Please note the Chrest Foundation is no longer providing funding to the Culture, Communications, and Civic Life program area starting in 2024.

Chrest Foundation’s commitment to culture, communications, and civic life is rooted in its desire to cultivate a more open, transparent, and interrelated global society. The Foundation’s programming in this area is centered in Turkey, representing the Foundation’s historical focus there and in the surrounding region. In conducting its work in Turkey, the Chrest Foundation is aware and respectful of local values and sensitivities in the areas where it operates and does not seek to export or implant “Western” norms and concepts. Instead, the strategic objective is to seek a harmonious convergence between “local viewpoints” and “universal values” based on our shared humanism.

The Foundation’s current work in Turkey is based on the conviction that a robust and thriving civic life, where social action is a key driver of solutions to societal challenges, is an essential part of the creation of a more just and equitable society. We also believe that social progress can best be achieved when women are active and equal participants within all areas of social, economic, political, and cultural life. The Foundation supports a broad spectrum of thematic areas in civil society in Turkey including gender equality, independent media, innovative cultural initiatives, and policy research. The Chrest Foundation recognizes that challenging social circumstances can often be confronted and overcome through efforts which promote critical reflection and exchange between communities. Therefore, the Foundation seeks to support projects that promote understanding, appreciation, and mutual respect between diverse groups in Turkey and the surrounding region. These efforts can play a crucial role in building trust, understanding, and cohesion in society.

• Current goals driving the Foundation’s investments:

• Increase gender equality
• Foster communication and dialogue through arts and culture
• Promote cultural understanding, appreciation, and mutual respect in society in Turkey and the surrounding region
• Preserve the unique cultural heritage of the region
• Encourage a well-informed population and civil society discourse in society
• Support the infrastructure of civil society

• Examples of the types of nonprofit organizations/programs in which the Foundation plans to invest:

• Innovative cultural initiatives that bring together communities, elevate new voices, raise questions, and propose alternative ways of thinking
• Independent media outlets
• Conferences and research publications

The Foundation’s program on culture, communications, and civic life supports legally registered entities in Turkey established for a charitable purpose.