LEVI STRAUSS FOUNDATION PROMISES $1 MILLION IN GRANTS TO CIVIL LIBERTIES ORGANIZATIONS
San Francisco-based Levi Strauss Foundation has made a commitment to give $1 million in grants specifically towards a variety of organizations that protect the civil liberties of highly vulnerable communities across the United States, in the Bay Area, and abroad, including immigrants, refugees, the transgender community and religious minorities.
Recipients include Define American, Live Free, The National Domestic Workers Alliance, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, The Transgender Law Center, United We Dream, Advancing Justice –Asian Law Caucus, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (San Francisco), Just Cause-Causa Justa, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote, Pangea Legal Service, the International Refugee Relief Assistance Project and Marie Stopes International.
“Now more than ever, we need the business community to be a positive force for social change in this country and the world,” said Daniel Lee, executive director, Levi Strauss Foundation. “Discrimination and stigma are anathema to our core values. This belief comes from our founder Levi Strauss—who was an immigrant himself—and still rings true today. America is at its best when everyone is given the opportunity to pursue their fullest potential, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or religious preference.”
Added Ai-jen Poo, executive director of National Domestic Workers Alliance and co-director of Caring Across Generations: “We live in a moment that only comes along once every few generations, where we are called to do more for each other and for progress,” said, and one of the foundation’s grantees. The Levi Strauss Foundation’s grant is an example of the type of act of leadership needed to preserve and protect what we hold dear in our democracy, and engage the millions of people who want to do something positive.”
