November 3, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC — Global Integrity, a leader in the movement to bring greater transparency to government activities worldwide, announced today it has received a financial commitment of up to US$2.4 million from philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network. Global Integrity has also appointed Stacy Donohue, who leads Omidyar Network’s U.S. government transparency investments, to Global Integrity’s Board of Directors.
Best-known for its anti-corruption and governance diagnostics, Global Integrity arms advocates, journalists and citizens with information to drive governance reforms. Omidyar Network’s grant will enable Global Integrity to accelerate its work on two critical fronts: develop the next generation of its online global fieldwork platform and launch a new research service for the investment community. Both initiatives will advance policy reforms globally.
"Global Integrity’s anti-corruption efforts ignite positive social change for millions of citizens worldwide,” said Stacy Donohue, Director, Omidyar Network. “Omidyar Network shares Global Integrity’s passion for driving government accountability through information transparency. We hope our grant will signal the importance of their work.”
Recognized for using technology to support public interest research and policy reforms, Global Integrity has used Web-based systems for its global fieldwork since 2002, in countries ranging from Iraq to Sudan to China. Omidyar Network’s grant will further enhance and expand the capabilities of this critical platform. Specifically, the online tool will allow local citizens, researchers, and journalists in more than 100 countries to gather data, analysis, and on-the-ground reporting of national and local government accountability and transparency issues.
“Few organizations stress the central importance of technology and market-based solutions to governance reform efforts; we’ve clearly found a likeminded partner in Omidyar Network,” said Nathaniel Heller, co-founder and Managing Director of Global Integrity. “Beyond generous financial support, a long-term relationship with Omidyar Network offers us invaluable technical and strategic counsel as we scale our offerings.”
Omidyar Network’s new funding will also support the formal launch of Foglamp (www.foglamp.org), a research service for investment clients in emerging and frontier markets. Foglamp offers clients a competitive advantage by delivering on-the-ground insights about investment-specific regulatory and market dynamics at the country, sector, and company levels. By so doing, Global Integrity aims to influence private capital flows as a way to stimulate policy reforms in these countries. Foglamp, already available to select clients, will be fully rolled out in early 2010.
About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $300 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more about Omidyar Network, please visit www.omidyar.com.
About Global Integrity
Global Integrity is a leading international non-profit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends around the world. Working with a network of several hundred in-country journalists and researchers in more than 100 countries, we aim to shape and inform the debate around governance and anti-corruption reforms through in-depth diagnostic tools at the national, sub-national, and sector levels. Our information is regularly used by aid donors, civil society advocates, businesses, and governments alike to press for governance reforms in both the developed and developing world. For more information about the organization, visit www.globalintegrity.org.