Summary
For over twenty-five years, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has made grants to nonprofit organizations and projects around the world, working with an incredible community of partners to create transformative change whose benefits multiply and are shared widely.
Our mission, encompassing program areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Health & Sports, and Social Welfare, is broad by design. At its core are a fundamentally collaborative approach based on the expertise of partners on the ground, a commitment to public-private partnership, and a belief that everyone should have access to art, education, health care, and life’s other essentials.
This approach to empowering humanity has guided over 5,400 grants to nonprofit organizations in 134 countries.
Source: Foundation website
Greece in Focus – Traveling with the drone – 19/02/2023 (04:07)
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is an architectural and cultural gem that opened in Kallithea, a suburb of Athens, in 2016. It was funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and is a gift to Greek society.
The SNFCC consists of several buildings, including a national library, an opera house, and a public park. Designed by renowned architects, the building features unique and modern architecture. The cultural center offers a wide range of cultural and educational activities, such as concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and film screenings. It has become a popular meeting place for both the local population and tourists.
With its modern design and cultural offerings, the SNFCC has become an important cultural center in Athens and a symbol of the cultural renaissance in Greece.
OnAir Post: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
News
They are at different stages of careers in journalism, with diverse research interests covering areas from far-right discourse and human rights to climate crisis, artificial intelligence, and the digital public sphere. Soon, they will meet as Lede Program fellows at Columbia University, at one of the world’s foremost journalism schools, to develop their knowledge and skills even further.
Fellows were selected through an open application process in March and April by Columbia Journalism School. (SNF, the fellowship program’s exclusive supporter, is not involved in the evaluation of applicants.) The Lede Program is a 10-week summer program running from June 3 to August 9 that focuses on data journalism, analysis, and visualization. During and after the program, participants will receive strategic guidance from professionals at the Greece-based journalism nonprofit iMEdD. The SNF fellowships cover travel, accommodation, tuition, transportation, and food.
SNF’s support for the implementation of the Data Journalism Fellowship Program at Columbia University’s School of Journalism is part of the Foundation’s broader effort to promote and enhance transparency, independence, and excellence in journalism, most notably through support for iMEdD. The grant for the Fellowship Program follows previous SNF support for a three-year pilot Fellowship Program from 2017 to 2019 at the School of Journalism, in which 53 journalists from Greece focused on data journalism, investigative journalism, and multimedia reporting. As part of its Ideas Zone offerings, iMEdD has previously collaborated with Columbia Journalism School on the implementation of Newsroom Essentials, a program held in Greece that covered a variety of topics, including data journalism applications and the concept of entrepreneurship in journalism.
Important note: SNF is an exclusive supporter of the Fellowship Program and is not involved in the evaluation of applicants, whose selection is the sole responsibility of the Columbia University School of Journalism.
About
Values
Our work continually evolves along with the needs it seeks to meet, but the values that guide us remain constant.
Our mission is to contribute to lasting positive change in society in collaboration with nonprofit organizations around the globe. We strive to strengthen access for as many people as possible to life’s fundamental resources and opportunities.
We aim to work transparently, creating opportunities to listen to the perspectives of those who are closest to issues and to open dialogue across boundaries and borders.
Our roots are in Greece, and much of our grantmaking takes place today, but our vision for empowering humanity is a global one—everywhere humans live, regardless of age, ethnicity, financial status, or disability.
Founder
He studied law at the University of Athens and in 1929 began working in his family’s grain business. Seeing the substantial transportation expenses involved in importing wheat, he recognized that it would be more economical to own the transport ships and bought his first six freighters during the Great Depression.
Niarchos served in the Hellenic Navy during World War II. He participated in the Allied operations in Normandy and was awarded, among other distinguished service medals, the Commander of the Order of the Phoenix, the Royal Order of King George I, and the Royal House Order of SS George and Constantine. While Niarchos was serving in the Hellenic Navy, a vessel Allied forces were leasing from him was destroyed in battle. After the war, Niarchos used the insurance funds as capital to expand his fleet, beginning his emergence as a significant participant in international commerce. For many years, he owned the largest private fleet in the world, with his company operating more than 80 tankers and other vessels.
In 1956, Niarchos agreed to build and operate Hellenic Shipyards, the first private investment of its kind in Greece, which rapidly became the Mediterranean’s largest shipyard. In 1985, the shipyard was placed under state control, but Niarchos´s lasting commitment to Greece still stands today as a demonstration of the power of private investment for the country’s economic well-being.
Since 1996
Some highlights
SNF expands Health Initiative globally
Grand opening of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) in New York
SNF announces a $100 million global pandemic relief initiative
SNF-DR River Campus inaugurated at The Rockefeller University
iMEdD established
SNF launches the Dialogues series
SNF Health Initiative established in Greece
SNF delivers the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center to the public
SNF commits $150 million to establish the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center opens its doors
Source: Website
Web Links
Priorities
Arts & Culture
Source: Website
Our goal is to help as many people as possible enjoy works, experiences, and places that help us to connect with our shared humanity
Access and accessibility are at the core of SNF’s grants in the field of arts and culture. Our goal is to help as many people as possible enjoy works, experiences, and places that help us to connect with our shared humanity.
Art should offer something for all and something for each person individually, and making sure young people have a seat at the table and opportunities to discover their talents, grow, get inspired, and create is a key priority.
Education
Source: Website
We believe that everyone has an equal, inalienable right to free access to knowledge and education.
