Expanding our Reach and Furthering Our Vision

1 January 2023
Trees and a grassy hill

The Internet Society Foundation (“the Foundation”) exists to support the Internet Society and its mission. The Foundation’s support for the Internet Society started primarily through grant-making in support of the Internet Society’s mission.  This was a way to get the Foundation’s operations running smoothly and to ensure that the grant-making operations were mature for when…

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$1.2 million in funding awarded to support digital inclusion in Bangladesh, Colombia and Senegal

7 November 2022
four women seated and smiling

We are pleased to announce grant funding to five organizations to promote digital inclusion through the Strengthening Communities, Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) program. Established in 2020, the SCILLS program aims to expand economic growth and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to more knowledgeably and skillfully use the Internet. The long-term aim of…

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Announcing second round of BOLT innovation grants to address Internet connectivity gap

8 August 2022
A group of people collaborating on a wall with post-it notes

We are excited to announce a second round of grant funding to advance Internet access and connectivity around the world through our BOLT program. In its second year, the BOLT grant program aims to support teams of creatives, technologists, and researchers to develop innovative solutions to Internet connectivity, particularly among communities where current technologies are unavailable…

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Announcing $1.5 million in funding to support Internet resiliency

25 July 2022
Two men fitting antennae on top of a room in front of the Himalaya mountains in Nepal

We are excited to announce a second round of grant funding through our Resiliency program, which aims to help communities enhance preparedness and build Internet resiliency when faced with adverse events.  These grants will support projects that increase network resiliency in communities prone to natural and climate-related disasters, ensuring these communities are better able to…

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A necessity not a luxury: the Internet’s role in humanitarian response

22 July 2022
Men wearing Internet Society Foundation and Help NGO shirts assemble a satellite installation on the roof of a building in the Philippines

By Brendan Harvey, Executive Director, Help.NGO What are a human being’s basic needs and how do you meet them? Humanitarians have asked themselves this question since Florence Nightingale served as a nurse during the Crimean war—considered by many to be the first instance of humanitarian action. For Nightingale, the central focus was on medical care.…

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What is in a word? Innovation

6 June 2022
Children hanging up a poster

The Internet Society Foundation believes that innovation is at the core of providing better opportunities for people to transform and enrich their lives through access to the Internet. We award funding to projects that are testing diverse approaches to Internet connectivity and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team has been asking ourselves some questions…

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SCILLS program expands to three new countries

19 May 2022
Girls in a classroom working on a computer

We are excited to announce the expansion of our Strengthening Communities, Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) program to three new countries: Brazil, Ghana, and Indonesia.   The SCILLS program aims to contribute to economic inclusion and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to more knowledgeably and skillfully use the Internet. “The growth of…

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Four projects awarded funding to advance Internet access and connectivity around the world

24 January 2022
A group of people collaborating on a wall with post-it notes

We are excited to award a first round of grant funding through our BOLT grant program to four exciting projects that will help advance Internet access and connectivity for communities around the world. Launched in 2021, the BOLT program funds teams of creatives, technologists, and researchers to develop projects that promote Internet connectivity, particularly among communities where…

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$1 million awarded in grants to support digital skills development in Bangladesh, Colombia and Senegal

2 December 2021
Young woman in orange dress uses a tablet computer

The Internet Society Foundation has awarded over $1 million in digital skills development grants to nine innovative projects in Bangladesh, Colombia and Senegal.  Now in its second year, the Strengthening Communities/Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) grant program aims to expand economic growth and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to more knowledgeably and…

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$1.5 million awarded in grants to promote Internet resiliency during disaster response

8 November 2021
Two Help.NGO workers in a village

We have awarded $1.5 million in a first round of grant funding to three organizations through our Resiliency program. This funding will support projects that increase network resiliency in communities prone to natural and climate-related disasters, ensuring these communities are better able to prepare for and withstand the effects of a disaster on Internet connectivity.…

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