Story

The ultimate inspiration for MOVE92 came from 20 years of observation. Founders Hal Nathan and Therese Caouette had been actively involved in the effort to grant directly to local groups in Southeast Asia, and year after year, they saw that it worked. They had a shining example of how and why trust-based philanthropy is a potent way to do international aid.

But after decades of trust-based granting, they realized this way of empowering local communities could go beyond Southeast Asia. They wanted to spread the word about funding to local leaders. They wanted to showcase the effectiveness of this way of working. They wanted to create a movement.

Enter the book Drawdown.

The idea for Move92 began when Hal read the book Drawdown, which highlights the fact that investing in girls and women’s leaderships (through education, health services and economic opportunities) is the #1 thing we can do to reduce the impacts of global warming.

Hal invited Therese to work with him in building this movement. They used what they knew was effective, and then created Move92 to spread the word. Move92 began their first grants in Thailand, the Mekong Sub-Region, Indonesia and Guatemala. Therese then invited Geneva Pritchard, a long-time colleague, to work together to identify opportunities for collaborations.

Today, Geneva is taking the lead in Move92 ‘s growth and expansion with a strong emphasis on getting the Move92 word out globally. Geneva is based in Christchurch, New Zealand, which opens up exciting opportunities for engaging an Asia Pacific donor base and network of local leaders in this region as well.

Most recently, Move92 has connected US and New Zealand based grant-makers with new partners in Sri Lanka and Greece to foster new trust-based granting partnerships. This work is in addition to a very exciting collaboration with the New Zealand’s Himalayan Trust and local leaders in Nepal.

Move92 grants range from $5,000 – $10,000, and each grant is based upon community-driven design. We work closely with local leaders to evaluate how the grant is working (and creatively address any issues together). Relationships are at the heart of how we work, and each grant aims to empower local leaders to create lasting change within their unique communities.