From Devex:

"When GHR Foundation decided to commit $3 million over three years to social innovators bridging the gaps between “peace, prosperity, and planet in radically new ways,” the team determined that a traditional RFP process would not allow it to move as quickly, nor seek out as many perspectives, as it needed. So the organization partnered with the open innovation platform OpenIDEO, which grew out of the Silicon Valley-based firm known for its work in human-centered design, a process that is all about designing with and not for the end user.
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“We’ve been involved in global work for a long time, but with the invitation-only approach of deep partnership and long-term goals, we were wondering, ‘What are we missing that is out there?’” Amy Rauenhorst Goldman, CEO of GHR Foundation, told Devex..."
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From Catholic News Service:

"While tourists walking around the lobby of Rome’s Crowne Plaza Hotel eagerly discussed their vacation plans, young men and women from around the world were nestled in a nearby conference room, engaged in a different kind of conversation.

Five winners of the 2017 BridgeBuilder Challenge gathered in Rome Oct. 2-4 along with members of the GHR Foundation, a philanthropic association founded by a Catholic couple from Minnesota, to share their winning ideas..."
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At GHR, we value sharing knowledge and listening to one another. We find every opportunity to cross-pollinate between programs, foundations and initiatives, leveraging expertise and boosting creativity. One such collaboration is happening now, between our Children in Families and Sister Support initiatives.

In 2016, when the Ugandan parliament passed progressive legislation to ensure better outcomes for children living outside of family care, Catholic sisters stepped up and championed reform. With guidance and funding from GHR, Catholic Care for Children in Uganda—part of the Association of Religious in Uganda—is leading the way toward a “family-like environment for every child.” In its first nine months, the organization “won hearts and minds,” helping hundreds of Catholic leaders and administrators from care institutions understand the new legislation and embrace an alternative care framework.

​Phase one of Catholic Care for Children in Uganda is well underway. Of the seventy Catholic brothers and sisters slated for social work training, the first 22 successfully completed their first semester in May. More than a hundred people have taken intensive courses on child protection and a high-quality child protection policy has been adopted by the Association of Religious in Uganda.
 
Catholic Care for Children in Uganda leadership is planning for phase two, during which it will help congregations responsible for 46 Catholic care institutions implement best practices and pilot efforts to move from institutionalized care to community- or family-based care. These efforts will lay the groundwork for a larger movement toward the alternative care framework. Catholic Care for Children in Uganda is an exciting cross-initiative collaboration, advancing the goals of both our Sister Support Initiative and our Children in Families initiative.

Through this collaboration, we are strengthening Ugandan congregations in ways that ultimately benefit children. By sharing expertise and thinking outside the box, we can find truly innovative solutions. To learn more about GHR's Children in Families and Sister Support initiatives, contact us.

Leaders gathered for recent convenings on 'International Sisters in the United States,' a study commissioned by GHR with Trinity Washington University and Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, recommended the creation of a reflection guide. In response, Dr. Arturo Chávez from the Mexican American Catholic College worked with a team from seven organizations to develop a guide in English and Spanish for congregations and other organizations that are interested in the role of culture in religious life.

To learn more about the report and GHR’s Sister Support Initiative, contact us.

From Thompson Reuters Foundation News:

"Fast-dwindling mangroves in Myanmar's low-lying Ayeyarwady Delta, ravaged by decades of deforestation and conversion of land for agriculture and aquaculture, could find an unlikely saviour - drones.

Mangroves protect coastlines in the face of storms and rising sea levels, absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and boost fish stocks, experts say.

​Yet Myanmar has lost more than 1 million hectares (about 2.5 million acres) of mangroves..."
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From Fast Company:

"For the past five years, a group of villagers in the delta of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar has painstakingly planted 2.7 million mangrove trees in an attempt to begin to restore an ecosystem that has been disappearing for decades. But the work is laborious, and the local nonprofit guiding the work wants to cover a much larger area–so they’re now turning to tree-planting drones.

The drones, from the startup BioCarbon Engineering, can plant as many as 100,000 trees in a single day, leaving the local community to focus on..."
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From The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

"Dylan Mathews, chief executive of Peace Direct, has learned to wait. And wait.

Like many nonprofit leaders who depend on foundation cash, Mr. Mathews is used to the months of dead time that follow a grant application. That silence, he says, often ends with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down.
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The response following his application..."
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From The Catholic Spirit:

"Salim, a Syrian refugee, flees an unwanted draft into the Syrian army, escaping the potential of having to join the Islamic State or other groups. Leaving behind his friends and family, Salim is left without an income or any form of identification in Lebanon.

