The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Grassroots Exchange Fund

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Common Counsel's Grassroots Exchange Fund (GXF) is a rapid response small grants programme designed to support networking and collaboration between grassroots social change and environmental justice organisations throughout the United States (US). GXF prioritises grants to small community-based groups seeking to meet face-to-face with other grassroots organisations, to build collaborative campaigns, and to benefit from technical assistance opportunities.

The programme strives to meet three central goals:

  • To strengthen the ability of small organisations to participate in public debates
  • To strengthen key cross-region and cross-sector movements
  • To contribute to collaborative policy victories in the realms of social, environmental, and economic justice

 

GXF grant awards range from US$200-US$800 with an average of US$500. Grants are given to approximately 65 groups per year to cover training, travel, or conference expenses. GXF grants are distributed on a monthly cycle February through November (no grants are distributed in December and January). Applications must be submitted by the first Monday of the month. Turn-around time for requests to be processed and reviewed by the grants committee is approximately four weeks from the deadline.

Application Info

The first step in applying to the Grassroots Exchange Fund (GXF) is to review the grant-making criteria and priorities. Organisations that meet the eligibility and funding criteria are encouraged to submit the GXF Application Form.

Click here for more information.

Previous Winners

Click here to read about previous winners.

Source

Common Counsel Foundation website on November 25 2009.