BCP is a group of exceptional musicians! They are truly world-class professionals. At every concert, I am blown away anew by their musicality, the subtle communication between players as they perform, and the inspiration I get as an amateur musician myself. I really appreciate being able to attend their concerts closer to home rather than having to trek to a bigger city. This group is an East Bay treasure!

Quite possibly a scientific revolution in how science is done.

I stand with writers and actors and support staff!!

Founded in 2006, the Benicia Chamber Players’ mission is to provide a classical chamber music concert series to underserved East Bay areas including Benicia, Lafayette, Piedmont and Vallejo. Our aim is to cultivate a community of local and other world-class professional musicians with a love of playing chamber music who are dedicated to sharing that love with audiences.

Benicia Chamber Players

We preserve, develop, and promote the assets comprising the Domaine national de Chambord which is on Unesco's world heritage list.

Chambord has aroused admiration and fascination to the world for over 500 years. Placed on France’s first list of historical monuments in 1840, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, it is one of the most breathtaking construction of the Renaissance. Far from being a residential palace or a hunting lodge, Chambord embodies the values of humanism, inventiveness and human genius.

Preserving this heritage means constantly questioning how it can be made accessible to the widest possible audience. With this objective in mind, each year new developments and innovative projects are presented to visitors, a rich program of events punctuates the life of the estate, and ecological actions are implemented. The estate is also developing a strategy to diversify its own resources, notably by reviving its vocation as a food-producing farm.

Chambord’s projects are structured around four development priorities: Chambord cultural and artistic, Chambord educational and social, Chambord sustainable and agricultural, and Chambord innovative. To support us in this approach, we are looking for partners who share our values and wish to promote them.

American Friends of Chambord

An institute dedicated to spreading and applying humanity's deepest and most consequential ideas.

Understanding how knowledge grows (the primary concern of *epistemology*) is one of the most fundamental questions that humanity has ever asked. Because the growth of knowledge plays a role in every human endeavor–from science to politics to creating artificial intelligence to raising children to entrepreneurship–getting the answer wrong necessarily leads to blind alleys and errors. Fortunately, Karl Popper, David Deutsch, and other thinkers have discovered and elaborated upon the right answer: that knowledge grows via conjecture and criticism.

Such a simple idea (the entire theory of which is called *critical rationalism*) has an enormous number of practical implications for all of the aforementioned fields and any other in which humans can make progress. While the revolutions brought forth by Newton, Darwin, and Einstein were profound and improved mankind's lot in the universe, even they were limited to particular strands of human endeavors. But epistemology is universal for any problem a person or society faces. Therefore, spreading critical rationalism and its implications will dissolve barriers to progress that most people do not even know stand in their way.

Conjecture Institute Inc

National human services organization. Our mission is to foster stability and resiliency, and provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan.

Founded in 1882, we serve all professionals—and not just actors—in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance through programs that address our community's unique and essential needs.

Employment in any division of the performing arts and entertainment industry is unpredictable. Work is erratic, security is fleeting and health insurance is often just a dream. For all of these reasons and many more, The Actors Fund is an indispensable and deeply significant part of the entire entertainment community.

As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, we directly serve thousands of performing arts and entertainment professionals across the country every year, in person and via our online resources. Our programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature and produce significant results.

Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund)

Empowering Palestinians since 1983 through education, culture and relief programs in Palestine and beyond. Together, we build hope

**Taawon (Welfare Association)** is a **non-profit**, **civic organization** launched in **Geneva** in the year **1983**, upon the initiative of a group of **Palestinian and Arab economists** and intellectuals.
**Taawon has become one of the largest organizations operating in Palestine and the diaspora camps in Lebanon**, whereby it touches the lives of **more than one million Palestinians** on an annual basis, with half of these beneficiaries being **women**.
**Since its establishment, Taawon has invested funds reaching nearly US $900 million, dedicated to development and relief programs.**

**Taawon’s record** over the past 40 years reflects a journey full of achievements reinforced by **strong partnerships**.
Taawon’s long and rich experience has enabled it to:

- Overcome **obstacles** and **difficult conditions** due to the **Israeli occupation**
- Find **innovative and creative solutions** to crises
- Remain responsive to needs despite **social and economic instability**

Taawon maintains a presence in:

- **Palestine**
- **Jordan**
- **Lebanon**
- **Switzerland**
- **Great Britain** (via its sister organization)

Its **interventions reinforce the steadfastness** of **Palestinian citizens** in **Palestine** and the **refugee camps in Lebanon**.

