The Mertz Gilmore Foundation awarded a two-year, $150,000 grant to the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights in January 2009 in support of its “Building Leadership for Human Rights” initiative.  Objectives of the initiative include to 1) build the human rights expertise of members and partners and 2) build the effectiveness of members and partners as they conduct their advocacy work.

Thanks to Mertz Gilmore funding, the Coalition is working to build expertise on its current issues – immigrant detention, meatpacking workers rights, and ending torture – while addressing emerging issues such as police accountability, the right to housing, and the U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Coalition is also working to build expertise on advocacy strategies through the provision of dedicated human rights fellowships. Furthermore, the Coalition is working to build effectiveness through sharing of targeted information and analysis, by providing access to policy makers and key actors, and by leveraging the impact of our smaller member organizations and grassroots groups.