Omidyar Network Supports 15 Transparency and Accountability Organizations with Grants Totaling $9.7m

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and MUMBAI,  (11 December 2014) – Omidyar Network today announced grants totaling as much as USD $9.732 million to 15 transparency and accountability organizations in seven countries. The support comes through the philanthropic investment firm’s Governance & Citizen Engagement initiative, which works to build stronger and more open societies by increasing government responsiveness and citizen participation.

“These 15 organizations represent the breadth and focus of our Governance & Citizen Engagement initiative,” said Omidyar Network Partner Stephen King, who serves as the global lead for the initiative.  “From increasing the flows of open data about government services, to making fiscal governance data more transparent; and from supporting civic technology tools that aggregate and disseminate information about public services, to increasing the capacity and professionalism of independent, investigative media, Omidyar Network supports innovative organizations that bridge the gaps among governments, public services, and citizens who seek to engage on matters of importance to them and to hold their leaders to account.”

King announced grants to the following organizations:

BudgIT – Two-year grant of up to $400k to the Lagos-based civic organization that uses creative methods to present Nigeria's budgets and public data to citizens. Using its service delivery-monitoring tool, Tracka, BudgIT applies technology to intersect civic engagement and institutional reform in Nigeria.

Center for Research and Teaching in Economics - $150k grant to the México City-based nonprofit, public institution for research and higher education to conduct an independent evaluation of the México Innovation Agents project with the goal of generating global learning around civic engagement and innovative government fellowship programs.

Center for Public Integrity – Up to $800k, two-year grant to the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit’s State Integrity Investigation project, a data-driven analysis of transparency and accountability in all 50 U.S. state governments.

Civic Hall - $500k grant to Personal Democracy Forum for Civic Hall, a vibrant, collaborative community center and event space in New York City where civic tech innovators from diverse backgrounds can work, network, learn, and organize together to tackle and solve civic problems at scale.

Hromadske TV – $550k grant (through fiscal sponsor Internews) to the first public service broadcasting initiative in Ukraine to provide Ukrainians unbiased, censor-free information on political, economic, cultural, and social events.

Involve – Two-year grant of up to $270k to the UK-based think tank and charity specializing in public participation to expand the UK civil society network and strengthen its relationship with government.

National Foundation for India – Two-year grant of up to $800k to the New Delhi-based nonprofit’s initiative aimed at creating greater public awareness and participation in the public budget process.

Natural Resource Governance Institute – Eighteen-month grant of up to $680k to support the global nonprofit’s work to develop international open data standards for extractive industries so that governments, businesses, media, and citizens can hold one another accountable for revenues and expenditures related to natural resources.

Myanmar Innovation Greenhouse – Eighteen-month grant of up to $200k (through fiscal sponsor Internews) to the Yangon technology hub created to be a center for civic tech and social innovation in Myanmar.

Open Knowledge – Up to $1m grant for two years to the UK-based, worldwide non-profit network that fosters the simple and ubiquitous sharing of data and information in service of realizing data’s constructive potential to deliver far-reaching societal benefits.

The One Campaign – Three-year grant for up to $3m to support the organization’s efforts to push for open data policy goals across six major sub-sectors including: extractives, beneficial ownership, tax, aid, budgets, and contracts, helping citizens to ‘follow the money’ from resources to results.

Open Myanmar Initiative – One-year, $100k grant (through fiscal sponsor MoeMaKa Multimedia) in support of the nonprofit’s work in Myanmar to promote open data and citizen engagement through the use of technology and advocacy.

Privacy International – Up to $1M grant over two years to support the London-based nonprofit’s mission of fighting for privacy rights across the world.

Shwe Myitmakha Media Group - $81,522 grant (through fiscal sponsor Tides Foundation) to support Myitmakha Media Group, a news agency in Myanmar that provides independent and objective print, voice and video news stories to over 30 media houses.

VoteRunLead - $200k grant to the U.S. nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on increasing women’s political representation at the local and state level with a strategy that includes identifying and recruiting women to run for office and providing in-person and online trainings and resources to inspire and equip women to run.