**Taawon aims to:**

- **Empower Palestinian individuals** and **civil society institutions**
- Strengthen **identity**, **freedom**, **democracy**, and **human values**
- Preserve **Palestinian cultural heritage**, highlighting its **unique position**
- Unleash the creative energies of **youth**, **women**, and **children**
- Provide **equal opportunities** for all segments of society
- Promote **creativity** and **excellence** despite the most difficult circumstances

**Taawon works in partnership** with civil society organizations through:

- Purposeful planning
- High-standard policies

Guided by:

- The **Universal Declaration of Human Rights**
- The **United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)**
- The **Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity**

🏅 *Awards & Recognition:*

- **Taawon Awards for Excellence & Creativity**, granted annually to those advancing **sustainable development in Palestine** 
- Recipient of the **Mahatma Award (2018–2020)** for **COVID‑19 humanitarian efforts** [taawon.org](https://www.taawon.org/en/content/awards-received?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

***Our Vision****:*

*“To envision the Palestinian people as citizens of an independent, free, democratic Arab Palestine, living in dignity, prosperity and self‑fulfillment.”*

Taawon (Welfare Association)

An SF Queer Theater Company, fiscally sponsored project of Intersection for the Arts

Eye Zen Presents illuminates and preserves hidden LGBTQ+ histories through interdisciplinary performance, archival activation, and intergenerational exchange. We create immersive public art rooted in place, memory, and accessibility that connects queer elders, artists, and audiences. Our practice pairs hands-on archival preservation with new creative works so that endangered legacies are safeguarded and shared as living culture. 


Eye Zen Presents

We aim to advance the mental wellbeing of our South Asian community.

In 2021, during their freshman year of college, our founders Ravi Parekh and Aaron Pandian suffered the loss of their close friend and roommate, Farhan, in a tragic murder-suicide where he took the lives of himself and his family. 

Farhan was struggling with a variety of inadequately treated mental illnesses. However, like so many members of the South Asian-American community, his parents simply lacked the tools, resources, and education necessary for providing him the care he needed.

They recognized that, as an immigrant South Asian family, they lacked the tools, resources, and education necessary for providing Farhan the care he needed. The tragedy of Farhan and his family revealed that there are many mental health issues unique to the cultural characteristics of South Asians. Understanding that these environmental factors and structural barriers to effective care created the situation which led to this tragedy, we theorized a youth-led grass-roots advocacy and education initiative that equips South Asian youth and other interested parties with access to tools and resources to understand, process, and empower.

Grass-roots efforts are often inspired by lived experiences. Our passion and drive to bridge the gaps in mental health care for South Asian individuals stem from our lived experiences.

Knowledge is empowering, and part of understanding mental health is to both learn and express empathy for those affected who are unable to receive effective care. To learn not to fear mental illness as a sibling, parent, friend, significant other, or affected individual and employ newly acquired tools that work to connect with the resources they need. 

MHISA embodies these ideals and provides us an outlet to engage those around us with a shared goal: to enable South Asians struggling with mental illness to lead better and healthful lives.

Mental Health Initiative for South Asians

Where the arts, culture and sports unite!

Our mission is to expand the reach and impact of the arts by uniting famous professional athletes who are also musicians and artists with world-class classical performers, creating transformative performances that inspire, connect, and celebrate the limitless power of human creativity.

Our next upcoming concert is at Carnegie Hall on January 13, 2026 when world-renowned operatic tenor Jonathan Tetelman will take the stage with latin grammy nominated guitarist and New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams. They will be joined by members of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, drummer Ari Hoenig, bassist John Benitez, Jose Reyes of the Met, Stephon Marbury of the Knicks and violinist Katia Lindor.

Next concert will be with Florida Grand Opera at Knight Hall in Miami on May 6, 2026

All Star Encore

Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) is a community organization dedicated to providing sanctuary to writers whose works are suppressed.

Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) is a community organization dedicated to providing sanctuary to writers whose works are suppressed, whose lives are threatened, whose cultures are vanishing, or whose languages are endangered. ICOA is a member of the International Cities of Refuge Network, one of only three member cities in the United States. Formed in 2001, ICOA has hosted writer, poet, and essayist Yi Ping; the late playwright and novelist Reza Daneshvar; poet and memoirist Sarah Mkhonza; poet and playwright Irakli Kakabadze; journalist Sonali Samarasinghe; journalist and memoirist Raza Rumi; political cartoonist Pedro Molina; poet, novelist, and satirist Dmitry Bykov; and filmmaker, writer and puppeteer Arthur Groys.

**The problem**

In many places in today’s world, writers face persecution for the statements they make in their art. Every writer who is silenced means one less voice to speak for thousands more against oppression.
 
**Our approach**

ICOA hosts one writer at a time (plus family members) for a two-year residence in partnership with a local institution of higher learning. Currently, our artist serves as a Visiting Affiliate Artist at Ithaca College. Cornell University has hosted past writers and currently provides substantial financial sponsorship. 

Our visiting writers teach, share their work through public events, and form alliances with local organizations. The resident benefits from a place to live, time to write, financial support, and community. Ithaca gains the perspective, friendship, and artistry of each visiting resident.
 
**Our team**

ICOA is a volunteer board of up to 20 members.
 
