Current Projects
Poverty
Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation's mission is to empower the world's poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to financial services and to information. With tiny loans, financial services and technology, we help the poor, mostly women, start self-sustaining businesses to escape poverty. Founded in 1997 by a group of friends who were inspired by the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, our global network of microfinance partners reaches 2.7 million families in 22 countries.
Our Involvement: Charles Tomberg has voluntered for The Grameen Foundation. In addition, The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund, Charles Tomberg and Gail Tomberg have financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
Women's World Banking
Women’s World Banking seeks to alleviate global poverty by expanding the economic assets, participation and power of the poor, especially women.
WWB is a global network of 54 microfinance providers and banks, working in 30 countries to bring financial services and information to low-income entrepreneurs. The network serves 11 million micro-entrepreneurs directly, and another 10 million indirectly through our bank partners and others. WWB’s advisors and technical experts work hand in hand with our network members to provide a range of ongoing, carefully designed technical and advisory services and to actively promote the exchange of best practices. During the past three decades, this global partnership has enabled many of our network institutions to evolve from donor-dependent, philanthropic initiatives to self-sustaining financial institutions offering credit, savings, insurance and other essential products and services to millions of microentrepreneurs, the majority of them women. In this partnership, network members are free to make their own decisions and reach their own conclusions; WWB’s philosophy is that self-determined, locally controlled organizations know their markets best and are the real agents of change.
Our involvement: The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund has financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.swwb.org/
Environment
Komaza
KOMAZA is a social enterprise organization which works to permanently and sustainably alleviate poverty and
combat deforestation in Africa’s most underserved communities. Our flagship initiative is microforestry—an
innovative combination of microfinance, microequity and sustainable forestry which we have developed and
continue to pioneer.
Our involvement: The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund has financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.komaza.org/
Micro Energy Credits Corporation
Microenergy Credits Corporation provides a scaleable solution to sustainable energy access at the village level, by combining elements of microfinance and cap and trade approaches. The result is a system which efficiently channels capital where it is needed while including environmental, development and energy security impacts in the economics of village energy choices. Simply put, Microenergy Bank' s vision is to use a system of cap and trade-- enhanced microfinance to promote a transformation at the local level in the use and production of energy for all purposes. This will enable a set of breakthroughs in clean energy production, poverty alleviation, biodiversity, energy security and Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).
Our involvement: Mr. Tomberg has provided a loan to this organization, and he serves on its Advisory Board.
Website:
http://microenergycredits.com/
Sierra Club - Loma Prieta Chapter
The Sierra Club is America's oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Inspired by nature, we are 1.3 million of your friends and neighbors, working together to protect our communities and the planet.
Our involvement: Charles Tomberg and The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund have financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org
SolarCycle
SolarCycle began in 2008 in response to the staggering environmental damage and negative health effects caused by contaminated drinking water and indoor air pollution in the developing world. Seeking to address this issue with locally-available, low-cost materials, SolarCycle’s founders, John Tilleman and Drew Durbin, looked to trash. Mr. Tilleman and Mr. Durbin have designed a revolutionary material made from used plastic bags and the aluminized interior of chip bags, which will replace virgin plastics and mirrors in solar concentrating applications. Using this “upcycled” manufacturing process, SolarCycle produces the most durable, sustainable, and financially accessible solar cookers and water pasteurizers on the market and turns an urban trash problem into a potential solution for diarrheal illnesses and respiratory diseases.
Our involvement: SolarCycle won the 2009 Tomberg Prize in Environmental Sustainability which is funded by the The Marty Tomberg Charitable Fund.
Website:
http://www.solarcycleafrica.com
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.
The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
Our involvement: The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund, The Marty Tomberg Charitable Fund and Charles Tomberg have financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.tnc.org
University of Texas, RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service
The RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas seeks to build knowledge about nonprofit organizations, philanthropy and volunteerism, and prepare students and practitioners to make effective contributions to their communities and countries. Through its activities in education, research and engagement, the Center expands a regional academic base for studying the policies and practices affecting nonprofits and for contributing to national and international debates about the future of the sector. RGK Center initiatives emphasize collaborative approaches and international perspectives to foster research and dialogue across fields and across borders.
Our involvement: The Marty Tomberg Charitable Fund has financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/rgk/
Whidbey Camano Land Trust
For more than 20 years the Whidbey Camano Land Trust has protected our islands’ natural and rural areas by working with private landowners, community groups and public agencies. The Land Trust protected twice as much land in 2006 than in all our previous years combined.
Our involvement: Charles Tomberg and Gail Tomberg have financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.wclt.org/
Education
The Technology Access Foundation
The Technology Access Foundation started in 1996 with a simple vision to give children of color the tools to be inventors and creators of technology.
Our involvement: The Philip and Helen Brecher Charitable Fund has financially supported this organization.
Website:
http://www.techaccess.org