Atlantic Philanthropies’ board members visit the Global Brain Health Institute
Posted on: 03 July 2017
During the last meeting in Ireland of Atlantic Philanthropies, board members, executive managers, and representatives of the organisation paid a visit to the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) based in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.
The board meeting focused on Atlantic’s final group of grants, the global, interconnected Atlantic Fellows programmes, which are designed to empower communities of emerging leaders to advance healthier, fairer, more inclusive societies. The largest of the total of $600 million (€536 million) committed for the Atlantic Fellows is the Global Brain Health Institute grant, a joint $177 million initiative of Trinity College Dublin and the University of California, San Francisco.
Welcoming the board members, executives and other guests to Trinity, Provost Patrick Prendergast said: “We, at Trinity College Dublin, are honoured to be part of the Atlantic Philanthropies story. Chuck Feeney has become the most generous benefactor to Trinity since its foundation in 1592. The extraordinary legacy of Chuck Feeney and of the Atlantic Philanthropies will live forever in our hearts and minds and through the magnitude of transformational initiatives that have contributed tremendously to making Trinity the institution it is today. “
GBHI’s goal is to reduce the scale and impact of dementia around the world by training and supporting a new generation of leaders to translate research evidence into effective policy and practice. It is the largest programme grant Atlantic Philanthropies has ever made, is the biggest philanthropic donation in Irish history, and the largest ever received by Trinity.
Atlantic was founded by businessman Chuck Feeney who funded it by giving away all his wealth and who is promoting “giving while living” approach to philanthropy awarding amounts totalling €6.6 billion to institutions around the world. Of the total, €1.6 billion was allocated to projects in the Republic and Northern Ireland, with Trinity a major beneficiary. The entirety of Trinity – new student facilities, educational programmes, research, and campus development – has benefitted from Mr Feeney’s benevolence in the past twenty years.