**Contact information** 

Jason Freitag, Advisory Board Chair
ithacacityofasylum@gmail.com
   

Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA)

The Together In Hope Project is a nonprofit organization focused on changing lives through music with a purpose. 

The Together In Hope Project is a nonprofit organization focused on changing lives through music with a purpose. We create unique, music-anchored projects on issues of our shared humanity to promote healing and reconciliation.

Together In Hope Project

Preserve the cave mining elephants and support the local people of Mt Elgon, a massive extinct volcano on the Kenya-Uganda border.

Mount Elgon is a massive extinct volcano on the Kenya-Uganda border in East Africa. It is believed to have risen from the surrounding Africa plains in a period of intense regional volcanic activity 24 million years ago, probably forming the highest mountain in Africa at the time. It is now quiet and has eroded down to 4,321 meters at its highest peak, Wagagai in Uganda. However, at approximately 80 km north to south and 50 km east to west, it is still huge and is said, measured by its footprint, to be the largest free-standing volcano in the world. 

The cultural heritage, landscape and ecology of Mount Elgon are under threat with serious consequences for people both locally and regionally.  This includes Mount Elgon's elephants that go deep underground to mine salt. There are many factors driving this, a key one being deforestation which impacts on the hydrology of the mountain and results in soil erosion, the loss of biodiversity and human-wildlife conflict. This is exacerbated by a fragile economic environment of low security and opportunity. Mount Elgon's people and its rich biodiversity are largely being left behind in comparison with many areas of East Africa. 

The aim of the Mount Elgon Foundation is to seek viable long-term measures that will help mitigate the challenges faced by Mount Elgon. More specifically, it wishes to: 
• reduce human-elephant conflict, protecting people, their livelihoods and the elephants; 
• prevent deforestation and promote reforestation; 
• promote further recording and preservation of local cultural heritage, and 
• provide alternative environmentally and culturally sensitive economic opportunities. 

The Foundation and its trustees currently fund or have funded the East African Wild Life Society - Mount Elgon Elephant Project (EAWLS-MEEP), cultural heritage research and community livelihood / forestry related projects. To date, the projects supported are located on the Kenya side of Mount Elgon. We aim to also fund partners who work in Uganda or who are Kenya-based and collaborate on a trans-boundary basis with others in Uganda. 

For more info, please visit our website:  http://www.mountelgonfoundation.org.uk/.

Mount Elgon Foundation

The Foundation's operations are mainly in Palestine and in the United Kingdom through the Mosaic Rooms.

We support children, teachers, and young artists in the fields of culture and education 
 
The A. M. Qattan Foundation (AMQF) is an independent, non-profit organization working in the fields of culture and education, with a focus on children, teachers, and young artists. Founded and registered as a charity in the United Kingdom in 1993, the Foundation operates mainly in Palestine, Lebanon and the UK. Our Vision   A just, free, enlightened, and tolerant society with an active global presence that embraces dialogue and produces knowledge, art, and literature Our Mission   Achieve a dynamic cultural environment that is conducive to the production of emancipatory thought and knowledge Our Values Rights and dignity for all; Freedom, pluralism, dialogue, and the production of knowledge; A spirit of collegial productivity; The courage to act justly and ethically. Strategic Goals 2020–2024 Develop and disseminate cultural output to a wide public, encouraging it to become more active and responsive; Strengthen existing cultural, artistic, and educational structures to make them more dynamic and capable of producing critical and emancipatory thought and knowledge; Work towards an ecosystem conducive to the Foundation's role and mission; Promote the A. M. Qattan Foundation as a pioneering institution and an inspiring model; Ensure financial sustainability.

A.M. Qattan Foundation

We host 300+ social impact projects across Europe 

Open Collective Europe promotes charitable initiatives within the European Union, with a focus on Education, Social Impact and Civic participation, and provides such initiatives with a simple and transparent way to manage their finances. Open Collective Europe's mission is to promote projects in the EU with the following charitable purposes: - increasing access to educational resources and training,  - creating a positive social impact and  - developing tools to improve civic participation within cities or communities. Future perspectives At the beginning of 2022, we shared our desire to grow the Open Collective Europe community. Our goal is to make the community more vibrant, supported and resilient. We set out to build a more comprehensive fiscal hosting service and support system for our collectives.  

Open Collective Europe

Checks can be made out to Intersection for the Arts, with Arts Los Altos in the memo-line, and mailed 1446 Market Street, SF 94102

Arts Los Altos is dedicated to implementing public art that creates connections among diverse community members and local businesses, elevating the cultural identity of Los Altos. 

We have the unique ability to work directly with artists, the downtown business community and property owners to achieve vibrant, curated public art on private property. 

Public art represents innovation and sustainability, reflects nature, honors history, inspires imagination, provides moments of reflection and educates the community, from local lore to global information. It promotes economic prosperity by creating an artistic and cultural destination. Color, lighting and movement can be part of the public art, enhancing public spaces and defining a sense of place. 

