The goal is the protection of basic human rights for all: the right to express convictions, to be free from discrimination, and to be secure in one's physical and mental being. Basic human rights also include the right to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights. As defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these rights are not privileges granted by governments, nor can governments abrogate them. Columbia Foundation focuses its grantmaking on programs that address the following:

Elimination of prejudice and discrimination based on sexual and gender diversity:

$100,000, payable over two years, to the GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE NETWORK, San Francisco, for continuing programmatic and organizational development of this state-wide organization led by youth activists who are working to end lgbtq-phobia and discrimination in California schools. The Tides Center is the fiscal sponsor.

$50,000 to KQED, San Francisco, for Not in Our Town: Northern California Resists Hate, a documentary film featuring three Northern California-based stories of local citizens responding to anti-gay violence, violence against immigrants, and racial hatred.

$60,000, payable over two years, to the NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS, San Francisco, for the Safe Homes Project to improve the care of lgbtq youth in California's foster care and juvenile justice systems.

$250,000, payable over two years, to the PROTEUS FUND, Amherst, Mass., for the Civil Marriage Collaborative, a donor-advised grant making program supported by institutional donors to bolster strategic state and local efforts to strengthen a broad and diverse grassroots constituency to achieve civil marriage equality in the United States, and to oppose efforts to limit or deny civil marriage rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

$5,000 to WOMEN’S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA, San Francisco, for the benefit premiere, public relations and outreach campaign, and free school distribution of Let's Get Real, a film on name-calling and bullying.

Promotion of the right of citizens to make their own end-of-life decisions, including the right to legal physician-assisted death:

$100,000, payable over two years, to the COMPASSION IN DYING FEDERATION, Portland, Ore., for its end-of-life education and advocacy programs in California.

$100,000, payable over two years, to the DEATH WITH DIGNITY NATIONAL CENTER, Washington, D.C., to defend the Oregon death with dignity law from federal challenge, and to educate federal officials about the benefits of the Oregon law.

$100,000, payable over two years, to the JEWISH HOME, San Francisco, for the endowment of the end-of-life care program.

Expansion of the availability of locally produced, affordable fresh food to meet the needs of people from diverse cultures in low-income communities and to build a regional food economy:

$100,000, payable over two years, to the COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY COALITION, Venice, Ca., for the California Food and Justice Coalition, a coalition of organizations and agencies in California working in the areas of nutrition, public health, sustainable agriculture, anti-hunger, environmental justice, community development, and other sectors to increase state and public support for community food security.

$40,000 to the ECOLOGY CENTER, Berkeley, Ca., for continuing support of Farm Fresh Choice, a program that addresses food security issues in South and West Berkeley by linking regional farmers with low-income communities of color through produce markets, youth job training, nutrition education, and other community outreach programs.

$50,000, to PEOPLE'S GROCERY, Oakland, Ca., for continuing support of its work to increase West Oakland residents' access to healthful and affordable food from local sources. The Agape Foundation is the fiscal sponsor.

$120,000, payable over two years, to the SAN FRANCISCO FOOD SYSTEMS COUNCIL, San Francisco, for continuing organizational and programmatic development, with a particular focus on increasing access of low-income San Franciscans to local produce by ensuring that recipients of federal food assistance programs are aware of the programs available to them, and are able to utilize their food assistance benefits to purchase products at farmers' markets in San Francisco. The San Francisco Foundation Community Initiatives Fund is the fiscal sponsor.