We are delighted to announce the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as a new partner to BarefootLaw!
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world.
“For more than 50 years, we have supported efforts to advance education for all, preserve the environment, improve lives and livelihoods in developing countries, promote the health and economic well-being of women, support vibrant performing arts, strengthen Bay Area communities and make the philanthropy sector more effective,” an excerpt from the Hewlett Foundation website.
Established in 1966 by engineer and entrepreneur William R. Hewlett and his wife, Flora Lamson Hewlett, with their eldest son, Walter Hewlett, the foundation is today one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the United States. They awarded over $450 million in grants in 2019 to organizations across the globe to help people build better lives.
Gerald Abila the Founder and Executive Director of BarefootLaw says,
“This new partnership with the Hewlett Foundation is exciting and timely. It comes at a time when BarefootLaw’s strategies in technological innovation are heightened to meet the justice needs arising as an effect of Covid 19. This partnership will enable us to increase our impact and extend our services to more rural parts of the country, as we continue our relentless pursuit of advancement in access to justice.”
“The Hewlett Foundation is pleased to support BarefootLaw’s mission to empower people with free legal information through their network of grassroots legal advisors and innovative mobile solutions. As part of our Transparency, Participation & Accountability strategy we support innovative approaches that allow for residents to interact with public institutions to resolve problems and improve their wellbeing. We look forward to learning from BarefootLaw as to how the legal system and technology can become less daunting and more empowering for under-served communities.” – David Sasaki, Programme Officer, Hewlett Foundation
BarefootLaw subscribes to the notion that to get justice, people must first understand their rights and how they can lawfully obtain them. We make this possible by employing technology. We use the simplest (free SMS and call services) to complex systems (Internet-based and Artificial Intelligence) to share legal information and guidance, to help make access to justice a reality for people and their communities, despite their socio-economic situation.
We thank the Hewlett Foundation for this support, as it will accelerate BarefootLaw’s efforts to scale our programs across Uganda and deepen our reach and impact to the most urgently in-need communities. All this, while we continue to innovate and build resilience for a future where access to justice is readily available to all – our mission being 50 million Africans by 2030.