Motto | The Oakland Institute is bringing fresh ideas and bold action to the most pressing social, economic, and environmental issues of our time. |
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Established | 2004 |
Executive Director | Anuradha Mittal |
Budget | Revenue: $521,395 Expenses: $384,075 (FYE December 2015) [1] |
Address | P.O. Box 18978 Oakland, CA 94619 |
Location | |
Website | www.oaklandinstitute.org |
The Oakland Institute is a progressive think tank founded in 2004 by Anuradha Mittal. It is headquartered in Oakland, California.
Since 2011, the Institute has investigated land investment deals in developing countries, particularly where there are questions about transparency, fairness, and accountability. [2]
The Oakland Institute's mission is to "increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical social, economic, and environmental issues in both national and international forums". [3] The institute works in coalitions and networks to strengthen social movements, especially in partnership with grassroots constituencies such as faith-based organizations, farm workers, immigrant rights groups, black farmers, and international proponents of food sovereignty and trade justice. [4] [5] [6]
The Oakland Institute categorizes its work into the following program areas:
In 2011, the institute detailed a $26 million investment made by Vanderbilt University in Emergent Asset Management, later known as EMVest Asset Management, a hedge fund accused of abusive practices in sub-Saharan countries including Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. [7] The episode was covered internationally and led to student protests on campus in 2012. [8]
In 2021, the Oakland Institute was involved in a watchdog complaint to the IRS that alleged self-dealing by Mittal, who is also the vice president of Ben & Jerry's non-profit foundation. [9] [10] In 2017 and 2018, Ben & Jerry's foundation paid $104,000 to the Oakland Institute, where Mittal is the only salaried employee; during this time, the Oakland Institute paid Mittal a salary of $156,000. [9] [10]
The Nation magazine recognized the institute's work, and the efforts of Anuradha Mittal in particular, in their list of Most Valuable Progressives of 2008. [11] The Oakland Institute received the United Nations Association East Bay's Global Citizen Award in 2007 and the KPFA Peace Award in 2006. [12] [13] in 2012, the Oakland Institute was honored by the Responsible Endowments Coalition for its leadership in drawing attention to college and university investments in land grabs in Africa. [14] Articles and opinion pieces by The Oakland Institute's staff and fellows and/or perspectives on its work are regularly published in U.S. media outlets including Alternet , Slate , The Huffington Post , Inter Press Service , and The Chronicle of Philanthropy . [15]
Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband Alfred G. Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, before gaining institutional independence from the board in 1970.
Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in the United States, to refer to the use of a concerted economic boycott designed to pressure the government of South Africa into abolishing its apartheid regime. The term has also been applied to actions targeting Iran, Sudan, Northern Ireland, Myanmar, Israel, China and Russia.
CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve human health and nutrition, and sustainable management of natural resources.
Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which has diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, education, malls, hospitality, Agri and food besides other ventures.
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability". It is funded primarily by the United States and other Western governments, by major corporations and by nonprofits like the Open Society Foundations.
The 2005–2006 Niger food crisis was a severe but localized food security crisis in the regions of northern Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabéri, and Zinder of Niger from 2005 to 2006. It was caused by an early end to the 2004 rains, desert locust damage to some pasture lands, high food prices, and chronic poverty. In the affected area, 2.4 million of 3.6 million people are considered highly vulnerable to food insecurity. An international assessment stated that, of these, over 800,000 face extreme food insecurity and another 800,000 in moderately insecure food situations are in need of aid.
The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) is an international network of NGOs, with a membership of over 2,500 organizations worldwide advocating for a fair, effective and independent International Criminal Court (ICC). Coalition NGO members work in partnership to strengthen international cooperation with the ICC; ensure that the court is fair, effective and independent; make justice both visible and universal, and advance stronger national laws that deliver justice to victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The CICC Secretariat is hosted by the Women's Initiative for Gender Justice and it is based in The Hague.
Sir Nasser David Khalili KCSS is a British scholar, collector, and philanthropist based in London. Born in Iran and educated at Queens College, City University of New York and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he is a naturalised British citizen.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is an international non-profit research and advocacy organization that promotes sustainable food, farm, and trade systems. IATP has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., Geneva, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany.
The World Summit on Food Security took place in Rome, Italy between 16 and 18 November 2009. The decision to convene the summit was taken by the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in June 2009, at the proposal of FAO Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf. Sixty Heads of State and Government and 192 ministers, from 182 countries and the European Community, attended the summit, which took place at FAO's headquarters.
AGRA,formerly known as the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa is an African-led African-based organization that seeks to catalyse Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on putting smallholder farmers at the centre of the continent's growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. As the sector that employs the majority of Africa's people, nearly all of them small-scale farmers, AGRA recognizes that developing smallholder agriculture into a productive, efficient, and sustainable system is essential to ensuring food security, lifting millions out of poverty, and driving equitable growth across the continent.
Land grabbing is the large-scale acquisition of land through buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals.
South Sudan became the world's newest country and Africa's 55th nation on 9 July 2011. The South Sudanese Civil War, which started in December 2013, undermined economic development achieved since independence, making humanitarian work difficult to conduct within the country. As such, South Sudan is facing economic stagnation and instability in its first 10 years after independence. Moreover, poverty is widespread throughout the country as a result of inter-communal conflict, displacement, and the negative effects of the war in Sudan on the country's oil industry.
The Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) is a research centre of the University of Pretoria. It was launched at the International Studies Association annual conference on 6 April 2013 and then in South Africa on 20 May 2013 by the University of Pretoria, with a keynote lecture by political scientist and activist Susan George.
Elinor Sisulu is a South African writer and activist, who grew up in Zimbabwe.
EMVest Asset Management is a private equity firm based in Pretoria, South Africa, with an additional office in London, United Kingdom.
Saurabh Mittal is a Singapore-based Indian businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Mission Holdings, a private investment holding company.
Headquartered in Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) is a nonprofit organization that promotes community-designed initiatives for sustainable agriculture, women’s and youth empowerment, education, health, and capacity-building in Morocco.
Emily Joan Greble is a historian of the Balkans and Eastern Europe and a specialist on the history of Muslims in Europe. She is currently chair of the Department of History and Professor of History and of German, Russian, and East European Studies at Vanderbilt University. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021.