian aid in the conflict regions of the North Caucasus. It builds dialogue with local authorities and an atmosphere of trust between authorities and civil society organizations in the Rostov region.
In making these Awards, the Foundation does not seek or accept nominations. To qualify, organizations must demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness; have reached a critical or strategic point in their development; have budgets of less than $5 million per year; show strong leadership and stable financial management; have previously received MacArthur support; and engage in work central to one of MacArthur’s core programs.
The Foundation is well known for the MacArthur Fellows Program, which celebrates individual creativity. Each year, 25 people in diverse fields receive an unexpected phone call awarding them $500,000 with no strings attached. MacArthur also has a long history of strengthening institutions — from Human Rights Watch, now the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, to the World Resources Institute, the environmental think tank, to Creative Commons, which has changed the way we use and think about copyrights.
Winners of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions with operating budgets of $1 million or less receive $350,000. Those with operating budgets between $1 and $2.5 million receive $500,000. And those with operating budgets between $2.5 million and $5 million receive $650,000.
On June 11, 2009, awardees will be honored at a ceremony at MacArthur’s headquarters in Chicago. Additional information about this year’s winners is available at www.macfound.org/macei/2009.
Access to Justice
Defending the rule of law in Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
Access to Justice is committed to ending extra-judicial killings in Nigeria as part of its wider mission to promote the rule of law in Nigeria. Through programs in judicial integrity and independence, legal access, and legal resources, Access to Justice seeks to widen access to the courts, attack corruption, defend human rights, and educate lawyers and the public.
Extra-judicial killings became a feature of life in Nigeria under military rule. The situation grew worse after the return of democracy in 1999. Police brutality, torture in jails, reckless use of firearms by law enforcement officers, and the actions of vigilante groups led to almost 3000 such deaths in 2004 alone.
Few extra-judicial killings are investigated; perpetrators are not held accountable for their actions. The Nigeria Police has a history of ignoring the crimes committed by its members and of shielding them from discipline.
In 2005, a notorious incident in Abuja drew widespread attention to the problem. A senior police officer fired on a car in which six young people (the “Apo Six”) were traveling. Two of them were killed, the others taken to a police station. There, the officer responsible for the shootings conspired to have the surviving members of the group murdered so that there would be no witnesses. Public outcry and a failed cover-up led to a Federal Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which called for proper forensic investigation of extra-judicial killings.
The coroner system to investigate suspicious deaths, inherited from the English legal system, exists in the laws of most Nigerian states. But it has fallen into disuse. To revive the coroner system, Access to Justice has conducted consultations and workshops. As a result, Lagos state has passed a new coroners law which is now being implemented, while Rivers, Plateau, Cross Rivers, and Bayelsa states are reviewing their coroner laws and preparing new legislation. To build an effective system nationwide, Access to Justice is preparing a manual of coroner procedures, running training programs and a media advocacy campaign, compiling a database of extrajudicial killings, and providing legal representation for the families of victims and technical advice to government.
Access to Justice will use its $350,000 award to support the development and implementation of a public interest law center in Abuja to conduct research, train lawyers, and litigate public interest cases across Nigeria.
Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI)
Creating partnerships for effective conservation
Laventille, Trinidad & Tobago
The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) began its work in the 1970s and was officially founded in 1989 and has established itself as the region’s leading promoter of equitable and effective collaboration on conservation issues. It offers research-based policy advice to governments, guidance for development strategies, and encourages participation from all sectors of Caribbean society in protecting the environment.
CANARI has expertise in the sustainable management of forests and coastal areas unmatched in the Insular Caribbean. It conducts research and advises on the complex trade-offs between conservation and development, especially in agriculture, coastal fisheries, and tourism. Working closely with government, community groups, and business interests, CANARI has helped to build the capacity of civil society and governments to cooperate in preserving important areas of biodiversity.
Through publications, training events, and its web presence, CANARI disseminates information across the region and beyond. Its staff, qualified in social, political, and natural sciences, range across all the disciplines required to advance participatory natural resource management in the Spanish, French, and English speaking Caribbean.
The range of CANARI’s work is impressive. Among its past projects are a European Commission initiative to involve civil society in managing natural resources and an effort to safeguard watersheds through targeted payments coordinated globally by the International Institute for Environment and Development. Its current work includes a project on improving policy and institutional capacity for participatory forest management funded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in seven islands of the Caribbean and a strong emphasis on building public awareness and capacity for climate change adaptation.
CANARI’s strength lies in its ability to focus scarce resources and facilitate open dialogue among government, private sector, civil society and individuals that advances sustainable management of natural resources critical to meeting development goals in the region.
