Charitable Organizations

"What we create together is a relationship in which we work on making a difference in people’s lives. I welcome the unprecedented opportunity for us to work globally on that which concerns us all as human beings."  Werner Erhard

Werner Erhard demonstrates his longstanding commitment to bettering the human condition through non-profit, voluntary action. He founded and raised the funding for a number of such organizations which focused on issues from world hunger and education to juvenile delinquency and crime.

These include:
The Breakthrough Foundation
The CareGivers Project
The Education Network
The Holiday Project
The Hunger Project
The Mastery Foundation
The Werner Erhard Foundation

The Breakthrough Foundation

The Breakthrough Foundation, an independent non-profit organization, changed the direction of thousands young people’s lives through the Youth at Risk Program. President George H.W. Bush recognized the Breakthrough Foundation as one of his "thousand points of light."

Ballet Hoo! - Ballet Changed My Life
Youth At Risk, New York - Unlocking Futures
Youth At Risk, UK - Young People Building Better Futures
Arizona Youth At Risk Video - Developing Solid Citizenship Skills
Colorado Youth at Risk 2007 Video - Inspire, Inquire, Join the Conversation!

The CareGivers Project

The CareGivers Project, an independent non-profit organization, designed programs to renew and empower caregivers struggling with emotional, mental, and physical stress as they provide short- and long-term care to people with terminal illnesses such as AIDS.

The Caregivers Project continues to provides renewal workshops for caregivers.

The Education Network

The Education Network was an independent non-profit network of educators, parents, students, and school officials working to reduce the national dropout rate and create other breakthroughs in education.

The Holiday Project

The Holiday Project, an independent non-profit organization managed by volunteers nationwide, organizes visits and gift-giving to people confined in hospitals, nursing homes, shelters, prisons, and other institutions during Christmas, Chanukah, and other holidays throughout the year.

Visit the website of a regional Holiday Project organization: The Holiday Project, Northern California

The Hunger Project

The Hunger Project, an international grassroots organization, dedicated itself to the end of hunger in the world. Praised for its effectiveness by world leaders and authorities on dealing with the persistence of hunger, the United Nations Economic and Social Council roster recognizes the continuing work of the Hunger Project to create the sustainable end of world hunger..

The Hunger Project: Empowering Women and Men to End Their Own Hunger
The Hunger Project's 30th Anniversary Video!
Bangladesh - the Hunger Project, Video

The Mastery Foundation

The Mastery Foundation, a non-profit, volunteer, interfaith organization founded in 1983 to empower individuals and communities in their ministries, in the reconciliation and healing of divisions, and in creating new conversations and possibilities for the future. The Mastery Foundation continues to this day to work toward peace and reconcilation in places where religious differences are a source of conflict, including Northern Ireland and Israel. Read about Werner Erhard's work with the Mastery Foundation in 2006.

Prison Possibilities, Inc.

Prison Possibilities, Inc. was an independent non-profit organization that enabled men and women in prisons to alter their predictable futures. This organization's programs demonstrated concrete results in significantly lowering the rate of re arrest and imprisonment among those inmates who have participated. A number of the inmates who participated in the programs continue to this day to make the program available to others.

The Werner Erhard Foundation

The Werner Erhard Foundation, founded by Werner Erhard in 1973, granted nearly $4 million to more than 300 projects in the areas of international relations, health and well-being, eduation, science, and cultural exchange. For ten years the Werner Erhard Foundation produced an annual theoretical physics conference attended by the leading thinkers in the field. Some of the discussions later evolved into now-leading edge theories in physics.