Subscribe to updates about Open Society’s work around the world
By entering your email address and clicking “Submit,” you agree to receive updates from the Open Society Foundations about our work. To learn more about how we use and protect your personal data, please view our privacy policy.
NEW YORK—Eight newly appointed leaders of nonprofit organizations in countries ranging from Uganda to the United States have been awarded New Executives Fund grants to help implement their vision of change, the Open Society Foundations announced today.
Created in 2013, the New Executives Fund is designed to help nonprofit leaders carry out the initiatives they have planned for their organizations’ futures. The fund provides two-year grants of between $25,000 and $250,000 to executives who have been in their current position for less than one year. Past New Executives Fund grantees have used their awards to document stop-and-frisk abuses by the Newark Police Department and to strengthen global advocacy on HIV treatment access.
The awards are given out twice a year. The latest grantees are:
Mossaad Mohamed Ali became executive director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies in October 2015. Based in Uganda, the center works to monitor and promote respect for human rights and legal reform in Sudan. Ali emerged as a young Darfuri leader in the human rights movement when he set up and led the Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in South Darfur. In 2006, he was awarded the Olof Palme Human Rights and Peace Prize with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for being an “outspoken and courageous critic of crimes against human rights.” Ali has litigated many cases in Sudanese courts on behalf of victims and was involved in advocacy at the international level with the Darfur Consortium.
Nurina Ally joined the Equal Education Law Centre as executive director in August 2015. The public interest law clinic pursues strategic litigation and offers legal advice and support to advance the rights to equality, dignity, and basic education in South Africa. Named as one of the Top 200 Young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian, Ally practiced as a senior associate within the public law practice group at Webber Wentzel Attorneys before joining the Equal Education Law Centre, specializing in the field of constitutional and administrative law. She also served as a law clerk to Justice Edwin Cameron at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Giselle Carino became regional director of International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) in March of 2015 after serving as deputy director, director of programs, and as leader of the Safe Abortion Team. IPPF/WHR provides reproductive health services in 38 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, making it one of the largest sexual and reproductive health organizations in the region. In her 15 years at the organization, Carino has worked on violence against women, teen pregnancy, abortion rights, and social enterprise. Among her many achievements, she successfully led efforts to significantly expand funding for the region and to increase the number of clinical and community services provided by IPPF/WHR partners.
Kristen Clarke became president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in January 2016. Formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity, the Lawyers’ Committee seeks to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting in particular the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. Clarke formerly served as the head of the Civil Rights Bureau for the New York State Attorney General’s Office and has worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
George Kegoro became executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission in November 2015. The commission promotes the entrenchment of a human rights and democratic culture in Kenya and throughout Africa, and is seen as a leading voice for Kenya’s human rights movement. Kegoro brings more than 30 years of experience in human rights defense and advocacy to his role, including two decades leading the Law Society of Kenya and the International Commission of Jurists—Kenya. He also served as secretary to the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence in Kenya in 2008 and as joint secretary to the Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg Affair in 2004. Kegoro writes a weekly column in the Sunday Nation, Kenya’s highest circulated newspaper, and is a regular commentator on public affairs in Kenya.
Garth Meintjes was named president of the Global Network for Public Interest Law, or PILnet, in November 2015. The organization helps build and support a global community of advocates who use the law as a tool for social change. A South African lawyer, Meintjes has worked in the field for more than 25 years. He previously served as the chief operating officer at the International Legal Foundation and as a senior program manager at JEHT Foundation, where he oversaw a portfolio of international justice grants. Meintjes has also served as associate director at the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Notre Dame Law School and has written and taught on international law and human rights.
Megan Price became executive director of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group in December 2015 after previously serving as director of research at the nonprofit organization, which focuses on providing rigorous quantitative methods, particularly statistics and data mining, to support advocacy arguments, produce expert legal testimony, and provide strategic analytical assistance to the human rights field. Price has played a leading role in shaping the organization’s strategies in Guatemala, Colombia, and Syria. She also serves as the human rights editor for the Statistical Journal of the International Association for Official Statistic, and her analysis has been featured in a number of publications, including the International Justice Monitor.
Nora Ranney joined the National Priorities Project as executive director in March 2016. The nonprofit research organization aims to make federal budget information relevant and accessible so that all Americans can understand the impact of federal budget choices on their own communities and weigh in on budget debates. Ranney has more than 20 years of social and economic justice experience, including leadership in advocacy and electoral campaigns, lobbying, organizing, and public policy. Most recently, Ranney served as a program officer for the Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs. She has held positions as legislative director with the Progressive States Network and director of state advocacy with the American Civil Liberty Union’s LGBT Project. Ranney has also served as a policy analyst for the speaker of the New York City Council and worked on the campaign of the late Senator Paul Wellstone.
Subscribe to updates about Open Society’s work around the world
By entering your email address and clicking “Submit,” you agree to receive updates from the Open Society Foundations about our work. To learn more about how we use and protect your personal data, please view our privacy policy.