The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute will use its $350,000 award to enhance its financial and technical sustainability and communication effectiveness.
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Pioneering practical innovation
Chicago, IL
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), located in Chicago, is a think tank and incubator that has driven innovative, urban policy ideas for over thirty years.
Working in four principal areas — energy, transportation, climate, and natural resources — CNT conducts research and analysis, tests new ideas, and develops practical applications that can be used by policy makers and private enterprise.
CNT’s programs in sustainable development have had considerable impact. I-GO, a car-sharing program that serves 30 neighborhoods in Chicago, Evanston, and Oak Park, attracted 12,000 members over five years. CNT Energy, which helps residential consumers to cut energy costs by reducing usage at peak hours, was adopted by ComEd and other electricity providers in the Midwest. CNT is building on that success with the Energy Savers Program, which offers a one-stop shop for energy audits and loans to finance improvements that bring down natural gas and electricity costs. Reductions in energy consumption lower the operating costs for rental properties, keeping them affordable for a longer term.
CNT’s research is similarly influential. CNT developed the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, an online tool that for the first time quantifies the impact of transportation costs on housing affordability for 54 metropolitan areas across the country. Both HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and DOT Secretary Ray LaHood recently cited CNT’s Index during their Congressional testimony to support a new interagency partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation.
As energy efficiency, housing, urban and metropolitan issues, and sustainable development are once more at the center of national attention, CNT will play an important role in providing reliable analysis, creative research, and innovative ideas that have been tested in practice.
The Center for Neighborhood Technology will use its $650,000 award to expand its research capacities, reach a wider national audience, and build its operating reserve.
Center for Independent Social Research
Building the field of social policy research in Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia
The social sciences in Russia emerged from the Soviet era far weaker than the natural and physical sciences. Marxist-Leninist ideology had constricted the development of economics, sociology, and political science and isolated them from the intellectual mainstream worldwide. In general, these disciplines lacked the capacity to provide useful analysis as the new Russian Federation underwent sweeping social changes.
The Center for Independent Social Research, founded in 1991, has been at the forefront of equipping Russian social scientists to create an accurate picture of their society. In more than 300 projects and 800 publications, the Center has presented advanced, policy-relevant sociological research on aspects of contemporary Russia ranging from migration, nationalism, and environmentalism to gender studies, housing, and the growth of civil society.
The Center has made a concerted effort to prepare younger scholars for leadership, and attracted research funding from a broad range of sources. Training and mentoring doctoral students and recent graduates, it creates networks of intellectual collaboration. The Center has reached out beyond the St. Petersburg region and helped to incubate other centers of independent sociological research centers, notably the Center for Anthropological Research in Krasnodar and the Center for Independent Social Research and Education in Irkutsk — both of which the MacArthur Foundation has funded.
Until now, Russia has lacked a high-quality peer-reviewed journal and web portal in sociology. The Center is meeting this need through its recently-launched journal Laboratorium.
Russian society is on the verge of far-reaching social reforms in education, pensions, housing, and more. The Center will be able to make a key contribution at a crucial time, assisting policy makers to allocate resources on the basis of sound evidence toward clearly articulated goals.
The Center for Independent Social Research will use its $350,000 award to fund its journal project and to develop a web portal that provides a common discussion space for existing networks of advanced, international social scientists.
Chicago Community Loan Fund
Providing capital to revitalize communities
Chicago, Illinois
The Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF), founded in 1991, provides low-cost, flexible financing for nonprofit and for-profit community development organizations.
Working with small and mid-sized groups, CCLF fills an important niche. It provides loan capital to ventures too small for most banks, allowing small and entrepreneurial groups to take risks and try new directions.
The Fund has loaned $36 million to real estate projects in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods including affordable housing, economic and commercial development, and social service facilities. By providing critical capital to its borrowers, it has helped those organizations leverage $808 million in outside capital from private and public sources, and created or retained over 1,000 jobs and 5,200 homes. A testimony to its underwriting skill and close, supportive relationship with its clients, CCLF’s cumulative losses amount to less than one percent of the total dollars lent.
CCLF’s recent expansion includes the creation of a revolving loan pool to help developers preserve up to 2,200 units of affordable rental housing. This effort is part of the MacArthur-supported Preservation Compact, which has a goal to save 75,000 affordable rental homes in Cook County by 2020.
CCLF aims to increase lending volume and significantly accelerate the rate of business development, social service provision, and job growth over four years. It will focus on the Englewood, North Lawndale, and Woodlawn communities on the South and West Sides of Chicago and in parts of two high-poverty suburban corridors.
