Freedom House
Freedom House, Inc. (FHI) is a "conservative research, publishing, networking, and selective human rights organization."[1] Freedom House's work is linked to the "democracy promotion" efforts of the National Endowment for Democracy which also funds the bulk of FHI's projects.[2]
Contents
Background
Freedom House describes itself as non-partisan and broad-based, "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world." It was founded "nearly sixty years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House has been a vigorous proponent of democratic values and a steadfast opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right."[3]
Freedom House sees itself "at the center of the struggle for freedom ... It was an outspoken advocate of the Marshall Plan and NATO in the 1940s, of the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, of the Vietnam boat people in the 1970s, of Poland's Solidarity movement and the Filipino democratic opposition in the 1980s, and of the many democracies that have emerged around the world in the 1990s ... Freedom House has vigorously opposed dictatorships in Central America and Chile, apartheid in South Africa, the suppression of the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda, and the brutal violation of human rights in Cuba, Burma, China, and Iraq ... It has championed the rights of democratic activists, religious believers, trade unionists, journalists, and proponents of free markets. In 1997, a consolidation took place whereby the international democratization training programs of the National Forum Foundation were incorporated into Freedom House."[4]
Staff
| Executive Staff: 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| David J. Kramer, President | Jacquelyn J. Bennett, Chief Operating Officer | Daniel Calingaert, Vice President, Policy and External Affairs |
| Lisa Davis, Senior Advisor, International Legal Affairs | Robert Herman, Vice President, Regional Programs | Jennifer Koliba, Senior Advisor, Compliance |
| Quoc Nguyen, Chief Financial Officer | Arch Puddington, Vice President, Research | Paula Schriefer, Vice President, Global Programs |
| Christopher Walker, Vice President, Strategy and Analysis | ||
| Senior Staff: 2012 | ||
| Andrew Apostolou, Director, Iran Programs | Danilo Bakovic, Senior Program Manager, Internet Freedom | Troy Cassel, Operations Director |
| Erin Connors, Senior Program Officer, Africa Programs | Susan Corke, Director, EURASIA Programs | Jenai Cox, Senior Program Officer, Africa Programs |
| Charles Dunne, Director, Middle East and North Africa Programs | Lynn Fredriksson, Senior Program Manager, Global Human Rights | Viviana Giacaman, Director, Latin America Programs |
| Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director, Religious Freedom and South East Asia Programs | Sylvana Habdank-Kolaczkowska, Project Director, Nations in Transit | Tiffany Huynh, Controller |
| Jane Ilori, Human Resources Director | Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Project Director, Freedom of the Press | Sanja Kelly, Project Director, Freedom on the Net |
| Sherif Mansour, Senior Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa Programs | Mary Mares, Special Projects Manager | Mary McGuire, Senior Communications Manager |
| Nina Patel, Development Officer | Vukasin Petrovic, Director, Africa Programs | Aili Piano, Project Director, Freedom in the World |
| Courtney Radsch, Program Manager, Freedom of Expression | Jurgita Sidlauskaite, Grants Administrator | Sarah Trister, Manager of Congressional Affairs |
| Vanessa Tucker, Project Director, Countries at the Crossroads | ||
| Source | ||
| FHI: Staff: Accessed: 22 February 2012 | ||
Board of Trustees
The Freedom House Board of Trustees is self-described as "composed of leading Democrats, Republicans, and independents; business and labor leaders; former senior government officials; scholars; writers; and journalists."[5] Diana Barahona's description of their board of trustees is "a Who's Who of neoconservatives from government, business, academia, labor, and the press." [6]
| Board of Trustees: 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| William H. Taft IV, Chair | Ruth Wedgwood, Vice-Chair | Thomas A. Dine, Vice-Chair |
| David Nastro, Treasurer | John Norton Moore, Secretary | Max Kampelman, Chairman Emeritus |
| Bette Bao Lord, Chairman Emeritus | Kenneth Adelman | Zainab Al-Suwaij |
| Goli Ameri | Stuart Appelbaum | Susan J. Bennett |
| Dennis C. Blair | James H. Carter | Antonia Cortese |
| Lee Cullum | Charles Davidson | Kim G. Davis |
| Paula J. Dobriansky | Alan P. Dye | Rebecca G. Haile |
| D. Jeffrey Hirschberg | Kenneth I. Juster | Kathryn Dickey Karol |
| Jim Kolbe | Jay Mazur | Theodore N. Mirvis |
| Alberto Mora | Faith P. Morningstar | Joshua Muravchik |
| Andrew Nathan | Diana Villiers Negroponte | Lisa B. Nelson |
| Mark Palmer | Scott Siff | Richard S. Williamson |
| Wendell Willkie II | Jennifer L. Windsor | Richard N. Winfield |
| Source | ||
| FHI: Board of Trustees Accessed: 22 February 2012 | ||
Funding
- Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
- Between 2001 and 2010, Freedom House received more than $3 million from the conservative Bradley Foundation[7].
- Byrne Foundation
- Carthage Foundation
- Scaife Foundations
- Eurasia Foundation
- Ford Foundation
- The Freedom Forum
- Grace Foundation, Inc.
- Lilly Endowment, Inc.
- LWH Family Foundation
- National Endowment for Democracy provides about 80% of FHI's budget [2]
- Pew Charitable Trusts
- Sarah Scaife Foundation (Scaife Foundations)
- Schloss Family Foundation
- Smith Richardson Foundation, Inc.
- Soros Foundations
- Tinker Foundation
- Unilever United States Foundation, Inc.
- US Agency for International Development
- US Information Agency
Freedom house collected $23.5M in revenue during 2005. [5]
Related Organizations
- American Committee for Peace in Chechnya
- Freedom of Expression Project
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- Jamestown Foundation
- Gozaar
- Freedom House: Dialogue on Reform in the Arab World
NB: These organizations often co-host events, there is personnel overlap, and at some point have shared offices.
- Joshua Gordon - former press officer
Contact
New York Office
- 120 Wall Street, Floor 26
- New York, NY 10005
- Phone: 212-514-8040
- Email: info AT freedomhouse.org
- Web: www.freedomhouse.org
Washington D.C. Office
- 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 6
- Washington, D.C. 20036
- Phone: 202-296-5101
External links
- Freedom House Archives 1936-1999, Princeton Univ., Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
- Bill Berkowitz, "Freedom House Receiving US Government Money "for Clandestine Activities inside Iran"", Media Transparency, 4 April 2006.
- Diana Barahona, "The Freedom House Files", Monthly Review, 3 January 2007. (see 990 forms)
- Galina Stolyarova, "Flap Over Russian Freedom Report Goes On: The uproar over a pro-democracy group's negative, though essentially unchanged, rating of Russia has been linked to sloppy journalism or an anti-U.S. campaign," Business Week, 2 March 2007.
- Richard Falk, When an 'NGO' is not an NGO: Twists and turns under Egyptian skies, Aljazeera, 21 February 2012.
References
- ↑ Sklar, "Washington Wants to Buy Nicaragua's Elections Again: A Guide to US Operatives and Nicaraguan Parties," Z Magazine, December 1989.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richard Falk, When an 'NGO' is not an NGO: Twists and turns under Egyptian skies, Aljazeera, 21 February 2012.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ Daniel Bice, Bill Glauber, Ben Poston. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. November 28, 2011.