Today, Salim is an assistant professor of Arabic in Italy.

The game changer was NaTakallam, a platform..."
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An NGO partnership creating a pathway to peace for ex-combatants through ethical gold production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a social enterprise employing drone technology to accelerate community-driven mangrove restoration for improved fish stocks and protection from natural disasters are among 5 social innovators whose solutions were chosen as 2017 BridgeBuilder Challenge Top Ideas. The cohort of Top Ideas will amplify their impact with a share of US$1 million and collaboration with GHR Foundation.

The Challenge sought ideas addressing urgent global concerns at the intersections of peace, prosperity and planet in radically new ways. Participants from 185 countries responded with more than 650 ideas. Stemming from its own Catholic roots, GHR, working with open-innovation platform OpenIDEO, launched the BridgeBuilder Challenge to answer the universal call of Pope Francis to “build bridges” and contribute to making the world a better place for all humankind.

“In his TED Talk earlier this year, Pope Francis encouraged people to apply innovation and collaboration to foster greater social equity and community in the world today,” said Amy R. Goldman, CEO and chair of GHR Foundation. “This first cohort of Top Ideas represents literally hundreds of ideas fulfilling the Pope’s invitation to bridge complex, persistent issues in radically new ways. We look forward to partnering with each of these organizations to further develop their ideas and scale their impact.” 

The inaugural BridgeBuilder Challenge sought to support innovative projects bridging peace, prosperity and planet in the United States and around the world. The winning ideas include:

• ​Ethical gold mining as a pathway to peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peace Direct: Peace Direct provides a pathway to peace and environmental protection in fragile DRC while providing sustainable incomes to ex-combatants – now small-scale, subsistence miners. The miners and their families (approx. 3,400 people total) receive training in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and environmentally responsible gold production as they work toward a fair-trade-certified standard.
• Tree-planting drones for restoring mangroves and livelihoods in Myanmar, BioCarbon Engineering: Creating a strong bridge between prosperity and planet, Oxford-based BioCarbon Engineering employs drone technology to accelerate community-driven mangrove restoration to reforest depleted mangrove ecosystems in the fragile coastal regions of Myanmar, where more than 1 million hectares of forest have already been lost due to rising sea levels. In the process of planting 1 million mangrove trees annually, fish stocks will increase, a protective barrier against natural disasters will be restored, and local economies will be bolstered, leading to a more stable balance between communities and their surrounding ecosystems.
• Creative skills for peace among youth violent offenders in Cameroon, Local Youth Corner Cameroon: To counter violent extremism in Cameroon, Local Youth Corner promotes participation in peacebuilding by empowering violent offenders with leadership, vocational and entrepreneurial skills. Its Creative Skills for Peace program supports the rehabilitation and reintegration of 300 young offenders across 8 facilities in 6 cities, and trains staff members at rehabilitation facilities on countering violent extremism and peacebuilding.
• Lifting up and empowering families on Chicago's South Side, LIFT Chicago: Bridging prosperity and peace in Chicago, LIFT Chicago uses a two-generation, in-community ambassador approach to increase access to early childhood educations services and help parents and caregivers build social connections, strengthen personal well-being, and improve financial security to foster personal and community-level peace and prosperity.
• Connecting displaced persons with Arabic language learners around the world, NaTakallam: NaTakallam bridges peace and prosperity and encourages a culture of encounter by connecting displaced individuals (primarily Syrians) with Arabic learners around the world for online language practice, giving the former access to an income while fostering intercultural understanding. By 2018, it hopes to provide 150 refugees with sustainable incomes through their work with 2,000 language learners.

“The response to our inaugural BridgeBuilder Challenge was amazing,” said Jason Rissman, managing director of OpenIDEO. “Throughout the Ideas and Feedback phases, the global community offered insights and connections to contributors that added value to the ideas, even if they weren't chosen as Top Ideas. The collaborative and transparent nature of the OpenIDEO platform has far-reaching benefits, and BridgeBuilder inspired participants from nearly every country to address the critical social concerns of our day.”

From Forbes:

"Earlier this year, Minnesota-based GHR Foundation and San Francisco-based OpenIDEO joined forces to launch the inaugural BridgeBuilder Challenge, an opportunity that would award five top ideas a share of $1 million to pursue an idea that would make an impact around the world.

Today, five top ideas were announced.

Named in response to the call of Pope Francis to build bridges..."
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