Firelight Milestones

Firelight Celebrates FIVE Years of Grantmaking – A Timeline of Highlighted Events and Milestones

1999
December — Kerry Olson attends the United Nations Conference on Children Orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

December — Co-founders Kerry Olson and David Katz name, incorporate, and endow the Firelight Foundation.

2000
January — Firelight’s first grant is awarded to the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation for “A Call to Action,” a program to reduce mother-to-child-transmission in developing countries.

January — Suzi Peel, U.S. Director of Association François Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB), joins Firelight as our first Advisory Board member.

February — Kerry Olson and Nancy Shallow (member of Firelight’s Board of Directors) meet with Sandra Thurman, U.S. Director of AIDS Policy and with family foundation and international grantmaking advisors at the Council on Foundations. The decision is made to focus Firelight’s work on children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.

March — Firelight moves to its first office space: a one-room office in Santa Cruz, California.

March — Tammy Moody joins Firelight as its first volunteer, serving as Program Coordinator.

April — Firelight makes its first formal public presentation: “A Roundtable on Children Orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa” at the Council on Foundation’s Annual Conference in Los Angeles.

April — Natasha Martin, director of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention, joins Firelight as our second Advisory Board member.

July — Tammy Moody attends the International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Durban, South Africa. With advisor Suzi Peel, she visits potential outreach areas in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, and Rwanda. The seeds for our first round of grantmaking are sown.

September — The Firelight Pen Pal Exchange Program is launched, linking California high school students with youth in an after-school program in Alexandria Township, South Africa.

October — Firelight’s first Advisory Board meeting is held. Jennifer Astone, Program Officer for Africa at the Global Fund for Women, joins as third Advisory Board member.Twenty-four proposals are recommended for funding.

December — Cheryl Talley-Moon joins Firelight as its first employee, part-time Administrative Assistant.

December — First round of grants totaling $356,000 are made to grassroots organizations directly serving children in six African countries.

2001
January — Firelight receives its first corporate donation from Zaplin Lampert Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

April — Jennifer Astone accepts the position of Director.

April — Firelight hosts its first meeting for other foundations, featuring Dr. Greg Powell, Chair, Child Protection Society, Zimbabwe.

April — At Firelight Foundation’s second Advisory Board meeting the grantmaking procedures are refined. Twenty-three proposals are recommended for funding.

April — The Firelight web site is launched.

May — Firelight awards its 50th grant.

May — Firelight hires consultant Randy Trigg to develop its database to manage the growing number of applications and grants.

June — Betty Makoni, founder of Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe speaks at Firelight’s first public meeting for a grantee-partner visiting the U.S.

June — Firelight co-hosts a meeting with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and African Services Committee in New York, bringing together 28 participants representing foundations, film makers, and African non-governmental organizations to discuss “Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa: Lessons Learned.”

July — A strategic partnership with American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is initiated after Kerry Olson and Ruth Messinger (President, AJWS) meet in New York.

July — Kerry Olson meets with Rory Kennedy. Firelight provides the first grant to support her film on the AIDS Pandemic.

December — Tammy Moody and Jennifer Astone conduct site visits in Rwanda, Zambia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. They hold the first grantee-partner meetings, new applicant meetings, and youth forums.

2002
January — Jennifer Astone moderates a discussion on “AIDS and Philanthropy in Africa” at the Africa Grantmakers Affinity Group Retreat in New York.

January — Firelight relocates to offices at 510 Mission Street in Santa Cruz, California.

March — Jennifer Astone presents at the first Global Philanthropy Forum on Borderless Giving, Stanford, California.

April — Dr. Geoff Foster, pediatrician and founder of FACT, Zimbabwe, serves as a visiting scholar at our fourth Advisory Board meeting and becomes an Advisory Board member.

April — Firelight receives its first individual donation from Seattle businessman Martin King.

May/June — Firelight’s grantmaking team is strengthened with the addition of Caitlin Brune (Program Officer) and Jennifer Anderson-Bähr (Senior Program Officer).

June — Firelight staff and President hold their first Annual Team Retreat.

July — Jennifer Astone, Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, and Kerry Olson attend the International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Barcelona. Firelight hosts its first grantee-partner and strategic alliance dinner.

