GHR Foundation is pleased to welcome new members, Jen Ford Reedy and Peter Mahoney, to our Board of Directors.

The GHR Board of Directors charts the strategic direction of the foundation, carrying out stewardship responsibilities and overseeing its grant making. Jen and Pete each bring invaluable experience and expertise from the public, private and nonprofit sectors and we are excited to add their unique perspectives to the exceptional group of leaders that make up our Board.

“We couldn’t be more pleased by the addition of Jen and Pete to our Board and will benefit from the valuable insights these exceptional leaders will bring during this exciting time at GHR,” said Amy Goldman, GHR’s CEO and Chair. Founded in 1965 by Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst, GHR is an independent foundation committed to building bridges across ideas, sectors and people; elevating powerful movements of faith and inter-faith communities for sustainable development; implementing systems change strategies across public, private and faith sectors to keep children in families globally; establishing a new school model to eliminate the education gap locally; and unlocking funding from industry and government to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.

About our new Board members:

Jen Ford Reedy
President, Bush Foundation
​
Jennifer Ford Reedy has been president of the Bush Foundation since September 2012. The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native nations that share the same geography. Reedy's current community service includes board and committee work with Region’s Hospital, the Truman Foundation and Independent Sector. She is also a participant in the Itasca Project and the Minnesota Women's Economic Roundtable.

“They Returned My Daughter, But She Never Truly Came Home” is one of Nairobi-based BRIGHT magazine’s many efforts to magnify stories that do not receive adequate attention in the global media landscape. An award-winning digital publication, BRIGHT covers fresh, relevant stories related to health, education, and social impact. Bringing marginalized narratives to the forefront, and offering human faces to the broader, more sensational stories that circulate widely in the news cycle, BRIGHT continues to push the boundaries of conventional journalism.

In October 2018, Univision produced a written story and video about the journey of Adayanci Pérez, a 6-year-old girl from Guatemala who came to the United States with her father and was immediately separated from him. They were among hundreds of families affected by the U.S Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which has since been suspended. Authorities told Adayanci that her father had gone to the doctor’s and would return the next day; in reality, he was deported home and she was placed with a foster family in Michigan. BRIGHT Magazine commissioned graphic novelist German Andino to retell the true story of Adayanci Pérez and her father, in comic form.

Focusing on “solutions-oriented stories” about social change, BRIGHT brings a rich, creative lens on social good to people who crave more nuanced perspectives on these topics. Editor-in-chief Sarika Bansal notes, “we're working to become the go-to source for stories on social change, and in the process, set the standard for this type of storytelling.”
​
In partnership with GHR, BRIGHT has brought special focus to the pressing issue of family separation at the U.S. border, publishing a collection of stories, told through media, that shed light on the lived experiences of migrants and the traumatic effects of child separation. In keeping with their self-reflective work, BRIGHT has also explored how journalism as a field can be more responsible in telling migration stories, avoiding exploitative techniques and aiming, instead, to forward narratives that are well contextualized, empathetic, and dignified.

​A 2017 BridgeBuilder Top Idea, language learning startup NaTakallam has forged a unique way to build bridges in a bordered world. Leveraging technology and their native tongue, NaTakallam connects refugees to remote work opportunities in the language sector, providing them economic empowerment, honing their marketable skills, and fostering global friendships.

NaTakallam began, first and foremost, with addressing the problem of being a displaced person without a job and/or a sense of purpose. Whether being barred from legal access to the local workforce, unable to find work due to a dearth of opportunities, or struggling because of cultural or language barriers, refugees and displaced individuals are at great risk of falling into depression, poverty, and desperation.

While the organization began by focusing on Arabic speaking refugees, over the past three years NaTakallam has expanded its offerings to include  Spanish, Persian, Arabic and French. NaTakallam recruits, trains and hires refugees as Conversation Partners (CPs), and then connects them with students around the world for language practice. They offer a range of learning options, including one-on-one tutoring, guest speaker sessions, integrated K-12 curricula, university programs and translation services in 9+ languages. Providing students the chance to learn a new language while building a relationship with someone whose life is very different than their own, NaTakallam expands much more than just their user’s linguistic repertoire.

As NaTakallam continues to evolve and develop new programs, expanding its ability to provide displaced persons with access to income and a sense of purpose, they play a key role in fostering empathy, dialogue and intercultural understanding worldwide. With the introduction of their new community session programs, NaTakallam is now expanding its reach to include workplaces and community spaces.

GHR Foundation was fortunate enough to host a lunchtime community session event with NaTakallam at the close of their grantmaking, where staff and special guests got to hear from two CPs, who shared their stories and described their experiences working with NaTakallam. Both CPs expressed a profound sense of gratitude for the chance to share their language skills while connecting with a diverse range of people, allowing for friendships to form even across great distance.