Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

Co-founders Sir Chris Hohn and Jamie Cooper established CIFF in 2002 with profits from The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), Hohn's hedge fund. Like other leading 21st century philanthropists who brought their business acumen to philanthropy, CIFF was founded on private sector principles and is considered a pioneer in the use of innovative financing tools in its philanthropy. In 2014, the pair divorced, split the CIFF endowment and ended CIFF's connection to TCI. Hohn maintained leadership of CIFF while Cooper used her half the endowment to launch Big Win Philanthropy, an organization working toward transformational change and economic growth throughout Africa.

CIFF retains its entrepreneurial lens to grantmaking through its willingness to take risks and invest in bold, transformative ideas. The foundation has distinguished itself among its peers for its investment-style approach to grantmaking. Prospective grantees submit an investment memo and are partnered with CIFF staff who rigorously test the rationale for the investment and evaluate the potential investment for its feasibility, cost-effectiveness and sustainability.

Beyond its focus on metrics, CIFF is at the forefront of bringing both youth and local communities into decision-making processes. The foundation's principles for youth engagement ensure individuals ages 10-30 have an equal voice and opportunities to shape their communities, shift policies and prioritize what is most meaningful for their future. As such, it supports young people's leadership and development through meaningful engagement in program design, delivery and evaluation. Similarly, CIFF’s investments center on sustainability at the local level and, therefore, bring community members and other local partners into the design and implementation of programs.

A key example of its early investments is in pediatric HIV and AIDS for people in Global Majority countries. Working with local and global partners, CIFF underwrote the costs of antiretroviral medications for children with HIV, ultimately increasing access to those drugs and raising global awareness of an often-overlooked population living with the disease. Today, CIFF’s priorities span child health and development, climate change, sexual and reproductive health and rights, girls and young women’s education, and protecting children from exploitation.

CIFF is a leader in venture philanthropy and has played a catalytic role in creating lasting, scalable change for children since its founding.

Contributor: Dion McDougal