CHICAGO, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 13 organizations in five countries as recipients of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The Award, which recognizes exceptional grantees and helps ensure their long-term sustainability, provides each organization with $500,000 to $1.5 million, depending on the size of its budget.  

"From New York to New Delhi, these extraordinary organizations are making a real difference in the lives of people and communities," said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. "MacArthur recognizes their importance and impact, and we hope our investment will help ensure that they continue to thrive and to increase their reach in the future."

The recipients of the 2013 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions are:

• American Documentary – Brooklyn, New York ($1 million) produces and broadcasts documentary films on the most important issues of our times that spark reflection, discussion, and civic engagement
• Fundacion para la Sobrevivencia del Pueblo Cofan (Foundation for the Survival of the Cofan People) – Quito, Ecuador ($500,000) empowers indigenous people to protect priority tropical rainforests and their homelands
• Northwestern University School of Law Children and Family Justice Center – Chicago, Illinois ($750,000) protects the rights and well-being of young people in the juvenile justice system and advocates for fairer laws and policies
• Family Care International – New York, New York ($1 million) makes pregnancy and childbirth safer for mothers worldwide through research, advocacy, and partnerships;
• Housing Partnership Network – Boston, Massachusetts ($1.5 million) enables peer learning and collaboration among more than 100 affordable housing and community development leaders
• International Rivers – Berkeley, California ($750,000) opposes destructive dams in critical conservation regions and offers feasible alternatives to meet energy and water needs
• Sin Fronteras – Mexico City, Mexico ($500,000) protects the human rights of migrants in Mexico
• Socio Legal Information Centre – New Delhi, India ($750,000) provides free legal assistance to protect the rights of the marginalized in India
• Southwest Organizing Project – Chicago, Illinois ($750,000) educates, mobilizes, and empowers communities in Chicago to help overcome foreclosures and violence
• The Stimson Center – Washington, DC ($1 million) builds bipartisan support for pragmatic approaches to world security though analysis and outreach
• StoryCorps – Brooklyn, New York ($1 million) captures, shares, and archives stories of a diverse range of Americans for future generations
• The Tobin Project – Cambridge, Massachusetts ($750,000) links multidisciplinary scholars and policymakers to generate research addressing real-world problems
• Ushahidi – Nairobi, Kenya ($750,000) pioneers free, open source software to collect and map information that advances human rights

The Award is not only recognition for past leadership and success but also an investment in the future. Organizations will use this support to build cash reserves and endowments, develop strategic plans, and upgrade technology and physical infrastructure.

For these Awards, the Foundation does not seek or accept nominations. To qualify, organizations must demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness, have reached a critical or strategic point in their development, show strong leadership and stable financial management, have previously received MacArthur support, and engage in work central to one of MacArthur's core programs.

MacArthur has a long history of building and strengthening institutions – from Human Rights Watch, now the largest U.S.-based human rights organization; to the Center for Responsible Lending that promotes and protects homeownership and family wealth; to Creative Commons, which has changed the way we use and think about copyrights.

Additional information about the winning organizations, as well as overview videos about their work, is available at www.macfound.org/maceis.

SOURCE MacArthur Foundation