About Us

About Us

Our Vision

We envision a world in which active philanthropy measurably improves the lives of the poor and disadvantaged in developing world communities.

Our Mission

We fund US-based non-profit organizations who partner with poor communities in the developing world to improve their health, education and incomes, while strengthening local capacity to sustain their benefits.

Our Values

At the core of our mission is the concept that charity alone isn’t enough. We must take charity to a level that delivers measurable and sustainable change that is “owned” by the project participants and that leaves broad, lasting benefits. We prioritize the principles of self-determination, local engagement, and sustainability, both as means to and ends of our philanthropic goals. More and more, this requires grant-maker and grantee to share a common view of the challenges, optimal solutions, and ultimate objectives of our partnering efforts.

Learn About Our Application Process

Our Team

Board of Directors

John D’A Tyree

Co-Chair
Treasurer

John Tyree, Co-Chair & Treasurer, is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where he has worked as a finance professional for over two decades, holding positions in Global Capital Markets and the Mergers and Acquisitions group. Prior to Morgan Stanley, John served in the United States Army in Germany as a Captain in the Armor branch (1987–1992). John serves on the Board and as Treasurer of the Episcopal School, New York, and was previously a board member of the Amos Tuck School Annual Fund. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1987, and earned an MBA at the Tuck School, Dartmouth College, 1995.

Douglas P Walker

Co-Chair
Grants Chair

Douglas P. Walker, Co-Chair & Grants Chair, has a long history in the international field, including over two decades of work in and related to Latin America in both an official U.S. Government and private capacity. His career has encompassed all aspects of his profession, including counseling foreign heads of state and governments with respect to their U.S. relations, posts as a Foreign Service officer in Washington and Latin America. His U.S. consulting practice has focused on public affairs and public policy issues for both corporate and non-profit clients. He resides in Connecticut.

Matthew Hurlock

Endowment Chair
Grants Committee

Matthew H. Hurlock, Endowment Chair & Grants Committee, is currently Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Liberty Currency Reserve, LLC, an international banking business. Mr. Hurlock previously practiced as a corporate lawyer with substantial international cross-border experience, having worked in China, across Europe and in Latin America. He has also worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, Mr. Hurlock also now serves on a number of corporate and university boards, including: the Board of Trustees of Princeton-in-Asia, the Board of Trustees of the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School and the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School, President of the Board of Trustees of the Philharmonia Foundation and as a Corporation Member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI).

Fernando Soto

Secretary

Fernando Soto, Secretary, is a Senior Vice President in Brown Brothers Harriman’s (BBH) Private Banking division. In his role, he advises private business owners, family offices, and endowments and foundations on complex matters related to investing, philanthropy, governance and corporate advisory. Outside of the firm, Fernando serves as a board member of Help Peru, a New York-based charity that supports charitable organizations that help underprivileged Peruvians, The International Foundation (TIF), a foundation that supports thousands of US-based 501 (c)3 organizations around the world, and American Friends of Waterford, a foundation that supports educational initiatives in Southern Africa. In 2021, he was named to the American Bankers Association (ABA) 40 Under 40 list at age 31. Fernando received a B.A. from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Christopher Golden

Grants Committee

Christopher D. Golden, Grants Committee, is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Planetary Health at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, where he has been based as an expert in climate and health research since 2011. Chris has been conducting research and involved in development work in Madagascar since 1999, and more recently, has engaged in similar work in small island developing states in the Pacific. He is a member of Harvard’s executive committee for the Center for Research on Computation and Society, the scientific advisory board at Oceana, an Explorer at the National Geographic Society, and a Lifetime Fellow of the Explorer’s Club. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College in 2005 and earned an MPH (2010) and PhD (2011) from UC Berkeley.

Letitia K Butler

Grants Committee

Letitia Butler, Grants Committee, served more than 34 years in the field of international development and diplomacy, rising to the rank of Counselor in USAID's Senior Foreign Service (1977–2004, 2008–2013), and Senior Associate in the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (2004–2008). Ms. Butler has hands-on experience in project design, implementation, and evaluation, having lived and worked with USAID in Latin America (Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala), the Middle East (Lebanon), and Asia (the Philippines/Asian Development Bank.) She received a BA in Asian Studies from the University of Virginia in 1976 and a BA-equivalent in Economics from State's Foreign Service Institute (1984). She has taught development management at Georgetown University's graduate school. She resides in Virginia.

Sharon Van Pelt

Grants Committee

Sharon Van Pelt, Grants Committee, is Vice President of the Communities in Transition Division of Creative Associates and co-chair of the DC-based Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in international development from The American University. Ms. Van Pelt has 30 years of experience working in over 35 countries on political dialogue, policy reform, civic engagement and advocacy, local governance, and conflict prevention. She has served as principal governance advisor for USAID, GIZ, and UNDP, among others in both conflict and post-conflict settings. As a Foreign Service Officer, she received the USAID Meritorious Honor Award for advancing policy dialogue on decentralization and transparency during the Guatemala peace process.

Directors Emeritus

Gary Dicovitsky

Staff

John D. Carrico II, CPA

Accounts Manager

Kathy Gaiser

Grants Administrator

Our History

The International Foundation was created in 1948. Like other early foundations, our purpose was “to promote, foster, encourage and further non-profit, non-sectarian and non-political educational, medical, philanthropic, humanitarian, scientific and literary enterprises of all kinds.”

In its many years of grant making, the International Foundation has worked with thousands of US-based 501(c)3 organizations to bring knowledge, resources and compassion to individuals and communities around the world. Our strategic mission has evolved in concert with the exponential growth in the United States non-profit sector and rapid evolution of the discipline of international development.

Our Vision

We envision a world in which active philanthropy measurably improves the lives of the poor and disadvantaged in developing world communities.

Our Mission

We fund US-based non-profit organizations who partner with poor communities in the developing world to improve their health, education and incomes, while strengthening local capacity to sustain their benefits.

Our Values

At the core of our mission is the concept that charity alone isn’t enough. We must take charity to a level that delivers measurable and sustainable change that is “owned” by the project participants and that leaves broad, lasting benefits. We prioritize the principles of self-determination, local engagement, and sustainability, both as means to and ends of our philanthropic goals. More and more, this requires grant-maker and grantee to share a common view of the challenges, optimal solutions, and ultimate objectives of our partnering efforts.

Learn About Our Application Process

Our Team

Board of Directors

Directors Emeritus

Gary Dicovitsky

Staff

John D. Carrico II, CPA

Accounts Manager

Kathy Gaiser

Grants Administrator

Our History

The International Foundation was created in 1948. Like other early foundations, our purpose was “to promote, foster, encourage and further non-profit, non-sectarian and non-political educational, medical, philanthropic, humanitarian, scientific and literary enterprises of all kinds.”

In its many years of grant making, the International Foundation has worked with thousands of US-based 501(c)3 organizations to bring knowledge, resources and compassion to individuals and communities around the world. Our strategic mission has evolved in concert with the exponential growth in the United States non-profit sector and rapid evolution of the discipline of international development.