Dalia Association (www.dalia.ps) is the first Palestinian community foundation. It was founded by members of the Palestinian community from the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Israel, and the Diaspora. We are diverse in terms of religion, gender, age, and politics, yet we are united by our commitment to mobilizing, investing, and distributing resources according to local Palestinian priorities using community-based decision-making.
To achieve this, we:
- Make grantsto support inspirational and relevant civil society initiatives, especially grassroots efforts that seek to supplement local resources. Community-controlled grantmaking increases the transparency, accountability, and professionalism of local initiatives.
- Link resourcesby introducing people with expertise, ideas, contacts, equipment, and other assets to community activists who can use them to serve their communities. Effectively utilizing resources that already exist in our abundant community helps decrease our dependence on outside resources.
- Encourage givingby locals, companies, and refugee and Diaspora Palestinians. We revive local traditions of philanthropy and volunteerism and create new systems that make giving easier, safer and more trustworthy. A permanent endowment will be built over time to ensure sustainable income for current and future generations.
- Advocate for systemic change in the international aid system so that it respects Palestinian rights and responds to local priorities. Advocacy includes constructive engagement with innovative donors who want a local partner to help them improve their policies and maximize their impact.
TIGRA Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (http://transnationalaction.org/) is an Oakland, CA-based social enterprise founded by Philippine immigrant Francis Calpotura. After decades of community organizing and leadership development, Francis launched TIGRA to leverage those relationships to help remittance companies become more socially-, politically- and economically-responsible.
The size of the remittance industry is enormous: the World Bank recently estimated that remittances to developing countries totaled $325 billion in 2010; the US sent $23b to Mexico and $11b to the Philippines alone. These flows represent a lifeline for more than 700 million people, who rely on such support for food, medicine, clothes, schooling and so on. If the cost of sending remittances home were reduced by 5%, recipients in developing countries would receive an extra $16 billion dollars a year!
TIGRA maintains a closely-knit network of 1400+ immigrant associations that range from 40 Guatemalan housecleaners in Oakland to 11,000 taxi drivers in New York. While some are neighborhood-,vocation- or origin-focused, all of these groups are committed to helping TIGRA organize communities around issues of economic empowerment, social justice and transnational grassroots development. At every step of the way, behind every decision and action, we seek to empower migrants, their communities and the companies that support them.