Winston Foundation to Close After 14 Years

The Winston Foundation for World Peace, in Washington, will shut down at the end of August after having given away nearly $15-million to international-security projects.

The foundation had been phasing out its work over the past seven years, after the board decided to give away all its assets.

“It was a complex decision, but we believed the fund could have a bigger impact in a post-Cold War period if we spent it this way,” said John Tirman, the foundation’s executive director.

The Winston Foundation was created in 1984 through the bequest of Robert Winston Scrivner, a philanthropic adviser to the Rockefeller family and executive director of the Rockefeller Family Fund for 12 years. It started making grants in 1986 and supported nuclear-disarmament and conflict-prevention organizations throughout the world.

The three groups that received the most money from the foundation were: the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media at New York University, which established the National Press Institute in Moscow; Search for Common Ground, in Washington, which created conflict-resolution projects in the Middle East and elsewhere; and International Alert, in London, a conflict-prevention group that works in the Caucasus region and in Africa. A full list of the foundation’s grantees can be found on its World-Wide Web site: http://www.wf.org. The site will be available at least through December.

For more information, contact John Tirman, Executive Director, Winston Foundation for World Peace, 2040 S Street, N.W., Suite 201, Washington 20009-1110; (202) 483-4215.