IN PURSUIT OF FULL RIGHTS AND PROTECTION (Fall 2021). The Vermont Immigrant Assistance project (VIA) at Vermont Law School represents immigrants and refugees from around the globe (88 countries to date) and helps people seeking legal status and safety—people fleeing persecution, torture, abuse, war, natural disasters and other unstable or life-threatening situations.

JUSTICE, HOPE AND SAFETY (Winter 2021). The immigrant community in Massachusetts is vibrant, full of courageous individuals who have fled torture and abuse with the hope of a fresh start. However, navigating the complex immigration system often requires support and assistance, especially as immigration laws and policy changes have made it more difficult for asylum seekers to win their cases. For asylum seekers who face the risk of deportation, legal representation in their immigration case can mean the difference between a safe new home and a return to persecution. Study after study shows that asylum seekers are five times more likely to win their asylum case if they have an attorney. This is where the Political Asylum Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project makes a difference.

COMMUNITY TRUST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER (Summer 2020). In the early 1980s, several hundred refugees from Cambodia settled in Lowell, Massachusetts, after escaping from war and genocide in Cambodia. Today, the city is home to the country’s second largest Cambodian population, making up more than a quarter of Lowell’s population. As the Cambodian population put down roots in Lowell, so did the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA).

BUILDING AND GROWING BUSINESSES (Winter 2019). The Clowes Fund supports organizations in some of the country’s most booming cities, but the Fund also makes grants in small cities and towns dotted across New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and western Massachusetts.

IGNITING ARTISTS (Summer 2012). Since 1988, Raw Art Works (RAW) has passionately pursued its mission to ignite the desire to create and the confidence to succeed, using the power of the arts to transform young lives, one artist at a time.

BREAKING THROUGH AND EXPANDING (Summer 2011). Breakthrough Manchester at the Derryfield School was awarded a multi-year grant to help expand the High School Program Coordinator position in order to provide individualized support for 200 high school students.

CREATING A DIVERSE PIPELINE OF TECH WORKERS (Winter 2018). Boston-area tech firms struggle to fill job openings. The tech workforce is largely homogenous with too few women and too few people of color.

SUNNY DAYS AT WRITEBOSTON (Fall 2018).  WriteBoston is a nonprofit organization with expertise in writing instruction.

COLLABORATIONS AT WORK (Summer 2017). When New England Program Officer Megan Reilly sits with nonprofit leaders working on behalf of immigrant advancement, two things are clear: vulnerable immigrants are scared, and the organizations that support them are stretched thin.  The Clowes Fund works with like-minded funders to find ways to bolster these organizations.

A RISK WORTH TAKING (Fall 2016).  Creating a nonprofit organization is a risky proposition; many close their doors in the first five years, others end up operating on a shoe-string budget.

TEAMING UP TO EDUCATE (Summer 2016).  Education is a simple word that represents a complex system with many actors—students, teachers, parents, administrators, policymakers—who must work together to prepare young people for success in the workplace, at home and in the community.