Arts Los Altos

Saffron Arts & Culture sparks creativity with accessible programs and experiences that help artists and youth thrive.

**Support** [Saffron Arts and Culture](https://www.saffronartsandculture.org)

Saffron Arts and Culture fosters artistic expression and creativity by providing accessible art programs, mentorships, and vibrant, innovative experiences for a diverse creative community of youth, emerging, and established artists. We want to create an environment where talent flourishes and voices are heard.

Your contribution fuels our mission through three core initiatives:

[Saffron Arts + Ed](https://www.saffronartsandculture.org/artsed)

We partner with schools and community centers to bring high-quality art experiences directly to elementary, middle and high school students. Through hands-on projects and mentorship, students discover their creative spark, build confidence, and develop skills that support lifelong learning.

[The Origin Stories Project](https://www.saffronartsandculture.org/originstories)

Our signature storytelling and visual arts initiative invites participants of all ages to explore the moments that shaped who they are—experiences of arrival, legacy, revelation, or adversity. These narratives are transformed into original artworks and shared through moderated forums and exhibitions that foster empathy, dialogue, and community connection.

[Saffron Creative Collective](https://www.saffronartsandculture.org/creative-collective)

We support artists at every stage through exhibitions, workshops, residencies, immersive cultural tours, and an online marketplace. This initiative helps artists grow their practice, reach new audiences, and build sustainable creative careers.

**Together, these initiatives create vibrant, inclusive spaces where artistic expression is celebrated and creativity becomes a bridge to understanding. Your support makes this possible.**

***We are fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which allows us to offer you tax deductions for your contributions. This ensures that you’ll receive an acknowledgement letter for tax purposes, and your donation will be available for our project.***

Saffron Arts and Culture

Indigenous & non-Indigenous collaboration promoting practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language & lifeways in ancestral homelands

The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to promote awareness and practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language and lifeways in their ancestral homelands and beyond. We hope to carry the idea of sgę́:nǫˀ gó:wah, the Great Peace, into our work, cultivating peace and cooperation through education and community outreach. Our partnership is based on a vision in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people travel separate but parallel paths to engage in peaceful coexistence. 

The Gayogohó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA). CTA, an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is legally and financially responsible for all our project activities.

**The Problem**

Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were largely displaced from their ancestral homeland (around Cayuga Lake) in the late 1700’s, when George Washington sent a military contingent to destroy crops and villages of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other members of the Hodinohsó:nih.  Residents were scattered to Ohio, Canada, and Buffalo Creek, and later to Oklahoma and Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada. Only a few remained in their ancestral lands. 
  
Land fraud by white settlers and the State of New York further exacerbated the separation of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ people from their land, which is an integral part of their language and identity. Many Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were forced into residential schools and Indian Day Schools. Non-indigenous governmental structures hindered the passing-on of traditional culture and language. 
  
Barely 250 years later, the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language is considered critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.  As of December 2021, there are less than a dozen first-language speakers remaining – one of whom is a member of our group. Most live on the Six Nations reserve in Canada. A few hundred people have learned or are learning Gayogohó:nǫˀ as a second language, but with efforts, such as those of our group, that number continues to grow.
  
The impacts to mental and physical health of separating indigenous peoples from their language, culture, and land are well-documented. Language and culture revitalization efforts provide paths by which to address the health, socio-economic, and ecological impacts of colonization.
 
**Our Approach**

Our project seeks to complement and amplify existing Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language revitalization efforts from within Gayogohó:nǫˀ ancestral lands by supporting educational programs and access to language resources, and increasing opportunities to hear and see the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in public spaces. Through this work of tangibly teaching and using the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in the place it developed, and by creating opportunities for dialogue around difficult topics such as colonization, we hope to increase understanding of the history and current status of Gayogohó:nǫˀ people, language, and culture. A key part of our work lies in providing support for Gayogohó:nǫˀ people and others working to revitalize the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language. Through our work, we hope to both explore and spread awareness of ways in which Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other Hodinohsó:nih languages and cultures are connected to the land of the Finger Lakes and explore ways in which all people might cultivate healthy relationships with the land.
 
**Our Team**

**Stephen Henhawk** – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, otahyǫ́:ni: (Wolf clan) Historian and first-language speaker. Stephen grew up in a traditional Gayogohó:nǫˀ household at Ohswé:gęˀ (Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada). Stephen is our language teacher, historian and conveyer of the inspiration behind the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Language Project. The inspiration itself comes from the wisdom and strength of all Gayogohó:nǫˀ people who came before who maintained language and culture and ties to the land against much adversity.
  
**Michelle Seneca**, project leader – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, genyahdę: (Turtle clan). Grew up on the Seneca Cattaraugus reservation in Western New York and lived for a number of years in the Gayogohó:nǫˀ community at the north end of Cayuga Lake. She currently resides in Ithaca. Michelle holds our whole project together.
  