July — Firelight begins a formal collaboration with the American Jewish World Service and the Bernard van Leer Foundation to strengthen our work and advocacy on behalf of children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

September — Kerry Olson and David Katz host Firelight’s first fundraising event, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

September — Firelight convenes its fifth Advisory Board meeting. Beatrice Were, Coordinator, International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in London, UK and member of the National Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) in Uganda, joins as an Advisory Board Member.

September — Youth Philanthropy Worldwide is funded by Firelight to coordinate and expand the Pen Pal exchange, renamed Youth Together Against AIDS.

October — Firelight makes its 100th grant award. Our first multi-year grants are awarded, based on recommendations at the fifth Firelight Advisory Board Meeting.

October — Firelight hosts a meeting in New York on institutional care and the need for community-based alternatives. Twenty-three members of philanthropic, educational, governmental, civic, and faith-based organizations attend.

November — Firelight publishes its first annual calendar and undertakes its first mailing campaign to promote awareness of the work of grassroots organizations serving children in Africa.

November — Lesotho is added to Firelight’s country list after Jennifer Astone and Jennifer Anderson-Bähr conduct site visits.

November — Kerry Olson gives the introductory speech at the West Coast premiere of Rory Kennedy’s film Pandemic AIDS, the opening event of the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference on AIDS in San Francisco.

November — Jennifer Astone speaks at the first Grantmakers Without Borders Conference in Washington, D.C.

2003
February — Firelight receives its first foundation grant from the Argentarius Foundation in London, United Kingdom.

February — Jennifer Astone speaks at the Council on Foundation’s Family Foundation Conference in San Jose on “Successful Small Grants: When a Little Goes a Long Way.”

March — Tim Jackson, journalist, entrepreneur, and founder of Argentarius Foundation, joins as an Advisory Board member.

March — With the help of volunteer Pat Bujold, Firelight holds its second fundraising event in Los Gatos, California.

August — At our seventh Advisory Board meeting, Stefan Germann, founder of Camp Masiye in Zimbabwe, joins as a member and John Williamson, Senior Technical Advisor of the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund of USAID, participates as a visiting scholar.

August — The Firelight Donor Advised Fund at the Tides Foundation is established.

August — The Firelight Grantee-Partner Newsletter is launched.

September — Firelight hosts a networking dinner for 38 representatives of grantee-partners, organizations, and foundations focused on children affected by AIDS in conjunction with the International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

October — Firelight co-funds Grassroots Alliance for Community Education (GRACE) to conduct our first 5-day workshop on organizational development for 14 grantee-partners from 5 African countries.

October — Firelight donor and volunteer Jim Hayes films our first video, Stories from Kenya, featuring the work of a grassroots organization in Butula.

November — Josh Dankoff, our first Firelight Fellow, joins the team.

December — Firelight holds its first multimedia event featuring the video, Stories from Kenya.

2004
January — Firelight receives its first family foundation grant from the Flora Family Foundation, a three-year award for work in Tanzania.

February — An anonymous donation of $300,000 is made to our Donor Advised Fund at the Tides Foundation, which is the largest single outside donation to date.

March — At Firelight’s eighth Advisory Board meeting, Betty Gahima, coordinator and co-founder of the Benishyaka Association in Rwanda, participates as a visiting scholar.

April — Firelight awards its 250th grant. Firelight produces its first Annual Report, First Four Years: 2000-2003 with designer Tristan Bähr. 2,000 copies are distributed.

June — Building on its success and lessons learned, Firelight initiates a three-year stategic plan.

July — Cathy Aronson successfully completes her bicycle trip across the United States, pedaling approximately 4,000 miles (6,500 km) and raising more than $13,000 in donations.

September — Joop Rubens joins Firelight as the Communications and Development Officer.

September — Firelight co-founders Kerry Olson and David Katz are awarded the Ribbon of Dreams Award by the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, in honor of their serving “as a model for the rest of the country.”

September — Documentation and Dissemination proposals are recommended for funding at the ninth Advisory Board meeting.

September — New Field Foundation contributes $60,000 to support grantee partners in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and South Africa.

September — Stanford graduate Britt Ehrhardt receives the Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy and chooses Firelight as her placement.

The 2004 fiscal year ends September 30th. Firelight celebrates 5 years of grantmaking. Firelight, including our Donor Advised Fund, has awarded 284 grants totaling $3,048,050 to 168 organizations addressing the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children in 12 African countries and the U.S.