The Chicago Community Loan Fund will use its $500,000 award to enhance its current lending in low-income communities and encourage the incorporation of sustainable building technologies into community development strategies and projects.
Mahila SEWA Trust
Empowering women through self-sufficiency and social security
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Mahila SEWA Trust is one of India’s most respected and influential NGOs. Founded in 1975 as the Self-Employed Women’s Association, it is a trade union for women working in the informal economy. It now has a membership of one million.
SEWA seeks to provide a network of social services for women not protected by employers or labor legislation. Through innovative programs in finance, insurance, health, and more, SEWA has created a comprehensive set of services that make the lives of women and their families more secure, and a social network that protects their quality of life.
SEWA’s health programs have brought health insurance programs to 16,000 women workers in Gujarat. By training and organizing Traditional Birth Attendants or Swasthya Sarthi, SEWA is helping to reduce maternal mortality, the fifth of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. Swasthya Sarthi provide health education, monitor expectant mothers during pregnancy, make referrals to clinics, and conduct safe home deliveries. Their work is essential in rural areas, where half of the women have no prenatal services; its expansion has been supported by Gujarat’s state government.
SEWA conducts policy advocacy locally, and at the state and national levels. It is creating an alliance of activists, academics, and policy makers to reform health care and improve the provision of services.
The success of SEWA’s work has led to collaboration with the Indian Labour Ministry, which is working to develop a social security program in four states. SEWA hopes to expand its own efforts in five states and across Gujarat.
Central to these efforts is the expansion of health insurance, through SEWA’s insurance unit, VIMO SEWA. Its goal is to register 10,000 women and create the All-India Women’s Cooperative, owned and managed by women, in nine states of India. This would be the world’s first national insurance cooperative for self-employed women.
SEWA will use its $650,000 award to build the All-India Women’s Cooperative into an economically viable organization.
National Housing Conference and Center for Housing Policy
Reshaping the national housing policy agenda
Washington, DC
The National Housing Conference has a 75-year history at the forefront of housing issues. Among other victories, the Conference led the fight for the passage of the Housing Act of 1949, the most ambitious housing and urban renewal legislation Congress ever enacted, which called for “a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family.”
The Conference is known as the “United Voice for Housing,” with the broadest membership of any national housing organization comprised of for-profit and nonprofit housing developers, banks, corporations, advocacy organizations, and nonprofit institutions from across the housing industry.
Active in its outreach to legislators, the Conference is at the center of the federal government’s response to the mortgage crisis and exit tax relief, and has taken a leadership role in helping the housing community to prepare for the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Bill.
The Conference’s research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, has studied the housing needs of moderate-income people for more than 14 years. Its influential series on working families, including “Housing America’s Working Families,” and “Paycheck to Paycheck: Working Families and the Cost of Housing in America” focused attention on the plight of ordinary people. Its influential report, “A Heavy Load,” explored the combined costs of housing and transportation. It has summarized housing’s role in education and health programs in levels of detail suitable for both general and academic use. Recently, the Center has launched a website targeted to state and local policymakers.
Together, the Conference and Center make a persuasive case for a coherent, cost-effective housing policy, interlinked with investments in transportation, schools, healthcare, and the environment.
The National Housing Conference and Center for Housing Policy will use their $650,000 award for strategic planning and targeted technology investments to strengthen their educational and communications capacity.
Women of the Don Region
Protecting human rights and advancing police reform
Novocherkassk, Russia
Women of the Don Region was established in 1993 to defend human rights, combat racism and discrimination, and promote civic harmony between ethnic groups. It became well known for its work with women and children, particularly those who suffered during the conflict in Chechnya.
Women of the Don has built on this record of humanitarian aid and human rights activism to improve relations between police forces and the public. It is working to reduce abuses by police officers and create trust between law enforcement and civil society both in the Don region and throughout the Rostov province.
The police reform initiative offers legal and psychological advice and assistance to those whose rights have been violated. It trains police officers in the principles of human rights and offers courses to improve their professional performance. And it aims to raise public confidence in the police through a campaign to enhance how law enforcement is perceived and convene dialogue with civil society groups.
With an alliance of 27 nonprofit groups in the Rostov region, Women of the Don is building better relations between patrol officers and young people, rehabilitating police officers and improving their morale, and creating an environment of greater transparency and accountability. It serves as a model for police reform across the Russian Federation, an urgent issue as the country seeks to root out institutional corruption, improve local government, and instill respect for the rule of law.
Women of the Don Region will use its $350,000 award to purchase permanent office space.