**Jim Wikel,** advisory board member - Jim Wikel ni gya:soh (I am called). From Onǫdowáˀga:ˀ Gayogo̲hó:nǫˀ neh:ni Gahnawiyóˀgeh (Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma). Currently resides in Salem, OR. Began learning the language in 2015 in Oklahoma. Worked in the behavioral health/addiction field since 2008. Worked with Native clients, encouraged them to learn their own languages. Recovery means getting back something you thought was lost. Ogwa:węh means "It belongs to us." I am reclaiming what belongs to us. 
  
**Noah Mark**, advisory board member – has been a student of Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ nigawęnó:dę’ since June, 2021. The mission of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ Learning Project resonates with him as someone who was born and raised on traditionally held Hodihnohso:nih lands and as a descendent of Japanese immigrants who underwent intergenerational loss of language and culture. His past work experience includes grassroots organizing and fundraising on environmental issues and sexual assault prevention, vegetable farming, and research on emerging contaminants. Currently, he serves as technical director of a citizen science-based nonprofit called the Community Science Institute. 
  
**Josephine Martell**, advisory board member –  has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ lands for the past ten years and is of French, Scottish, and German heritage. Josephine is a social scientist who studies how message framing and language affects decision making and behavior, and leads the Office of Research Development at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has over 20 years of experience in policy, research, advocacy, and grant writing. Josephine is a passionate mother of three children and an avid trail runner.
  
**Karen Melamed Smith**, advisory board member – has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ land for forty years. With a background in music, philosophy and education, she served as the education director of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) from 1998-2018 and continues to teach piano and to perform with Music’s Recreation. Of Eastern European Jewish heritage, she has always wondered about the interrelationships of heredity, culture and place and feels honored to learn and support the language that is rooted here.

**Shirley Brown,** advisory board member
  
 
**Contact information** 

[gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com](mailto:gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com) 
   

Gayogohó:no’ Learning Project

Fondazione Marea unites the Sicilian diaspora to fuel social enterprises and create reasons to stay, return, or move to Sicily.

FONDAZIONE MAREA OVERVIEW

Fondazione Marea aims to be a catalyst for positive transformation for Sicily, harnessing the resources and skills of Sicilians who are scattered around the world. We are a community of Sicilians by birth, adoption and at heart, united by the desire to build a prosperous future for our homeland.

Marea's Vision:  A Sicily with opportunities to stay, return, and arrive. We envision in the long term a dynamic, stimulating, resilient, forward-looking Sicily, attractive to new talent, capable of maximizing its potential, a gateway to the Mediterranean.

Marea's Mission: We aggregate resources and skills of the Sicilian community around the world, to nurture the birth and growth of social enterprises in Sicily.

We enable every person, wherever they are, to actively contribute to the future of Sicily through the generative power of philanthropic investment and social entrepreneurship.

The Foundation is based on three fundamental pillars:

1. Strengthening the link between Sicilians of the diaspora and the changemakers in Sicily
2. Supporting social enterprise ventures 
3. Promoting local development

Our goal is to build an ecosystem of social entrepreneurship, creating job opportunities to break the cycle of depopulation and generate systemic change for the economic, social and cultural development of Sicily.

THE BIRTH OF MAREA 

Marea is a shared dream, a project born out of love for Sicily and the desire to transform this land into a place of opportunity, hope, and growth. It represents an extraordinary community of people with the courage to believe in this dream and the determination to realize it. The idea became a reality in June 2024, starting from zero with a call from Sicily that reached every corner of the world.

The Fondazione Marea-Ente Filantropico ETS was established on December 18, 2024 (video summary) thanks to a six-month Capital Campaign that saw the extraordinary participation of 423 Pioneers (individual donors), the involvement of 3 Sicilian Community Foundations,  €423,000 raised, and the creation of an initial Foundation endowment of €150,000. 

FONDAZIONE MAREA’S IMPACT 

The Foundation aims to turn the tide on Sicily's depopulation phenomenon by significantly reducing the number of people leaving the island in the long term, stopping the talent drain by retaining and attracting young Sicilian graduates and talent, creating more job opportunities in Sicily by reducing NEET status, and developing the philanthropic sector in Southern Italy by closing the gap in the investment by foundations compared to Northern and Central Italy.

UNDERLYING PROBLEMS

Fondazione Marea addresses two main problems:

1. Sicily is endangered. The lack of job opportunities is causing the depopulation of Sicily, forcing young people with high potential to emigrate and condemning many others to NEET status.

