Dear Friends:

As we close our fiscal year on June 30, I am pleased to report that we have exceeded our goal and have awarded 518 grants valued at more than $3.1 million to grassroots groups all over the world. Our most recent grants, awarded this spring, amounted to more than $1.3 million, a 13 percent increase over last spring’s grants.

Nineteen of the 118 program grants awarded this spring were given to new grantee partners. Among them is our first partner in Laos, Big Brother Mouse. Located in Luang Prabang, Big Brother Mouse offers an outlet for local talents to create and publish books in the Lao language and then brings these books to rural children who have not seen, let alone owned, a book that is not part of their school curriculum. Our grant enables Big Brother Mouse to conduct up to 20 book dissemination parties, through which more than 1,000 children will obtain their very first books, and to create and publish more books in Lao to provide a more diverse collection of books for the children.

Last month, our second film investment, War Child, the story of Emmanuel Jal, a globally renowned hip-hop performer and former child soldier in Sudan, had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film played to sold-out audiences and won the festival’s audience choice Cadillac Award. GFC made a special presentation at the end of the movie, making a $5,000 pledge to Gua Africa, the educational organization Emmanuel Jal founded to help educate former child soldiers. This gift was then leveraged at least five times over.

In March, we published our latest book, Children of the U.S.A. The book describes the everyday lives and incredible diversity of kids in 51 cities across the country. By highlighting family heritage and cultural traditions, the book illustrates the interconnected nature of our global community. I am very proud of this latest offering, as I believe its themes of unity and diversity provide an inspiring and educational lesson to children not only in the US but around the world.

I am thrilled to welcome Sarah Perot of Dallas, Texas, to the board of directors of The Global Fund for Children. Her commitment to bettering the lives of children around the globe, along with her strong leadership and vast experience in the nonprofit field as a philanthropic leader, provide the qualities we need at a time of rapid growth and change. I am equally excited to welcome David Kowitz to the board of trustees of The Global Fund for Children UK Trust. David is the managing partner and founder of Indus Capital, with direct responsibility for managing the Indus Asia Pacific Fund. He has over 20 years of experience in the investment industry, and we are delighted to add his insight and knowledge to our burgeoning UK Trust board of trustees.

I’d like to welcome the newest addition to our senior management team, Jerry Irvine, vice president of communications. Jerry was most recently the director of communications for the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, DC. He has over 15 years of experience in the public and private sector in both traditional and online marketing and public relations.

I’d also like to welcome five additional staff members. In the development department, we welcome Anne Sorenson as corporate and foundation relations officer and Parie Kadir as database coordinator. In programs, Susanna Shapiro is the new program officer for Latin America; Vineeta Gupta is the new program officer for South Asia; and Sarah Ireland (a former William Ascher summer fellow at GFC) has joined the team as an associate program officer. Matt Levy is our latest William Ascher summer fellow. We also have a number of interns this summer: Stephanie Davis, Daniel Robles, Hayley Crown, Annie Shafran, and Molly Cunningham.

We have been fortunate to receive a number of significant grants over the last few months to advance and expand our work. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation awarded a grant of over $500,000 to support innovative community-based organizations that offer programs and assistance to unaccompanied minors in Africa, Central Asia, Central America, and Eastern Europe. We were also one of 17 awardees, of over 1,000 applicants, in the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Competition, and the MacArthur award will allow us to explore utilizing new media in telling the firsthand stories of our grantee partners.

As we continue to grow, we are ever mindful of our core mission: providing small grants that have a big impact. To continue this important work, we continue to be dependent on your personal support. Whether it is donating online, mailing us a check, gifting us with stock, including us in your estate plans, or simply telling your friends and families about our work, rest assured that your actions mean a great deal to all of us at GFC. Thank you so much for your continuing support.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

My best,
Maya Ajmera


GFC Awards More Than $3.1 Million in 2007–2008
This fiscal year, we have given 518 grants valued at more than $3.1 million. Since making our first three grants, totaling $3,100, in 1997, we have awarded 1,935 grants valued at more than $10.7 million to 323 grassroots organizations in 66 countries. [Download the 2007-2008 Grants List]


UK Trust Awards More Than $430,000 in 2007–2008
The Global Fund for Children UK Trust approved its first docket of grants in May. The UK Trust awarded 37 program grants and one Sustainability Award to organizations working in 20 different countries. The grants docket had a total value of £226,950 (approximately $431,205). The UK Trust supports grassroots organizations that work with children in countries within the Commonwealth and those that address the plight of street children in Latin America and trafficked children in Europe.


North American Premieres for War Child, Journey of Red Fridge
In May, our second film investment, War Child, the story of hip-hop performer and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal, had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival to sold-out audiences. [read more]




Our third film investment, Journey of a Red Fridge, based on the life of a young male porter in Nepal, is getting wide acclaim and made its North American premiere at the SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival in June. The film’s directors, Lucian Muntean and Natasa Stankovic, who also produced the award-winning film Punam, attended the event and took questions from the audience. War Child was also selected for this prestigious event and was viewed by a sold-out audience. [read more]

Global Babies Receives Awards and Accolades
Global Babies, published in the fall of 2007, continues to receive numerous awards and accolades. This year, Global Babies was selected by Beginning with Books Center for Early Literacy as one of its Best Books for Babies, by the American Library Association (ALA) as a 2008 Notable Children's Book, by the Chicago Public Library as a Best of the Best book, and by Capitol Choices as one of the 100 best books for children for 2008. [buy a copy]

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© 2008 The Global Fund for Children