Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
/OVERVIEW: The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative supports projects related to humanitarian relief, human rights, and higher education across the globe.
IP TAKE: This funder is better known for its Aurora Prize than it is for its grantmaking. This is understandable as its prize is a constant, annual award going toward an individual who’s made a significant contribution to humanitarian causes, while conversely much of its grantmaking is born out of necessity and grants are made in direct response to an emergent natural or humanitarian disaster.
While its non-disaster-related grants go to organizations throughout the world, Aurora’s heart is in Armenia and groups focused on Armenian history or heritage are most likely to receive support. It doesn’t accept unsolicited requests for funding, so grantseekers will need to make a big noise in the humanitarian space to get on this funder’s radar.
This is a competitive and somewhat bureaucratic grantmaker, so make sure to vet your proposals and materials well. It’s also not accessible, so your work will need to stand out on a global scale and your organization established in order to get on this funder’s radar.
PROFILE: The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is the organization that administers the Aurora Prize, a $1 million award given to individuals who have made a significant impact on advancing humanitarian causes. It seeks to “address on-the-ground humanitarian challenges around the world with the focus on helping the most destitute.” The initiative was created by Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan, and Ruben Vardanyan to honor those who helped survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the twentieth century in which as many as 1.5 million Armenians were systematically murdered. Aurora’s illustrious board includes actor and humanitarian George Clooney, Benjamin Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor for the US Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial held in Nuremberg, Germany in 1947, and Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s first female judge and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Its grants support humanitarian relief, human rights, and higher education around the world.
Grants for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, Security and Human Rights, and Higher Education
Aurora’s grantmaking is based on the principle of “Gratitude in Action,” which is rooted in the idea “that countless people around the world who have received aid in time of crisis can best express their gratitude by offering similar assistance to someone else.” One of the primary funding recipients is the United World Colleges (UWC) network of schools, which seeks to “inspire young people to put their talents and energy into social change, no matter which future path they choose.”
Aurora’s signature programs and initiatives include Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, which is given “to recognize and support those who risk their own lives, health or freedom to save the lives, health or freedom of others suffering as a result of violent conflict, atrocity crimes or other major human rights violations.” The prize winner receives a $1 million award to recognize their courage, commitment, and impact.
The Aurora for Artsakh program works to help “the people of Artsakh [who face] a grave humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) war.” The program has supported 80 projects in Artsakh with $1,740,000 in grants to both local and international partners. It has also given to the Hayastan All Armenian Fund to support humanitarian assistance to the people of Artsakh.
Aurora Dialogues works to bring together many of the “world’s leading humanitarians, academics, philanthropists, business leaders, and civil society […] for a series of insightful discussions about some of today’s most pressing humanitarian challenges.” Additionally, the dialogues seek to amplify those who are working to address pressing issues and create real, tangible change.
The Aurora Grants support educational initiatives, and work to preserve and promote Armenian heritage and history. Supported projects in education include both research grants and scholarships, including individual scholarships “named after Lamya Haji Bashar (given to Yazidi students), Amal Clooney (given to a female student from Lebanon with strong interest in human rights) and Charles Aznavour (awarded to students from France and Francophone countries).”
Aurora grants have also gone to organizations working to advance humanitarian causes across the world, and past grantees include $100,000 to the Elmhurst Hospital in Queens and $50,000 to the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA. Grantseekers with a strong connection to Armenian heritage and history have also received grants, including the Armenian Genocide Museum-institute and Matenadaran, Armenia’s national manuscript repository. The Initiative also donated $200,000 to the people of Beirut, Lebanon to help with relief and recovery following the Beirut Port explosion in August 2020.
The Aurora Community program seeks to connect individuals working on humanitarian causes worldwide, “allowing them to exchange their knowledge and support each other, as well as use Aurora’s humanitarian network to advance their causes.”
Created in 2017, the Young Aurora program “was launched […] to encourage, support and showcase student-driven projects which address concrete humanitarian issues with innovative and sustainable solutions.” Many, if not most, of these student-led projects originate at UWC schools around the world. The program is run in partnership with UWC International, Teach For All, and the African Leadership Academy.
The initiative also provides a variety of nonprogram scholarships, many to students attending UWC schools.
Important Grant Details:
Aurora’s grantmaking is selective and not open to unsolicited applications or requests for funding. Grants are frequently made in direct response to either humanitarian or natural disasters, the Beirut Port explosion, the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and the early days of the coronavirus pandemic being recent examples.
Grants tend to range from $50,000 to $200,000, with the average amount closer to $100,000. Scholarships, of course, come in substantially lower than this.
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