Organizational Mission:

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.
 
MacArthur is one of the nation’s largest independent foundations. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media.
 
The foundation pursues this mission by supporting research, policy development, dissemination, education and training, and practice.

Human Rights Program Mission

The MacArthur Foundation believes that respect for human rights is fundamental to human security, individual well-being, and good governance; that promotion of both international and local human rights is necessary for realizing rights in diverse geographies and cultures; and that effective domestic, regional, and international justice systems are essential tools for human rights protections. Grants are made to safeguard rights and freedoms and improve access to justice, with special attention to systemic abuses against vulnerable groups.  The Foundation conducts in-country human rights programs from offices in Russia, Nigeria and Mexico.

Last Updated: Oct 26, 2010