Puffin Fellow

The Puffin Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of minorities who may not feel heard due to their race, gender, social philosophy, etc. The foundation achieves this mission of fostering free expression by providing grants and resources to local artists and art organizations. The foundation has two grant cycles per year. The first cycle, which occurs between the months of January and June, typically allocates grant of $1000 to $2500 to individual artists and arts organizations. The second cycle funds media and awards grants to publications that do investigative reporting on issues like labor, the environment, LGBTQ concerns, feminism and women’s issues.

Over the years, the foundation has continued to broaden its scope. In 1997, the foundation began a project known as the Puffin Cultural Forum, which funds and hosts performances as well as art exhibits at 20 Puffin Way in Teaneck, NJ. For instance, the Puffin Foundation collaborates with The Nation Institute, on an annual human rights award, the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, which is given to someone who has done distinctive and courageous social justice work. Thus far, the foundation has awarded this honor to Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers, Robert Moses of the Algebra Project, the founders of the Innocence Project, and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood.

Ultimately, the goal of the Puffin Foundation is to provide people with an understanding that every single person can go out and make change happen.

History

The Puffin Foundation, with more than $14 million in assets split between two independent entities, was seeded with the fortune Perry Rosenstein made in the Allen screw business. He got into the fasteners industry as a salesman. As he made the rounds on his accounts, he found several buyers who wanted diversity in Allen screws. He saw an opening in the market and began making screws in Japan. As an outsider in the industry, he faced stiff competition in the business. That experience has partly informed his interests in providing grants to artists and thinkers who do not usually secure grant money from more traditional foundations. He says he wants to make the fight a fair one.

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Wikipedia