Open Society Foundations

The network of Open Society Foundations or OSF (named Open Society Institute or OSI until 2011), is a grantmaking operation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform. On a local level, OSF implements a range of initiatives to support the rule of law, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSF works to build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as combating corruption and rights abuses.

One of the aims of the OSF is the development of civil society organizations (e.g., charities and community groups) to encourage participation in democracy and society. The name is inspired by Karl Popper's 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies.

Read more about Open Society Foundations:  History, Initiatives, Activities By Regions, Criticism

Famous quotes containing the words open, society and/or foundations:

    A man’s most open actions have a secret side to them.
    Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)

    There is no society known where a more or less developed criminality is not found under different forms. No people exists whose morality is not daily infringed upon. We must therefore call crime necessary and declare that it cannot be non-existent, that the fundamental conditions of social organization, as they are understood, logically imply it.
    Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)

    I am present at the sowing of the seed of the world. With a geometry of sunbeams, the soul lays the foundations of nature.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)