Leslie Reed

King Baudouin Foundation US • 1st December 2022

Breathing Life into Bosnia: University of Sarajevo Ignites Renaissance of Modern Physics – KBFUS

Born in Sarajevo, Maja Serdarević completed a degree in Theoretical Physics at the University of Sarajevo and then undertook her graduate studies at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. There, she met and eventually married Eddy Offermann, a Dutch physicist conducting his post-doctoral fellowship. Carrying on the legacy, their son, Jan, is currently completing PhD studies in Physics at the University of Chicago. Together the dynamic trio has created the Three Physicists Foundation.

Bef

King Baudouin Foundation US • 25th October 2022

Higher Education in Africa: Fostering Leadership for the Global Century – KBFUS

Vice Chancellor Sibongile Muthwa grew up under apartheid in South Africa. Despite the limitations her country placed on her early life, she made her way to England to earn a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Doctoral Degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Over time she moved into the role of Vice Chancellor at Nelson Mandela University, which has a student body of 32,000 and seven faculties spread around 7 campu

King Baudouin Foundation US • 1st June 2022

Reclaiming One’s Stories: Book Bunk Reinvents Nairobi’s Public Libraries – KBFUS

Kenya continues in inspiring ways to expunge the residue of its colonial past, during which native Kenyans experienced significant limitations on access to their own lands. Starting in the 1920’s, Nairobi was divided into sections – the upscale Westlands, reserved for British settlers, and Eastlands, the section of the city set aside for indigenous Kenyans. In 1931, Lady Lucie McMillan erected the McMillan Memorial Library in Westlands, as a tribute to her late, American born husband. The librar

King Baudouin Foundation US • 2nd May 2022

Silks for Thrones and Altars: A Collection of Asian Textiles Goes to Musée Guimet in Paris – KBFUS

It all started in a deluge that flooded large parts of Italy in 1966. Sam and Myrna Myers had just moved to Europe, where Sam would lead his law firm’s Paris office. He thought they would enjoy a short trip to Italy, but he wasn’t counting on the rain that trapped them in their hotel outside Rome. After three days of that storm, the Myers drove north toward an aptly named hotel he had seen on an earlier trip through Switzerland, La Romantica. Having mistaken Locarno for Lugano, they ended up 50

King Baudouin Foundation US • 3rd March 2022

Art House Rising: Creating a True Hub for Artists in Kampala, Uganda – KBFUS

In 2011, two British nationals arrived in Kampala, witnessing the profound creativity of the city. Rocca Holly-Nambi and Nikki Elphinstone soon launched 32° East – Ugandan Arts Trust, 32° East for short, to further nurture and channel the country’s artistic expressions. The two women, one bringing the experience of an artist, and the other a background in art galleries, recognized that a gathering place providing programming and residencies for artists would allow the city’s vibrant arts communi

King Baudouin Foundation US • 14th January 2022

The Polishing of a Jewel: American Couple Helps Shine New Light on Florence’s Archeological Treasures – KBFUS

Florence boasts over 90 museums dedicated to the Italian Renaissance. As home to the Medici, whose patronage funded the revival of artistic expression in Italy – which in turn propelled the arts throughout Europe – Florence is truly the City of Art. Tourists the world over flock to its many museums. But what escapes many visitors is that the Medici and Lorraine collections of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan art also inspired the very artists the family supported. The influence of these ancient

King Baudouin Foundation US • 6th December 2021

Out of the Shadows: Empowering Individuals with Disabilities in Africa – KBFUS

An estimated 60 to 80 million people live with disabilities in Africa, including mental health conditions and physical impairments. This number is expected to increase as the population ages, food insecurity grows and the climate changes in unexpected ways, according to the United Nations. For many individuals living with disabilities, their lives are often cloistered inside homes, and therapies to improve their conditions are nonexistent. Those who join the labor force face inaccessibility, dis

King Baudouin Foundation US • 2nd November 2021

Flexibility and Autonomy: French Charity Tackles Social Dimension of Covid Crisis – KBFUS

Abbe Pierre, a Catholic priest born in 1912, is nothing short of a national hero in France – a symbol of the struggle against poverty. A resistance fighter during World War II, the French priest turned his skills toward helping the most vulnerable in the city of Paris after the war.

This quickly led him to create Emmaus, a nonprofit organization that draws its name from a biblical story about the restoration of hope. Emmaus supports homeless individuals in finding both housing and meaningful wo

King Baudouin Foundation US • 24th August 2021

Protecting the Vulnerable: Greek NGOs Care for New Migrants – KBFUS

In spite of the world shutting down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 82 million people were on the move in 2020. “Migration is after all, a very human issue,” explained Epaminondas Farmakis of HumanRights360. “It is an essential part of human history – for as long as it’s been recorded, people have been moving due to conflicts, climate change, or to search for a better future.” For millions of migrants and refugees, Covid-19 accelerated the conditions that catalyzed their movement

Alliance Magazine. • 1st September 2008

Stronger together? An evaluation of ILDE

In recent years many grantmakers have endorsed cooperation among their grantees as an important way of catalysing change, yet foundations themselves make far less effort in this regard. The Network of European Foundations (NEF) has facilitated philanthropic collaboration since 2001. After nearly three years of activity, NEF has conducted an evaluation of its Initiative for Learning Democracy in Europe (ILDE). If the ILDE process has not been uniformly satisfactory, the general message is that fo