Advocate for human rights and social justice; foundation executive
Gara LaMarche currently serves as senior fellow at the Colin Powell
School for Global and Civic Service at City College at the City
University of New York, a senior adviser to the Raben Group and the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and a senior fellow at
Encore.org. From 2013-21 LaMarche served as president of the Democracy
Alliance, a group of donors and movement leaders who strengthen
progressive organizations, causes and campaigns. During his tenure, he
played a critical role in aligning donors to focus on such topics as
economic inclusion, democracy reform, climate change and equity as well
as established funding collaboratives to advance civic engagement in
states by communities of color and grassroots campaigns for economic
fairness and a healthy environment. From 2007 to 2011, LaMarche was
president and CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies, an international
foundation focused on aging, children and youth, health, and human
rights. During his tenure at Atlantic, the foundation made the largest
grant ever made by a foundation for an advocacy campaign to press for
comprehensive health care reform in the U.S.; embraced a social justice
framework for grant making; and worked closely with governments to take
advantage of opportunities to achieve changes in HIV/AIDS, nursing
policies, and civic engagement. Before joining Atlantic in April 2007,
LaMarche served as vice president and director of U.S. programs for the
Open Society Institute, associate director of Human Rights Watch, and in
a variety of positions with the American Civil Liberties Union.
LaMarche is the author of numerous articles on human rights and social
justice issues, which have appeared in the
New York Times, the
Washington Post, the
Nation, the
Atlantic,
and many other publications. He has contributed chapters and served as
editor for many publications, including the “The Unfinished Revolution:
Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights” (2012), “What Do We
Owe Each Other? Rights and Obligations in Contemporary American
Society,” (2008), “Legal Change: Lessons from America’s Social
Movements,” (2015) and “Transforming the Culture of Dying,” (2013),
among others. In addition to teaching at the Colin Powell School, he has
taught at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, Bard
College’s Prison Initiative, New School University, University of
California at Berkeley, Stanford University, and the John Jay College of
Criminal Justice. LaMarche chairs the board of The New Press and has
previously served as chair of StoryCorps. He also serves on the boards
of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Fund for
Global Human Rights, and the Open Society Policy Center. He is a member
of the Poverty and Environment Advisory Committee for the JPB
Foundation, the Advisory Board of Roosevelt House at Hunter College, and
the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on advisory committees of
PEN American Center and the Center for Popular Democracy. LaMarche has
been recognized as a “Good Guy” by the Texas Women’s Political Caucus
and as a Voice for Justice by the Fifth Avenue Committee. He has
received the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service from Bard
College, the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil and Human Rights Award from the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Progressive Leadership Award
from USAction, the President’s Award from the National Council of La
Raza, the Champion Award from the Center for Community Change, the
Integrity Award from Make the Road New York, The North Star Award from
the North Star Fund, The Hugo Adam Bedau Award from the National
Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the Social Justice Leadership Award
from the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Hope Award from
Providence House.
Topics: Contemporary rights issues in the US and abroad; Freedom of speech and expression; The state of democracy; The current political landscape; The philanthropic landscape; Public media and journalism; Criminal justice reform; Immigration reform; Management and leadership in non-profit organizations