Annual Report 2004 - Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

and electricity privatization projects in
Honduras and the Philippines.
“Everything in the world is connected,”
Tchozewski said. “What happens in China
and Africa affects us all. If only out of selfinterest,
we need to share and accept
responsibility for problems there.”
His efforts resulted in Tchozewski being
awarded the 2004 Robert Scrivner Award for
Creative Grantmaking by the Council on
Foundations, a national membership
organization for grantmakers.
Among other things, the IFI Small
Grants Fund supports efforts to:
• increase the number of grassroots
organizations working on IFI-related
projects in developing countries;
• connect regional, national and
international NGOs to influence projects
and policy reforms;
• encourage collaboration among NGOs,
legal experts, scientists, decisionmakers
and local residents; and
• connect small grassroots groups
working on specific local challenges
with mid-size organizations working on
issues with a broader scope, such as
changing regional or sectoral lending
practices of IFIs.
Greengrants has provided more than
1,500 grants to groups in 107 countries
since 1991. Initially, Greengrants operated
under the umbrella of the San Franciscobased
Tides Foundation, but became fully
independent in 2001.
The Rev. Marco Arana, who lives in the
Cajamarca province of Peru, has observed
Greengrants’ impact firsthand. He has
witnessed that when small NGOs work with
larger NGOs, both groups are enriched and
their work is strengthened.
While wearing the collar of a Catholic
priest, Arana also dons the hat of a
community organizer. Under his leadership,
GRUFIDES, a local NGO, campaigned to
stop Latin America’s largest gold-mining
operation, Minera Yanacocha, from
expanding its extraction work to a nearby
mountain. For residents, Cerro Quilish
Mountain is a sacred site and also a primary
source of fresh water.
Arana searched for, and found, a way to
increase public awareness about the mining
company’s proposed expansion by linking
GRUFIDES’ members with Guarango Cine
y Video, a nonprofit Peruvian filmmaker and
a recipient of funding from Greengrants. The
filmmaker taught GRUFIDES’ members
how to produce and distribute videos about
their opposition to the planned expansion.
Their efforts were successful, and resulted in
Arana winning Peru’s prestigious 2004
National Human Rights Award.
Arana and GRUFIDES were able
to connect with Guarango Cine y Video,
thanks to Greengrants’ volunteer advisers,
who are environmental specialists serving
in the Andes Mountains region of
South America.
“This is globalization with a heart,”
Tchozewski said. “By placing the grant
decisions in advisers’ hands, we leverage local
expertise and create a system that puts its
confidence in the wisdom of the people
closest to the action.”
Local residents are
encouraged to attend
community meetings
and share their
concerns about
development projects
that negatively affect
their health and safety.
2004 ANNUAL REPORT
33