According to SVIMEZ - Association for the Development of Industry in Southern Italy data, every year 50,000 people leave Sicily, and the percentage of talented young graduates leaving Sicily in search of opportunities has increased fivefold over time, from 6 percent in 2001 to 32 percent in 2021. In 2080, it is estimated that Sicily will have only 2.8 million residents. Moreover, the Migrantes Foundation 2024 report reveals Sicily to be the Italian region with the highest rate of expatriates, more than 826,000 people. These numbers tell of a veritable diaspora. What is happening profoundly changes the demographic, social, cultural and economic structure of the territory, impoverishing the community and effectively desertifying the Mezzogiorno.

2. The lack of investment by foundations. Foundations play an important role in modern societies: they are private nonprofit institutions that act in the public interest. Because of their history and wealth, they are capable of making a significant impact and can contribute to the growth and development of communities.

Southern Italy has historically suffered from a persistent shortage of foundations, due to the limited circulation of capital and the lack of a philanthropic culture in the area. Meanwhile, Northern and Central Italy benefit in many ways from the presence in their regions of foundations that invest in local businesses and nonprofits, acting as intermediaries between the public and private sectors.

STRATEGY

Fondazione Marea's strategy is based on transforming the diaspora from a threat into an opportunity. It is an innovative model that gathers economic resources and volunteer expertise from the Sicilian community scattered around the world and channels them in a concrete way to support projects with a potential for high social impact. Following the principles of Venture Philanthropy, the Foundation identifies ideas and projects of new social enterprises, Third Sector entities established in corporate form, which play a crucial role in solving social and environmental problems, to respond to the emerging needs of local communities and promote collective welfare. This is currently still a pioneering corporate structure for our local context, with only 63 social enterprises registered in corporate form in the Third Sector across Sicily as of April 11, 2025, compared to 3,334 social cooperatives.

After a regional open call, Marea accompanies each project with incubation and acceleration programs and access to strategic resources. It is Sicilians themselves –  those who have emigrated, returned, stayed, are native or adopted – who supply both a startup fund and the “talent bank,” becoming mentors to the new social entrepreneurs. These new social enterprises generate lasting value in the local area, creating jobs and improving the quality of life. With careful monitoring of results and indicators for measuring social impact, the Foundation collaborates with other Third Sector entities, companies and institutions to complement this commitment by Sicilians and for Sicilians.

THE STARTUP SUPPORT PROGRAM 

Fondazione Marea's startup support program is a structured approach to nurture the birth and growth of social enterprises in Sicily. It is composed of pre-incubation and incubation paths, aimed at both embryonic projects and businesses that have already been established for less than a year. The program offers tailored training, mentoring, access to strategic resources and a dedicated mentor to guide participants through the various stages of development. The goal is to create a social innovation ecosystem, engaging Pioneers (the Foundation's donors), experts, entrepreneurs, networks and investors to generate lasting and systemic impact in Sicily. The program also includes an accelerator track for more mature social enterprises, with the goal of supporting the scalability and replicability of these projects.

The first edition of the startup support program will be launched in May 2025 and will have two simultaneous tracks: one incubation and one acceleration.

The program will be aimed at social enterprises or ETS already established (but not more than 1 year old) or individuals/groups of people who have concrete proposals for social enterprises with implications for the Sicilian context and legal and operational headquarters (including future) in Sicily. Projects can deal with areas that respond to issues and challenges of the Sicilian region such as environment (water risk, drought and fire, agriculture), social (inclusion, immigration), or underutilized tangible and intangible resources.

After a promotional roadshow across Sicily to connect with people potentially interested in participating, at least nine projects (one for each province in Sicily) will be selected to participate. 

The incubation track will last three months in a hybrid mode (online and in-person) with dedicated coaches and access to vertical mentoring sessions. There will be 3 in-person sessions of 3 days each  with theoretical lectures, workshops, hands-on labs, masterclasses, 1-to-1 planning moments, and testimonials.

After the final event to present the social enterprise ideas to the entire Marea Pioneers’ community, projects that meet the requirements for potential growth will be eligible for funding opportunities from the Foundation.

Concurrent with the incubation track will be an acceleration program: A number of social enterprises established for at least 1 year will be selected during an open call based on their track record, impact generated, and potential for scalability and replicability. Over three months, the enterprises will participate in an accelerator with customized training, coaching and mentoring tailored to their needs and those of the market.

Unlike other startup programs, after the formal incubation or acceleration journey, each project will receive long-term assistance through 3 years of mentorship to support the development at the most critical time of a new venture.

