The Kolibri Foundation is a private pass-through funder based in Washington, D.C. It supports organizations focused on redistribution of wealth, defunding police, and pro-abortion activism. ¹

Background

The Kolibri Foundation was founded in 2019. The organization focuses on minority communities including “queer, gender non-conforming, trans and intersex communities, Indigenous communities, working-class communities, and groups with and for disabled communities.” ²

The organization describes itself as seeking to “resource and amplify movements at the intersections of gender, racial and economic justice that center on healing and the ending of systemic and interpersonal violence…[seeking] an end to all forms of violence including state violence, patriarchal violence, and economic violence. The Kolibri Foundation envisions a world where wealth, land, and power are equitably shared, and all communities have access to safety and justice.” ³

Funding priorities are organizations focused on redistribution of wealth, defunding police, and pro-abortion activism, ⁴ as well as organizations that are critiquing the medical-industrial complex, the carceral state. ⁵

Donation Recipients

The Kolibiri Foundation has supported the Alliance for Global Justice, an organizing group that serves as a fiscal sponsor to numerous left-wing and radical-left initiatives, among them Refuse Fascism, ⁶ United Students Against Sweatshops, and Stop Mass Incarceration. ⁷ The group arose from the Nicaragua Network, an organization that supported the Communist-aligned Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. ⁸ Alliance for Global Justice describes itself as “anti-capitalist,” opposed to the principles of liberal democracy and individual rights, and favoring a “multi-polar” world order with powerful rivals to American international primacy. ⁹

The Kolibri Foundation has also donated to the Tides Foundation, a major left-of-center grantmaker and pass-through funder to numerous left-leaning nonprofits. The San Francisco-based nonprofit was founded in 1976 by Drummond Pike, a professional political activist who has since retired from the organization, to funnel grants from liberal donors to center-left nonprofits using donor-advised funds, encouraging individuals to donate to Tides since it could advise on grant making options. ¹⁰

People

Kolibri Foundation was established in 2019 by Eileen, Leo, and Steve Farbman out of the Farbman Family Visionary Fund. ¹¹

Eileen Farbman is currently the president of the Kolibri Foundation. In the past, she has worked with “incarcerated families” and to fund “gender justice with a strong focus on movement building and advancing racial justice led by Black women and other women of color.” ¹²

1. “Reimagining Safety Fund.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/2022-reimagining-safety-fund
2. “FAQs.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/faqs
3.  “Reimagining Safety Fund.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/2022-reimagining-safety-fund
4. “Reimagining Safety Fund.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/2022-reimagining-safety-fund
5. “FAQs.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/faqs.
6. Richardson, Valerie. “Antifa violence splits left as another major protest looms at Berkeley.” Washington Times. September 13, 2017. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/13/antifa-protest-of-ben-shapiro-looms-at-berkeley/
7. “#BlackLivesMatter Protests Held Amid Parties on New Year’s Eve.” NBCNews.com. January 01, 2015. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blacklivesmatter-protests-held-amid-parties-new-years-eve-n277896.
8. Hogberg, David. “Communists Funding the Resistance: The Alliance for Global Justice.” Capital Research Center. August 29, 2017. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/communists-funding-the-resistance-the-alliance-for-global-justice/.
9. “Our Principles.” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://afgj.org/about/our-principles
10. Drummond Pike. “The Fall Of ACORN And The Timidity Of Progressive Funders.” HistPhil. March 6, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://histphil.org/2019/03/06/the-fall-of-acorn-and-the-timidity-of-progressive-funders/
11. “Our Story.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/our-story
12. “About.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/team/eileen-farbman