Sigrid Rausing Trust is a grant-giving charitable foundation in the United Kingdom[1] set up in 1995 by Sigrid Rausing to promote international human rights.[2]
The Trust was originally named the Ruben and Elisabeth Rausing Trust, after Sigrid Rausing's grandparents. Her grandfather Ruben Rausing was co-founder of the Swedish packaging company Åkerlund & Rausing, which developed into the global milk and juice packaging company Tetra Pak under the direction of Sigrid Rausing’s father, Hans Rausing.[3]
The Sigrid Rausing Trust has four grant programmes in the areas of Civil and Political Rights, Women’s Rights, Minority Rights and Social Justice, as well as a Miscellaneous Fund. Each programme has a number of sub-programmes. The trust has an annual budget (2010) of £20 million and has given away approximately £154 million since 1995.[2]
The current grantees implement programmes in many different countries around the world.[4] The Trust has also been a supporter of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International's UK Human Rights Centre and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture in London, and funded the International Institute for Environment and Development's innovative flexible loan scheme for slum and shack dwellers.[5][6]
Rausing ran the trust herself until 2002 with a personal assistant and two US trustees, Joshua Mailman and Robert Bernstein (founding chair of Human Rights Watch). The work of the trust is now (2011) administered by an administrative director, Elizabeth Wedmore, and staff including programme officers for each of the main programme areas.[7] Sigrid Rausing remains chair of the current (2011) trustees. Her co-trustees are Josh Mailman, Susan Hitch, Andrew Puddephatt and Geoffrey Budlender. Josh Mailman is the longest serving, having been a member of the board since 1995. Lisbet Rausing, Tara Kaufmann, and Bob Bernstein are former trustees.[3]
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