Fondazione Marea

One of the most sought-after young artist programs in France 

This Paris-based opera company is dedicated to lyric repertoire from the mid-18th century to the present. Founded and directed by American conductor David Stern, it combines an ambitious young artists program and a versatile instrumental ensemble.  Opera Fuoco has been in existence since 2003 initially as a top-level period instrument ensemble and later as an internationally recognized young artist troupe.  David Stern, Katharina Wolff and the Fuoco team have developed a multi-faceted program to develop young vocal talent at a professional level.  Opera Fuoco offers a unique, custom-made experience to young singers transitioning from conservatory to professional life.  Singers are able to work with Maestro Stern, experienced vocal coaches and stage directors in various contexts ranging from masterclasses and recitals to large-scale performances with orchestra and fully staged opera productions. The repertoire spans not only several centuries but a variety of genres, from baroque to contemporary, including musical comedy and jazz.  Opera Fuoco has shaped its young artist program not as an academy but as a professional company for young singers engaged for a period of three to four years. In its 13 years of existence, Opera Fuoco's Young Artist Program has trained approximately 50 singers from 15 different countries. Our 15 current members come from 5 different countries, and candidates from the last round of auditions represented 34 nationalities. Opera Fuoco's activities are largely Paris-area based, with masterclasses held in prestigious spaces such as the Petit Palais and regular concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The company has also enhanced its international reputation by developing regular performance partnerships with the Bachfest in Leipzig, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the International Telemann Festival, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra as well as the Shanghai Baroque and Beijing Music Festivals in China. 

Opera Fuoco

Built on conflict resolution, crime prevention, diplomacy building, community development and preservation of historic memory.

The community art projects created in the Perquin Model focus on the challenges posed by inter-communal and societal conflicts in today’s world.

Our mission is to bring greater awareness through shared town meetings and through the planning of collaborative art interventions and public art pieces.

The collaborative art projects recover historic memory while providing artistic skills and practical expertise in a new model of art education.

The mandate of our school is to create bridges of collaboration with local and political agencies that will welcome art as a contribution of social planning, to develop leadership roles among the participants, especially the youth who will face the challenge to grow up in a collapsed economic scenario threatened by poverty and unemployment.

Through art and creative praxis, children and youth focus on conflict resolution envisioning a proposition for endurable peace.

Walls of Hope

The Fondation des États-Unis is an American cultural center & student residence located in Paris.

The United States Foundation (Fondation des Etats-Unis or FEU) is a student residence and multicultural center located in Paris. Founded in 1930 by American philanthropists Homer and Mable Gage with a donation to the University of Paris, its primary purpose is to provide a lively home with affordable rent to young Americans studying in Paris.

Located in Paris's 14th arrondissement across from the Parc Montsouris on the eco-campus of the Cite internationale universitaire de Paris (CiuP), the Foundation is housed in an 8000 square-meter art deco building designed by Pierre Leprince-Ringuet. The frescoes on the walls of its Grand Salon, by painter Robert La Montagne Saint-Hubert, are listed as a historic monument and can be visited by the public during European Heritage Days in September.

To fulfill its public-interest mission, the Foundation presents projects throughout the year that are led by its residents, alumni, its own Harriet Hale Woolley Fellowship artists, and other companies in artistic residence. As a non-profit organization, its concerts, exhibits, workshops, conferences, and performances are open to the general public free of charge. Each year, thanks to the center's grants and its partnership with the Fulbright Program, a new generation can learn and grow at the United States Foundation.

The Foundation's mission is to strengthen the exchange and cooperation between France and the United States through education and culture. It provides an intercultural environment ideal for shaping global citizens with the humanist values needed to build a better world.

[Learn More](https://www.fondationdesetatsunis.org)

Fondation des Etats-Unis

Leading the conversation on contemporary art since 1928, SculptureCenter presents exhibitions, commissions new work, and generates scholarship.

SculptureCenter

SFNF is San Francisco's premiere performance art troupe and a fiscally sponsored project of Intersection for the Arts.

The San Francisco Neo-Futurists are a collective of wildly prolific artists dedicated to the perpetual creation of experimental theatre that is immediate, ephemeral, accessible, and cheap. We believe the stage is an extension of daily life: we perform as ourselves in a non-illusory, interactive style that challenges the audience to create alongside us as active participants with a voice of their own. We respect and uplift each other on and off stage through non-hierarchical accountability, collective decision-making, and anti-oppression practice of all kinds. We do over 100 shows a year and we will never stop. 

San Francisco Neo-Futurists

The Taube Center is committed to strengthening the bonds between Jews and Jewish communities worldwide.

The Taube Center provides innovative educational programs and extensive resources with the aim to enrich Jewish life in Poland and to connect Jews from around the world with their Eastern European heritage. The Taube Center has developed an array of programs, which serve the Jewish communities in Poland and engage audiences from around the world. Constantly expanding its network of partner organizations, the Center has recently become a member of the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Taube Jewish Heritage Tours Taube Jewish Heritage Tours is a mission-driven, on-the-ground Jewish heritage tour service based in Poland. Our professional team of academics, guides, educators, and community leaders provide meaningful and engaging customized tours of Poland's multicultural landscape, infusing each encounter with illuminating personal stories and insights from those engaged in Polish Jewish life and committed to the preservation of Polish Jewish heritage. TJHTalks Series Having suspended our flagship program, Taube Jewish Heritage Tours, we launched TJHTalks in April 2020 as an interactive way to maintain contact with past and future tour participants and to broaden the Center's audience. Yerusha: Professional Development Program The year-long program, now in its second year, distinguishes itself from other Jewish professional development opportunities in that the operative language is Polish and all workshop facilitators are based in Poland. Resource and Educational Materials The Taube Center has developed a sophisticated set of resource materials in several languages that support our educational programs and are especially valuable for our study tour program. Our publications have been disseminated at the POLIN Museum and the Galicia Jewish Museum and through Polish embassies and cultural institutions around the world.

Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning

Creating communities of compassionate care to transform difficult emotional experiences into opportunities for learning & growth.

Challenging or intense emotional experiences can be moments of profound insight, healing, and transformation. But they can also be disorienting, isolating, and overwhelming. In these moments, having access to compassionate support and culturally attuned care can make all the difference.

Zendo Project offers peer-based emotional support at events and provides educational resources to individuals, communities, and organizations. Our aim is to help people navigate complexity with greater resilience, care, and self-awareness. Through grounding, presence, and connection, we reduce potential harms and create space for learning, repair, and deeper relationships with self and others.

Supporters like you are essential to making this work possible. In a world where distress is often met with fear or force, our mission is to ensure that people in vulnerable states are met with compassion instead. Your contribution helps us continue to offer trauma-informed, non-judgmental care, and to create environments where all people can feel supported, seen, and safe—especially in moments when they need it most.

Please visit [https://zendoproject.org](https://zendoproject.org) to learn more about our mission.

Zendo Project: Peer Support and Compassionate Care

The Academy is at the heart of the Verbier Festival — a dynamic laboratory where future talents are discovered and nurtured.

**BECOME A MEMBER OF THE FRIENDS**

[Web site Friends of Verbier Festival](https://https://www.verbierfestival.com/en/support/friends/)

The Verbier Festival Friends Associaton was launched in 1993, when a group of music-loving donors was inspired by the idea of a two-week festival of classical music in the Swiss Alps in Valais. The Founder & Director Martin Engstroem calls his Verbier Festival "a waking dream"— a dream that would not have been realised without the consistent generosity and personal commitment of the Friends. Their support for the Festival as a whole, and notably for its learning programmes and major artistic projects, has been crucial to its rise to the top: the Verbier Festival is now one of the world's most renowned classical music events, blazing a trail into the 21st century.

Each donation made to The Friends of the Verbier Festival fund at Myriad (ex-KBFUS) is subject to a 5% administrative fee. These fees constitute costs to Myriad to administer donations made to the VF Friends Association; they total less than it would cost to operate a U.S. chapter of the Friends Association as a separate 501-C3 entity. The Association is nevertheless grateful to donors willing to top-up their donations by 5% to cover these fees.

The Verbier Festival is an international classical music event that takes place each summer in the mountain town of Verbier, Switzerland. The Festival's mission is to build a community of exchange between great masters and young artists from all over the world and to be a leader in its field by providing meaningful music education programmes.

Launched in 1994, and now globally renowned, the Festival welcomes audiences with a distinctive and exhilarating blend of events, both large-scale and intimate. Audiences from around the globe come to experience music-making at the highest level in a setting that brings them close to star performers, rising talent and a complete process of learning, rehearsal and performance.

The Festival's Academy is its respiratory system—a laboratory where future talents are discovered and nurtured. It sets the gold standard for the training of emerging soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, singers and conductors. Each summer, audiences witness these musicians in action at more than 100 masterclasses, rehearsals and performances. The Verbier Festival Orchestra has become a rite of passage for today's exceptional young orchestral musicians and the Academy's programmes for soloists, chamber musicians and singers include an impressive list of alumni from over 60 countries who have been engaged by the world's leading concert presenters since their time in Verbier.

Verbier Festival Friends Association / Association des Amis du Verbier Festival

ITBA  Engineering, Technology & Business argentine university. A non-profit achieving proven levels of excellence among graduates.

For more than 65 years, ITBA - Instituto Tecnólogico de Buenos Aires  has contributed to solving the challenges of humanity through a university education recognized for its excellence, the production of scientific knowledge and international collaboration, and outstanding levels of excellence among its graduates.

Thanks to the financial contribution of companies and individuals, scholarships are obtained so that young people  with talent, passion and determination, can study at ITBA.

ITBA invests in people, in the equipment and infrastructure necessary to be at the forefront of technological progress.

The photo that illustrates this space (courtesy of Matt Dahle)  captures ITBA Rocketry Team celebration after successfully launching their hybrid rocket engine entirely designed and built at our labs by a team of 40 students from different careers, teachers and university technicians in record time of 9 months.
Together they developed LANIN a hybrid rocket and became the first Latin American team to launch it successfully with engines using solid and liquid propellants. 
Spaceport America Cup June 2024

 ITBA - Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires

148788709

1578280819

1873740264

188270313

2052641908

2088874155

We are a nonprofit, so we rely on the generosity of donors like you.