Every human being has a world of possibility within, and all that’s needed to unlock that potential are the right conditions. We seek to open up educational opportunity, provide mentorship and guidance, and smash the obstacles that stand in the way of personal growth and development to help people claim a better future—the future that’s rightfully theirs.
Education doesn’t only take place in school and learning should be a lifelong endeavor. Schooling for young people is an important part of our work, but so are educational and professional development programs for adults.
Creating inclusive environments where people with disabilities, refugees, and everyone else belongs is a key priority, and public libraries offer a crucial model for what those environments can look like and an indispensable pillar of civic life.
Health & Sports
Source: Website
No matter who you are, where you’re from, and what your age or background is, you should have access to quality health care.
Physical and mental health are two parts of the same whole, and we need to be able care for both, actively and proactively, without stigma or other barriers getting in our way.
We seek to bring medical services to remote areas, to make sure health providers have the tools and knowledge they need to offer patients the best care possible, to enable researchers to continue advancing knowledge that saves lives, to help people look out for their own health and wellbeing, and to give them support when they need it.
Our Health Initiative, a huge international effort to broaden access to quality physical and mental health care, will remain a top priority in the years ahead.
Social Welfare
Source: Website
Community
We support organizations whose work aims to achieve transformational change and self-sustaining benefits that are shared widely
iMEdD
Source: Website
Recognizing the challenges faced in recent years by the media sector, especially in Greece, we joined iMEdD founding members Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou and Stratis Trilikis in envisioning an independent nonprofit organization to promote and strengthen transparency, credibility, independence, and excellence in journalism.
Established in 2018 with exclusive support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), iMEdD (incubator for Media Education and Development) is a nonprofit that seeks to build a powerful community of independent media professionals in a welcoming space that promotes international collaboration and the development of new ideas and ventures.
Vamvakou Revival
Source: Website
The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a young person. But, sometimes, it takes young people to raise a village. That’s what’s happening in Vamvakou.
Located in the Peloponnese a few hours’ drive from Athens, Vamvakou went from having hundreds of residents decades ago to having just a handful of permanent residents as emigration and Greece’s economic crisis took their toll. Yet the area remains fertile ground for the chestnuts, nuts, potatoes, and herbs for which it was once famous. Its idyllic mountain setting is as beautiful as ever, offering opportunities for outdoor recreation and an ideal weekend destination.
Seeing the opportunity to write a new chapter in the village’s storied history, a group of five friends with roots in Vamvakou began to shape a plan for bringing new life to the village. In 2016, they met with Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos, and in 2018, they founded a Social Cooperative Enterprise called Vamvakou Revival. With a grant from SNF, the first stage of the project included developing a plan to draw visitors to the village, offering a variety of programming, and creating new infrastructure.
Today, the village once again has a restaurant, a café, and the Ruga of Vamvakou guesthouse. It offers organized sports activities, such as hiking and cycling, as well as a rich program of cultural events. The village school serves as a creative space for children and school visits and hosts V.Lab (Vamvakou Technology Lab fully powered by SNF), a state-of-the-art STEAM center.
SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos says, “The revival of Vamvakou is a very ambitious project which, we believe, expresses a collective need, today perhaps more than ever, to return to our roots with respect and hope. Our own roots happen to be in Vamvakou, as it is the village where my great uncle and our founder, Stavros S. Niarchos, came from. Respecting its tradition and its history, we look forward to seeing Vamvakou gradually fill with life and evolve into a model village, paving the way for other such villages to follow, both in Greece and internationally.”
Vamvakou Revival envisions the creation of a new community and a model village based on sustainable development. Its primary objective is the return of permanent residents through the creation of jobs and modern living conditions, so that Vamvakou once again bustles with life and the school bell welcomes students once again.
Vamvakou was built in the 15th century on the slopes of Mount Parnon, at an altitude of 903 meters, surrounded by fir, walnut, and chestnut trees. The village is steeped in historical and cultural heritage and rich in natural resources and beauty. Today, it is part of the municipal sector of Oinountas in the Municipality of Sparta, in Laconia.
Regeneration & Progress
Source: Website
The nonprofit organization, supported exclusively by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), serves a wide range of people of all ages, from older adults on remote Greek islands to athletes preparing for the Olympic Games.
An important pillar in the organization’s work is the SNF-initiated Mobile Medical Units (MMU) program, which offers free medical examinations and health care services to residents of remote islands and mainland regions in Greece. Experienced health professionals provide a wide range of specialized services using the MMUs’ digital mammography unit, dental unit, bone density scanner, and more, effectively transforming local public space into a clinic tailored to the community within hours.
Regeneration & Progress also offers free sports activities to adults and children through a variety of programs, like the traveling Sports Paths program for kids and events for all ages at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC).
SNF Cultural Center
About
Source: Website
A public space, where everyone has free access and can participate in a multitude of cultural, educational, athletic, environmental and recreational activities and events. It includes the Greek National Opera, the National Library of Greece as well as the Stavros Niarchos Park, one of the largest green areas in Athens, covering 21 hectares.
The SNFCC was created thanks to an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which delivered it to the Greek State upon completion. SNFCC Single Member S.A. is a public-benefit nonprofit organization responsible for the operation, maintenance and management of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the Stavros Niarchos Park while developing and organizing its own series of cultural, educational, environmental and sports activities. It is supervised by the Greek Ministry of Finance.
