Press Release
Published on June 26, 2014
New York City – Human Rights First is pleased to announce it has been selected as the recipient of a new grant from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The $500,000 grant will support the organization’s work over the next three years to protect and promote human rights in the United States and around the world.
“The MacArthur Foundation has been an invaluable partner through much of our history, supporting work on business and human rights, judicial reform, refugee protection, and efforts to advance respect for human rights in post-9/11 national security policies,” said Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa Massimino. “With the dedicated support of donors like the MacArthur Foundation, we’ve been able to grow and evolve into an organization with international reach that is on the forefront of leveraging American leadership to advance human rights and universal freedoms.”
The new funding from the MacArthur Foundation’s Human Rights and International Justice Program will go to support Human Rights First’s ongoing advocacy, research, and public engagement campaigns including: restoring and preserving access to the U.S. asylum system for refugees; bringing U.S. national security policies into line with the rule of law; protecting the rights of LGBT people; stemming the tide of antisemitism and extremism; and combatting human trafficking in the United States.
The MacArthur Foundation began supporting Human Rights First in 1992. A $1 million institution-building grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2002 was instrumental in broadening the organization’s reach and ability to advocate on a wider range of human rights issues.
