Eastern Congo Initiative
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| Founded | 2010 |
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| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Purpose | Grant making, Political advocacy |
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Founder
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Ben Affleck, Whitney Williams |
| Website | www |
The Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) is an American nonprofit organization established by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010 as "the first U.S. based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo". ECI provides development grants and international advocacy for community-building initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Affleck began to explore the possibility of becoming more actively involved in philanthropy in 2007 and was drawn to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's coverage of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During two 2008 trips, Affleck reported on the humanitarian crisis for ABC News Nightline and directed a short film, Gimme Shelter, for the UN Refugee Agency. He also spoke at the Combating Global Poverty event during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In 2009, he wrote an essay for Time, spoke at the Global Leadership Awards, and served as an executive producer of the HBO documentary film Reporter, which focused on Kristof's work in the Congo. After five visits to eastern Congo between 2007 and early 2010, Affleck developed "a clearer sense of what I wanted to do... What I found was that the people doing the best work, with the real expertise, who understood what was needed intuitively, just like they would in my neighborhood, who knew who the guy was to talk to, were community-based organizations."
In 2010, Affleck and Whitney Williams co-founded the Eastern Congo Initiative. Early investors included Howard Graham Buffett, Google, Laurene Powell Jobs, Pam Omidyar and Cindy McCain. ECI acts as a grant maker for Congolese-led, community-based organizations. ECI, with two employees in the US and 12 in the Congo, fundraises, makes grants and offers capacity-building support to over 20 charities. These local charities support survivors of rape and sexual violence, help to reintegrate child soldiers into their communities, promote economic opportunity, increase access to health care and education, and promote community-level peace and reconciliation. In an effort to create sustainable wealth, ECI offers training and resources to cooperatives of Congolese farmers while leveraging public-private partnerships. In 2010, ECI partnered cacao farmers with Seattle-based Theo Chocolate and, as of 2014, Theo is the biggest sourcer of cocoa beans in the Congo. In 2011, ECI began supporting coffee farmers to increase the quality and quantity of their crop production; Starbucks began exporting their coffee beans in 2015.
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