Hunt Alternatives Fund
Encyclopedia
Hunt Alternatives Fund is a private family foundation located in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. Founded by sisters Swanee Hunt
and Helen LaKelly Hunt
in 1981, the Fund has contributed more than $80 million to social change worldwide.
In 1992, the Fund split into two entities: The Sister Fund, based in New York City, headed by Helen Hunt; and Hunt Alternatives Fund, based in Denver, headed by Swanee Hunt. In 1997, after serving as ambassador to Austria
for four years, Swanee Hunt returned to the United States, moving to Cambridge to found the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's JFK School of Government. The Fund has operated out of Cambridge since 1997.
With local, national, and international programs, Hunt Alternatives Fund advances inclusive approaches to social change.
The Fund's international program is The Institute for Inclusive Security, which uses research, training, and advocacy to promote the inclusion of all stakeholders, especially women, in peace processes. Members of Inclusive Security's Women Waging Peace Network, a network of 500 women peace builders, hail from more than 40 conflict areas around the world; they are government officials, directors of NGOs, movement leaders, scholars and educators, businesspeople, representatives of multilateral organizations, and journalists. Inclusive Security has worked in a wide range of conflict areas, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, Israel, Liberia, Palestine, Rwanda, Sudan, and Uganda.
The national program, Prime Movers: Cultivating Social Capital, is a fellowship program supporting leaders of social movements who engage masses to create a more just America. The program provides these leaders with financial support, capacity building, a peer network, policy and advocacy advice, and networking opportunities. Prime Mover fellows include Kevin Bales
, Geoffrey Canada
, Majora Carter
, Jennifer Chrisler
, Sara Horowitz
, Van Jones
, Bill McKibben
, Paul Rieckhoff
, Zainab Salbi
, and Jim Wallis
. Prime Movers work on a variety of social issues, such as children's rights, women's rights, GLBT and GLBT family rights, veterans' rights, and the environment.
The local program, ARTWorks for Kids, combines advocacy, outreach, convening, and grant making to support and strengthen organizations that serve and empower youth. The ARTWorks program includes a coalition of 30 organizations working in eastern Massachusetts to help young people stay on track by providing them with opportunities to be involved in the arts.
Demand Abolition, the newest project of Hunt Alternatives Fund, supports the movement to end modern-day slavery by combating demand for sex trafficking.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. Founded by sisters Swanee Hunt
Swanee Hunt
Swanee Grace Hunt , Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is the founding director of the at the Kennedy School, and former United States Ambassador to Austria....
and Helen LaKelly Hunt
Helen LaKelly Hunt
Helen LaKelly Hunt is a daughter of H. L. Hunt. She is founder and president of The Sister Fund, which describes itself as "a private women's fund dedicated to the social, political, economic, and spiritual empowerment of women and girls."...
in 1981, the Fund has contributed more than $80 million to social change worldwide.
In 1992, the Fund split into two entities: The Sister Fund, based in New York City, headed by Helen Hunt; and Hunt Alternatives Fund, based in Denver, headed by Swanee Hunt. In 1997, after serving as ambassador to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
for four years, Swanee Hunt returned to the United States, moving to Cambridge to found the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's JFK School of Government. The Fund has operated out of Cambridge since 1997.
With local, national, and international programs, Hunt Alternatives Fund advances inclusive approaches to social change.
The Fund's international program is The Institute for Inclusive Security, which uses research, training, and advocacy to promote the inclusion of all stakeholders, especially women, in peace processes. Members of Inclusive Security's Women Waging Peace Network, a network of 500 women peace builders, hail from more than 40 conflict areas around the world; they are government officials, directors of NGOs, movement leaders, scholars and educators, businesspeople, representatives of multilateral organizations, and journalists. Inclusive Security has worked in a wide range of conflict areas, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, Israel, Liberia, Palestine, Rwanda, Sudan, and Uganda.
The national program, Prime Movers: Cultivating Social Capital, is a fellowship program supporting leaders of social movements who engage masses to create a more just America. The program provides these leaders with financial support, capacity building, a peer network, policy and advocacy advice, and networking opportunities. Prime Mover fellows include Kevin Bales
Kevin Bales
Kevin Bales is an expert on modern slavery and President of Free the Slaves. Free the Slaves is the US sister organization of Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organization. He is currently based in Washington, D.C....
, Geoffrey Canada
Geoffrey Canada
Geoffrey Canada is an African American social activist and educator. Since 1990, Canada has been president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization which states its goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem...
, Majora Carter
Majora Carter
Majora Carter is an economic consultant, public radio host, and environmental justice advocate from the South Bronx area of New York City. Carter founded the non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation Sustainable South Bronx before entering the private sector.-Early life:Carter...
, Jennifer Chrisler
Jennifer Chrisler
Jennifer Chrisler is the Executive Director of Family Equality Council , the national LGBT families.Formerly Chrisler was an assistant to her current wife, former MA state Senator Cheryl Jacques, and she was at the center of a controversy after receiving very large pay raises by Jacques.Jennifer...
, Sara Horowitz
Sara Horowitz
Sara Horowitz is the founder of Working Today and Freelancers Union, leading organizations of independent workers. She was an Echoing green fellow in 1995, and she was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1999...
, Van Jones
Van Jones
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones is an American environmental advocate, civil rights activist, and attorney. Jones is a co-founder of three non-profit organizations. In 1996, he founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a California non-governmental organization working for alternatives to violence...
, Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben
William Ernest "Bill" McKibben is an American environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College...
, Paul Rieckhoff
Paul Rieckhoff
Paul Rieckhoff is a veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He is the Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America . He served as an Army First Lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. Rieckhoff was released from active...
, Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi is an Iraqi American writer, activist and social entrepreneur who is co-founder and president of Washington-based Women for Women International.-Early years:...
, and Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....
. Prime Movers work on a variety of social issues, such as children's rights, women's rights, GLBT and GLBT family rights, veterans' rights, and the environment.
The local program, ARTWorks for Kids, combines advocacy, outreach, convening, and grant making to support and strengthen organizations that serve and empower youth. The ARTWorks program includes a coalition of 30 organizations working in eastern Massachusetts to help young people stay on track by providing them with opportunities to be involved in the arts.
Demand Abolition, the newest project of Hunt Alternatives Fund, supports the movement to end modern-day slavery by combating demand for sex trafficking.