“All injustice and oppression eventually come to an end. The spirit of freedom is stronger than any slavery. Sooner or later, any lies will be illuminated by the truth. Let’s hold each other’s hands closer and look into each other’s eyes. One can almost physically sense the togetherness above everything.”… Read More
At 30, the European Foundation Centre has matured into the continent’s preeminent support infrastructure for philanthropy. Its achievements notwithstanding, and they are many, philanthropy has little it can take for granted in 2019. The idea that it is widely accepted and appreciated by policy, politics or citizens… Read More
The early days I am somewhat in awe of the pioneering vision and optimism shown by the foundations that came together to found the EFC in 1989 and also of the ones that gave it a physical permanence and home in the form of Philanthropy House in 2013. As with… Read More
Anyone who has ever been to Augsburg knows that it has a city within the city. I mean the Fuggerei, the oldest existing social settlement in the world. Here, surrounded by walls, you will find 67 ivy-covered houses, 140 apartments and a church. Jakob Fugger, who counted among the most… Read More
I read all the stories that were submitted to the EFC for our 30th anniversary blogs with delight. I am thrilled at the richness and sheer diversity of storytelling and raw narrative in our sector. We have so many stories to tell! We have so many ways of telling them. Read More
New promise Thirty years ago, European philanthropy stood on the brink of new promise. The formation of the EFC on 9 November 1989 – the same day that the Berlin Wall fell – ushered in a new era for philanthropy as part of a vision for a new Europe. There… Read More
When in the early 1980s I became part of the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH), then in 1986 its General Director, I had nearly 20 years’ experience in French senior civil service and would share my original community’s cautionary views on philanthropy. How could the… Read More
During the 2019 EFC conference in Paris, French illustrator Plantu showed us a shrewd vignette with a clear message: “Before 1989 one could not even meet, today everything is possible.” In times past it was the Berlin Wall that divided people in Europe, now we see walls being constructed… Read More
Are we doing enough? And are we doing enough of the right thing? Writing this blog, I began to reflect on the passage of time – how much changes, how much stays the same. Thirty years was enough for 17th century Europeans to fight an extended and disastrous religious war,… Read More
The blog below is based on the acceptance speech of Barrow Cadbury Trust’s CEO, Sara Llewellin, for the prestigious Compass Award at the 2019 European Foundation Centre (EFC) Annual General Assembly in May 2019, in Paris. I am a great believer that awards and honours are symbolic of the achievements… Read More