Glaser Progress Foundation
From Wikiprogress.org
Contents |
About
The Glaser Progress Foundation was created in 1993 by Rob Glaser, CEO of realnetworks and is based in Seattle (United States). The Foundation has distributed over 24 million dollars of grants for philanthropic purposes.
Measuring Progress
"Build a better future by improving our understanding and measurement of human progress."[1]
The Glaser Progress Foundation questions the way how progress of societies is measured and points out that our future is influenced by decisions made today. In 1968, John F. Kennedy talked about the one sided view to look at the progress of societies and warns to measure everything by wealth or by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alone.
He said:"Too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year,(...) that GNP counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
(...) It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."
The Glaser Progress Foundation adds to that: "As we enter the 21st century, it is time to begin measuring what we value rather than valuing what we measure."
See the video:
John F. Kennedy talks about the progress of societies
Other Projects
Animal Advocacy
"Make animal treatment a crucial consideration in business, policy and personal decision-making."
The foundation uses a quote from Mahatma Gandhi to introduce their interest in this area: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." They support national animal protection organisations and aim to reach the twin goal of increasing legal rights for animals and decreasing the amount of their suffering as well as focusing in areas of companion animals, great apes and farmed animals in order to help to create a more compassionate society.
Independent Media program
Mission "Strengthen democracy by making independent voices heard."
The Glaser Progress Foundation aimes in this project area to increase the community of independent and diverse voices in the media. Ambitions as global democrazy can be represented and developed in independant media programs that are supported by the foundation.
Global HIV/Aids
The Glaser Progress Foundation and Columbia University work in collaboration with the Global Fund project that is a multi-billion dollar international financing mechanism to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund Project was founded by Rob Glaser and economist Jeffrey Sachs and supports initiatives in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, and Haiti. It works with the availability of funding for health initiatives, with governments of developing countries and organizations and helping with existing programs. The Global Fund support is available only to programs that developing countries design and implement themselves.
The Access Project for the Global fund operates primarily in Rwanda and shifted its efforts from the national to local level with the goal of improving the entire country's health system. The project tries to decrease the rate of HIV/Aids, TB and malaria infections completly and the goal is to continue throughout the world.
In 2008 the Glaser Progress Foundation announced creation of the Global Health Leadership Insitute (GHLI) in partnerhip with the Yale School of Public Health. The GHLI's objectives include exploring best practices and top leaders in global health amd develop research directions to improve the health of regional populations.
References
- ↑ Glaser Progress Foundation Mission Statement taken from Official Website http://www.glaserfoundation.org/
See also
External Links
Progess, Papers and Publications
- Progress and Persuasion (Presentation) by Martin Collier, Executive Director of the Glaser Progress Foundation at the 3rd OECD World Forum, Busan, Korea, 2009
