The GriffinHarte Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to promote civil conversations about issues that divide us and are often contentious and difficult to sort through. These questions usually involve issues of fairness, equity, respect, identity (who we are) and the complex ways we are connected to other people. Most importantly, they almost always are related to the very foundations of our lives—so they require that we find ways to communicate effectively about them. Individuals and organizations who are interested in improving our communication with others, are supportive of innovative projects and research, and want to see a more civil world, find that this foundation makes it possible for such efforts to become a reality.

Click our “Donate” tab and you will find the forms and instructions you need to make a donation. We use PayPal, so your donation is secure. If you want to make a different kind of donation, contact Cindy at cindy@griffinhartefoundation.org.

We ask that people apply for grants to support the projects they are proposing. The grants are competitively reviewed, and the credentials of the individuals applying for grants are considered carefully. If an individual or individuals are given a grant, your donation will be used to support their efforts. Donations are used to support the following kinds of projects:

Conversations, research, and scholarship that are

• grounded in questions and practices of civility and feminism;
• informed by a desire to define, explore, and advocate for social, political, and economic justice in our professional and personal lives;
• centered in an explicit recognition of the ways our lives and communication are influenced by our identities—our gender and sex, race and ethnicity, age and physical abilities, and education and economic standing.

Educational practices and research that are

• focused on how we teach as well as what we teach;
• grounded in a commitment to alternative pedagogies and educational practices;
• informed by an explicit recognition of the ways identities, genders and sex, feminisms, civility, and civic engagement relate to social, political and economic justice.

Educational opportunities as they explore identity, gender, feminism, civility, civic engagement and social, political and economic justice.

Yes, if you’d like your donation to be use for a specific kind of research or educational opportunity, contact Cindy at cindy@griffinhartefoundation.org.

The GriffinHarte Foundation supports the following types of projects:

Conversations, research, and scholarship that are

• grounded in questions and practices of civility and feminism;
• informed by a desire to define, explore, and advocate for social, political, and economic justice in our professional and personal lives;
• centered in an explicit recognition of the ways our lives and communication are influenced by our identities—our gender and sex, race and ethnicity, age and physical abilities, and education and economic standing.

Educational practices and research that are

• focused on how we teach as well as what we teach;
• grounded in a commitment to alternative pedagogies and educational practices;
• informed by an explicit recognition of the ways identities, genders and sex, feminisms, civility, and civic engagement relate to social, political and economic justice.

Educational opportunities as they explore identity, gender, feminism, civility, civic engagement and social, political and economic justice.

Log on to our “apply for a grant” page.

Yes, absolutely. Your donations will stimulate a “call for submissions” posting on our website, with details specific to your requested project.

Yes, we will post that request on our members’ and help you look for an appropriate match.

Yes, we welcome ideas for topics for conversations.
Contact Cindy at cindy@griffinhartefoundation.org to submit and idea.

Log on to our “submit an essay” page.

Gender is a term that refers to traits that we commonly label as “feminine” or “masculine.” Although sex refers to our biological traits, gender refers to socialized traits, ways of behaving that we learn through our cultures, societies, and families. Because genders are fluid, individuals, regardless of sex, can be “more feminine,” “more masculine,” or a combination of “feminine and masculine.”

Identity is a term that refers to people’s sense of who they are as individuals and members of groups. Our identities are created by our families, societies, and our cultures, as well as our own unique ways of living and being in the world. Most individuals have cultural identities, as well as identities that are linked to race and ethnicity, sex and gender, sexuality, physical ability, economic and educational standing, and religion or spirituality.

Feminism is a personal and political commitment to eliminating inequities that are based on assumptions about person’s sex and gender. It involves understanding, explaining, and resisting the ways these assumptions are played out unfairly at all levels of our society (from the bathroom to the boardroom), how they limit some and privilege others, how they are often made to be invisible, and how they affect our understanding of race and ethnicity, sexuality, physical ability—in fact our ability to be fully human.

Civility is a code of conduct for living in a world where differences and disagreements proliferate. Civility comes from the words “civilized” and “civilization” and is essential to democracy. This is because, as Law Professor Stephen Carter states, when we are civil, we recognize that as members of a society, we are, in fact, “members of a household.” When we are civil, we aren’t pretending to like someone we despise or agree with a view we don’t. Instead, we are acknowledging that we are on a “common journey,” and that because we are sharing this ride, we are willing to acknowledge that “for the sake of our common journey with others, and out of love and respect for the very idea there are others” we will listen to them and try to understand them. When we are civil we stop pretending that we journey alone, that our actions do not affect one another, or that our view is the only ‘right’ view.” When we are civil, we do not stand by while individuals are hurt or harmed, but, we also are willing to we give one another a chance to explain ourselves, even as we disagree with them. (Stephen L. Carter, Civility: Morals, Manners and the Etiquette of Democracy, New York: Basic, 1998.)

Pedagogy is a term that is similar to education; however, pedagogy incorporates the processes and practices of teaching. It encompasses more than just education or teaching to include the ways we teach as well as the ways we learn.

The inequalities in our lives often stem from a variety of structures, practices, and attitudes. Social, political, and economic justice is a term used to capture the variety of inequities we might face throughout our lifetimes and the need for fairness in all of them. Because oppression and discrimination are complex phenomenon, naming the ways they are present socially, politically and economically reminds us that to arrive at a fair and just state, we must take all of these areas, and perhaps more, into consideration.