Session
Internet Society Foundation
Brian Horlick-Cruz, Internet Society Foundation (civil society)
Rigdzin Collins, Internet Society Foundation (civil society)
Sarah Armstrong, Executive Director, Internet Society Foundation (civil society) Rigdzin Pema Collins, Associate Program Officer, Internet Society Foundation (civil society)
Rigdzin Collins
Brian Horlick-Cruz
Rigdzin Collins
1. No Poverty
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
17. Partnerships for the Goals
Targets: This session will discuss the ISOC Foundation's role as a global philanthropy and funding partner. As a funder, the ISOC Foundation focuses on work that expands Internet access, connectivity, resiliency, and safety. The programs that will be discussed in this networking session promote educational and economic empowerment, Internet resiliency and preparedness, connectivity, global access, infrastructure and technical development, and Internet policy and research.
Classroom
Networking session
Since 2019, the Internet Society Foundation (ISOC Foundation), the supporting organization of the Internet Society, has had the mission of championing ideas and enabling communities to unlock the Internet's potential to tackle the world’s evolving challenges. Through its programs and initiatives, the Foundation provides global funding that promotes greater and more open access to the Internet via economic and educational opportunities, development/innovation in infrastructure and resiliency, research, and funding for ISOC chapters, NRIs, and SIGs. In this networking session, the Foundation will present its recent Programs Impact Reports and discuss its philanthropic strategy and current work helping to bridge the digital divide and promote global connection. Following the presentation, there will be a Q&A and time for community building and discussion with Foundation staff.
This networking session will contain a powerpoint presentation followed by a Q&A session. Online attendees will be able to view the presentation and participate in the Q&A session.
Report
Civil society voices are critical for the future development and health and safety of the Internet. Their participation at all levels of IGF discussions should be guaranteed and protected. It is imperative that the IGF continue to set aside formal sessions and spaces for civil society actors and grassroots organizations to exchange ideas & and build their networks of resources.
Grassroots organizations focused on women, particularly those based in the global south, and organizations based in countries with foreign agent laws and restrictions continue to face issues finding and securing funding to run their programs and operations. The IGF community and the philanthropy sector must continue to work to minimize gender gaps in funding and find alternate ways of supporting organizations in these locations..
We call on the IGF community to increase efforts to fund programs that support the training and digital development of women by way of increased advocacy and investment in initiatives that support this demographic.
We encourage the philanthropic sector and greater IGF community to work together to find collaborative solutions to fund organizations that serve the unconnected in geographic areas that may be excluded from funding due to international sanctions or domestic restrictions that prevent or hinder local NGOs and organizations from accepting foreign funding.
In this Networking Session, we presented an introduction and gave a brief overview of the Internet Society Foundation (ISOC Foundation) and its philanthropic activities since its founding in 2019, including the Foundation's current programs and 2025 action plan. The Internet Society Foundation, a supporting organization of the Internet Society, works to achieve a secure, open, globally-connected, and trustworthy Internet for all. The philanthropic wing of the Foundation does this by developing and managing grant programs that address infrastructure development, research, education, innovation, and economic and social inclusion. Since 2019, the Foundation has distributed $63 million dollars though 1,030 grants given out in 121 countries.
There are currently 11 granting programs in total that support Internet Society Chapters and external organizations. Six of these programs are considered core programs of the Foundation and include: Beyond the Net Grants, BOLT, Resiliency, Research, SCILLS, and grants that support national and regional IGF and SIGs. In 2025, the Foundation has committed to giving out $12 million in funding and will operationalize processes to help the Internet Society achieve the goals of its 2030 Strategy and focus areas for support: Community-Centered Connectivity, Affordable and Reliable Access and Online Trust and Safety.
Following the presentation in this session, three current ISOC Foundation grantees shared their experiences as grantees: a representative of the ISOC Armenia Chapter who spoke about the Chapter’s current Beyond the Net project supporting the digital transformation of rural Armenian libraries; a representative from the ISOC Kyrgyzstan Chapter who spoke about their current project developing IoT devices to predict natural disasters in rural, mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan; and the founder of the Digital Empowerment Foundation, who spoke about DEF’s current work and research developing community networks and increasing digital literacy in rural India. Each of these projects demonstrated how the Internet and digital technologies may contribute to peace, development, and sustainability within a country and touched upon the session’s stated SDG themes: 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11,17.
Prior to beginning the networking section of this session, the floor opened to questions. Two important themes emerged during this portion of the session: 1) the need for additional support for programs that focus on the digital training and empowerment of women in the form of funding and peer knowledge/resource sharing, 2) the ongoing difficulties faced by individuals and organizations based in countries unable to receive foreign funding due to political restrictions or domestic foreign agent laws.
Finally, attendees were given the opportunity to network with attendees based on their self-identified areas of interest: “Infrastructure Development & Connecting the Unconnected,” “Training and Outreach,” and “Chapter Networking and Focus Group.”