Swanee Hunt Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Massachusetts-based Swanee Hunt Family Foundation supports programs that intend to build a more inclusive global security and peace-building environment, with a particular focus on women.
IP TAKE: This foundation may not accept unsolicited requests for funding, but it is approachable and responsive. Grantseekers would do well to remember that Hunt looks to support collaborative projects. Projects that do not feature a cooperative element or focus on women and children in their work may not have much luck here.
PROFILE: The Swanee Hunt Family Foundation was established by Swanee Hunt, the daughter of the late H.L. Hunt, a Dallas billionaire who amassed his wealth in oil, to support progressive projects that focus on women’s empowerment, the rights of migrating populations, and building a more inclusive global security environment. The foundation, along with Hunt Alternatives, though two separate organizations, work on a consolidated basis. According to Hunt’s CFO Kate Sears: “We operate our two foundations on a consolidated basis. Hunt Alternatives, an operating foundation, is an outgrowth of the original Swanee Hunt Family Foundation.”
Grants for Global Security and Human Rights
Due to the absence of women among peace talk negotiators (less than nine percent), the foundation created the Inclusive Security program. It is laser-focused on expanding the presence and influence of women in peacebuilding efforts around the world. Main areas of interest include influencing policy, equipping women with global security skills and knowledge. In addition, the foundation also focuses on increasing women’s access to peace-building decision makers in order to “share vital insights from the heart of war zones” and how these insights relate to women.
Grants for Women and Girls
The Swanee Hunt Foundation’s Demand Abolition program works to combat prostitution, human trafficking and “the purchase of prostituted adults and children in the United States. This program aims to shift the focus of anti-trafficking policy away from targeting prostitutes and trafficking victim by working with law enforcement and policy-makers to promote policies that “avoid penalizing and traumatizing those being exploited, deter men from buying, reduce rates of re-offending, and reserve significant penalties for dangerous and repeat offenders.” Demand Abolition takes an approach that is “survivor informed,” “rooted in local practice,” “spurring policy change,” and “research-based.”
Grants for Civic Engagement
The Swanee Hunt Foundation’s Prime Movers program supports “entrepreneurial leaders of diverse American social movements.” It works to “cultivate community development among the leaders, establishing a resource-rich network aimed at sharing knowledge and building supportive relationships across movements.” The program provides a range of resources in addition to grant funds, including networking, advocacy training, facilitating contacts between policymakers and activists, formal seminars, and “reflection retreats.”
Important Grant Details:
Hunt is not a traditional funder. While it makes a few grants a year, it dedicates the majority of its funds to programs that it operates itself. It supports numerous progressive causes, such as abolishing the sex-slave industry in the U.S. and advocating for the “[f]ull participation of all stakeholders, especially women, in the peace process.” The Swanee Hunt Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding or grant applications.
PEOPLE:
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