Dear Friends,
As we look ahead in 2023, we see the serious challenges that humanity faces, but we also see and feel all around—especially among our wonderful grantee partners—the will and perseverance necessary to face those challenges head-on.
The past year, though filled with dire headlines, has reinforced our optimism that by collaborating with each other, we can meet urgent needs, avert looming crises, and make lasting change for the better. It has driven home the key role dialogue and convening people across boundaries and divides can play in addressing the most pressing issues of our time. It has strengthened our belief that each human being is a world of endless possibility, and that our role is to help unlock that potential to empower humanity.
In addition to all of our programmatic areas, the past year has also reaffirmed our commitment to health, particularly mental health. Read more about what we’ll be focused on in 2023 below.
From all of us at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), warmest wishes to you and yours for a healthy, peaceful new year to come.
Happy New Year!
Andreas Dracopoulos
Three things we’re focusing on in 2023:
- Mental health
All of us—including and perhaps especially young people—should have access without stigma to the mental health resources they need. From June 21 to 23, our annual free summer event in Athens, SNF Nostos, will focus on Mental Health, and all are invited to take part. At the same time, a range of major grants support organizations prioritizing effective responses to multiple facets of mental health challenges around the world, including the recently launched Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) in Greece. - Access to quality health care
Physical health, along with mental health, is foundational to everything we as humans do, and health care should be a fundamental human right. SNF’s global Health Initiative, our largest grant initiative ever, includes the design and construction of three new hospitals in Greece, new equipment like air ambulances, training programs to help providers hone their skills, the CAMHI, and new hubs of research and action established in collaboration with leading health and academic institutions across the globe, such as The Rockefeller University, the Child Mind Institute, and Columbia University in the United States, Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, and the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center in Jordan, among others. - Collaborating with partners across our program areas
SNF’s mission is broad by design, and while our Health Initiative will remain a primary focus in the years to come, we continue to support projects across the areas of arts and culture, education, sports, and social welfare. Recently allocated grants are supporting performance groups for and led by people with disabilities, responding to emergency refugee needs, helping students learn through hands-on gardening activities, and much more. Whatever the field, the common denominator is collaboration informed by partners’ on-the-ground experience.