About Isvara

The Isvara Foundation is a progressive trust that awards grants to civil society organizations (see also Mission Statement below).
In 2022, the Isvara Foundation awarded grants to eight civil society organisations in Europe and Latin America, with a total combined amount of 460,000 euro.
The Foundation was established by Ayman Jallad in 2007. The foundation’s grant making is exclusively financed from a personal donation made by Mr. Jallad. The Isvara Foundation is based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Ayman Jallad is Partner at M. Ezzat Jallad & Fils, a Beirut-based trading company in agricultural, industrial and construction equipment (also known as the Jallad Group). The Isvara Foundation is fully independent from the Jallad Group.

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications.

Clarification: misinterpretations of a 2017 interview with Mr Jallad published in Politico EU have led to misunderstandings about the Isvara Foundation, such as that there are other donors co-financing the foundation. This is not the case: the Isvara Foundation is fully and exclusively funded by Mr Jallad and there are no other financial contributors. Mr Jallad’s statements quoted in
Politico referred to a number of NGO’s that have received Isvara Foundation grants since the beginning in 2007 and to occasional meetings with civil society campaigners that have provided advice to the foundation.

Mission Statement

The Isvara Foundation is a progressive trust that awards grants to civil society organisations working to halt the unsustainable and socially destructive neo-liberal policies that characterize the currently dominant process of corporate-led globalisation. The Foundation supports campaigns targeting international institutions that impose policies that benefit transnational corporations but
harm local communities and which threaten to cause worldwide ecological collapse. In addition to advocacy for radical change in the global centres of power, the foundation supports local campaigns against the damaging neo liberal transformation in countries around the world which is driven by these institutions, including the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, etc.

Priority topics include:
– Ending unjust trade and investment rules which increase poverty and unemployment and harm the environment.
– Replacing excessive corporate (political) power with genuine democratisation on all levels of society.
– Safeguarding environmental sustainability and biodiversity.
– Halting climate change.
– Resisting commercialisation and privatisation of areas of society that should be beyond the reign of the market.
– Promoting people-centred alternatives to neo liberal policies.

The Foundation supports civil society groups that work in a consistent and goal-oriented manner towards achieving progressive policy change. A priority is to support new, innovative campaign approaches as well as forward-looking work on topics of strategic importance for the future, in particular initiatives that cannot easily attract mainstream funding.
The Foundation does not under any circumstances support groups involved in violent activities or armed struggle, nor any organisations or projects that directly or indirectly contribute to xenophobia, anti-semitism, racism or other forms of discrimination.
The Foundation has a deep commitment to ‘globalization from below’ and aims to encourage collective learning and pooling of efforts among civil society groups from the South and the North.