NEW YORK—The Open Society Institute today announced a series of changes in staff responsibilities as U.S. Programs continues to reorganize and better meet the needs of grantees in years ahead.
There will be two new Associate Directors in the Department of Grantmaking and Program Development, which is headed by Antonio Maciel.
The Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation, is part of the network of foundations, created and funded by George Soros, active in more than 50 countries around the world.
OSI's U.S. Programs seek to strengthen democracy in the United States by addressing barriers to opportunity and justice, broadening public discussion about such barriers, and assisting marginalized groups to participate equally in civil society and to make their voices heard. OSI U.S. Programs challenges over-reliance on the market by advocating appropriate government responsibility for human needs and promoting public interest and service values.
OSI U.S. Programs supports initiatives in a range of areas including access to justice for low and moderate income people; judicial independence; ending the death penalty; reducing gun violence and over-reliance on incarceration; drug policy reform; inner-city education and youth programs; fair treatment of immigrants; reproductive health and choice; campaign finance reform; and improved care of the dying.
Alvin Starks, the former program officer for the New York City Community Initiatives program, will become Associate Director for Fellows and Technical Assistance.
Maria Teresa Rojas will be the Associate Director for Philanthropy and Internal Communications; prior to this she was the Associate Director for U.S. Communications. These new positions will enhance the coordination and oversight of OSI's fellowship programs, increase technical assistance to grantees, and identify allied funding sources.
This year OSI is also developing a more comprehensive justice program that will support work on both civil and criminal justice issues. The Program on Law and Society will draw to an end in December 2003 and its civil justice work will be merged into the new Justice Initiative.
John Kowal will become Director of Constitutional and Legal Policy. His portfolio will include his current judicial independence work, and also incorporate alternative jurisprudence initiatives. He will also coordinate U.S. Programs' work pertaining to lesbian and gay rights issues. Kowal started at OSI in 1997 as a Program Development Fellow and has been Associate Director of the Program on Law and Society since 2000.
Catherine Samuels, founder and Director of the Program on Law and Society, will become Senior Fellow for Special Justice Projects. In addition to overseeing the transition in the remainder of this year for Law and Society, she will focus on analyzing and developing potential justice projects for U.S. Programs.
The Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation, is part of the network of foundations, created and funded by George Soros, active in more than 50 countries around the world.
OSI's U.S. Programs seek to strengthen democracy in the United States by addressing barriers to opportunity and justice, broadening public discussion about such barriers, and assisting marginalized groups to participate equally in civil society and to make their voices heard. OSI U.S. Programs challenges over-reliance on the market by advocating appropriate government responsibility for human needs and promoting public interest and service values. OSI U.S. Programs supports initiatives in a range of areas including access to justice for low and moderate income people; judicial independence; ending the death penalty; reducing gun violence and over-reliance on incarceration; drug policy reform; inner-city education and youth programs; fair treatment of immigrants; reproductive health and choice; campaign finance reform; and improved care of the dying.