Our Founders
One World Children’s Fund was founded in 2000 by Shanti Cliff, Patricia 'Savitri' Burbank and Michael Kilgroe, who, while traveling in India, were moved by the extreme poverty they witnessed. Knowing that effective change is possible when dedicated people work to transform their own communities,they visited several successful grassroots organizations working in villages to educate children and young mothers and to eradicate the underlying conditions of poverty.
When they returned home, they founded One World( which is a San Francisco-based, 501(c)3 organization) and the Champion Program as a means to support the work they witnessed from these grassroots organizations.They were determined to assist other people in the US to support and develop ongoing partnerships with projects serving children and their caregivers.
One World Today
Yes! We are growing. Over the years One World has grown steadily, serving projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the United States. Today we are serving nearly 50,000 children through 30 projects in 17 countries.With three staff members, a working board, committees, donors, interns, fellows and volunteers – we have developed a community of people committed to help the children all over the world access life’s most basic necessities.
The Future
As One World is expanding, today we can support innovative groups in the US as well as groups anywhere in the world working for the same cause i.e. helping children around the world access the basic necessities in life.
While maintaining the highest standards of international grantmaking and with the help of talented volunteers, we are able to keep our expenses low and 100%+ of the funds raised by One World champions go directly to the projects. It’s because of the loyal support of donors and volunteers like you that we are able to successfully serve so many children and caregivers.
The sustainability of our projects relies directly on the sustainability of One World and our ability to serve them, their Champions and our community.
