Thursday, June 4, 2015
U.S.-Cuba Thaw Reverberating Through Nonprofits
Those who work on Cuba-related grants emphasized that internal changes to economic and other policies in Cuba are shifting the landscape there in ways that are as dramatic, if not more so, than President Obama’s decision to reopen the U.S. embassy in Havana. Some expressed trepidation about what explosive private-sector development in Cuba could do to its people and its ecology. Among them is Kate Barnes, a program officer overseeing coastal and marine grant making at the MacArthur Foundation, which has made $17.9 million in Cuba-related grants since 1988, largely to conservation groups. Ms. Barnes said that while she and her colleagues were elated about the decision to re-establish diplomatic relations, Cuba "has a really good history of protecting its natural resources, and that could decline with some of these changes."
Others point out that for all the buzz among U.S. foundations and nonprofits, it is unclear how much of it will translate into grants and programs. Mario Bronfman, the retired head of the Ford Foundation’s Mexico City office and an adviser on Cuba, said that he and his colleagues are also receiving inquiries about working in the island nation. The Ford Foundation has made $1 to $1.5 million in grants annually for Cuba-related work during the past decade....