With this blog TCI will continue to speak with our own voice about the true environmental and human costs of corporate actions.
On a two-week visit to Thailand with our program director to visit several True Costs Initiative grantee partners, including the Community Resource Centre Foundation, I learned that real community lawyering looks nothing like “traditional” lawyering, and it is precisely that characteristic that makes it such a potent tool for protecting environmental and human rights. On one occasion, the teams drove […]
by Loretta Taylor, Nittaya Saenbut, and Peggy Chu On January 18, 2023, True Costs Initiative (TCI) and Draper Richards Kaplan (DRK) Foundation joined forces to host Strengthening Organization Fundraising Capacity: A Fireside Conversation with Emily Edwards. The sense of camaraderie was palpable as Conniel Malek, TCI’s Executive Director, and Emily Edwards, DRK’s Senior Director of Portfolio Fundraising Strategies, exchanged
One day, I nodded absentmindedly at a comment my four-year old made. She looked at me and said: ‘Mama, you aren’t listening to me with your listening ears!’ I was simultaneously taken aback and humbled. This was undoubtedly something she heard from one of her teachers at school. The prescience of this message and its tiny messenger were unexpected, but I
Words are like cozy sweaters. You’ve had them so long that you don’t remember who gifted them to you, but you keep them anyway. But what happens when they no longer fit? When they feel itchy on the skin and suffocating at the neck? When they are tight around the shoulders and the seams start to tear? When you recognize that these words, were
I walked away from the corporate world after a decade of practicing law at a multinational business, and I never looked back. I dove into the philanthropic space with curiosity, passion, and a thirst to learn all I could in this new space. But with time I have recognized the value of looking back. I’ve noted the differences and the
The ocean is our global commons, our birthright, our collective heritage, and our heirloom. This concept is enshrined under international law – the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). However, laws and concepts resonate much less with us than the things that pull at our heartstrings. With any precious gift entrusted to us from generation to generation,
Some early mornings during this tumultuous pandemic when there was no calm or accessible refuge for my family and I, we found ourselves at the ocean. Our awe of the ocean was accompanied by a deep appreciation of our obligation to share, steward, and sustain it. It is difficult to explain concepts like sharing, fear, and protecting the future to
“If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.” – Kendrick Lamar The human rights version of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (FCPA) is being proposed by a range of global advocates, including grassroots organizations who have for decades recognized the need for mandatory legislation to NGOs in the business and human rights space. The
I froze. Speechless. Unable, unwilling to breathe. It’s been almost a year since I’ve hugged anyone outside my household, specifically my husband. Hugging – the way Americans and many cultures do – isn’t big where I come from: the Isan Region of Thailand. But after about a decade of living in the United States, I’ve become accustomed to it as
In summer of 2020, the Response and Vision Fund, seeded by True Costs Initiative and nine other funders, first launched with the goal of building and shifting power to workers and frontline communities; holding corporate, financial, and government actors accountable; and shaping economic recovery to promote systemic change. This first round included eight initiatives who received a total of nearly
