THE J.C. FLOWERS FOUNDATION
PARTNERS FOR THE LAST MILE
Who We Are
The J.C. Flowers Foundation works with a wide range of partners to solve critical health and social problems affecting isolated, or “last mile,” communities. The Foundation seeks maximum impact from its investments by partnering with other funding organizations, governments, and local, grassroots organizations with expertise and presence in communities often overlooked by traditional donors.
The Foundation focuses its efforts in two distinct areas: the cross border communities of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; and New York. The Foundation works alongside local partners and communities in the cross border areas to implement malaria elimination programs. Simultaneously, the Foundation works closely with partners in New York to assist formerly incarcerated men and women returning home to their communities.
View the initiatives we support:
How We Work
The J.C. Flowers Foundation practices partnership and supports locally identified solutions. We believe that the people who are most affected have essential insight into how to solve their problems. The J.C. Flowers Foundation believes that each partner brings something unique to the work and is essential to the delivery of high quality programs in the communities we partner with.
The Foundation brings to the table financial, technical, and operational support as well as access to resources and advocacy at national and international levels. The J.C. Flowers Foundation works directly through the Anne & Chris Flowers Foundation, a donor advised fund of National Philanthropic Trust.
The Foundation's Origin Story
In October 2004, J.C. Flowers Foundation founder Chris Flowers visited several remote areas of northern Zambia and experienced firsthand the devastation wrought by malaria. On a visit to the Anglican Mission in Fiwila, he visited a small rural village that was eighteen kilometers off the tarmac road and took eight hours to reach by Jeep from the nearest city. A family was mourning the death of their young child who had just died from malaria, yet they did not realize the relationship between malaria and mosquitoes. Nor did they have access to malaria treatment or insecticide treated bed nets.
Chris Flowers understood that there was a need for malaria education in these remote areas. He also realized that local community organizations like the Anglican Church have an extensive presence in some areas of sub-Saharan Africa and are typically trusted by the community at large. Chris knew the church could play an important role in delivering malaria control programs.
The visit catalyzed Chris Flowers' efforts in malaria. In 2004, he launched NetsforLife, in partnership with Episcopal Relief and Development, and established the J.C. Flowers Foundation with a specific mission to invest in last mile communities in partnership with other organizations.
Several years later, Chris Flowers identified a similar need in New York City — last mile communities where a lack of education and a need for resources for behavior change contributed to the fact that 42 percent of people on parole return to prison within three years. Chris Flowers saw an opportunity to work with a community where few donors wanted to work but where impact could be high. This led to the establishment of the Harlem reentry Initiative (now referred to as Circles of Support) in 2010, which partners with faith based communities to support people returning to their communities.
Chris & Anne Flowers contribute to a range of philanthropic entities outside of the J.C. Flowers Foundation's Malaria & Circles of Support work under the Anne & Chris Flowers Foundation.
.jpeg)
OUR PARTNERS
The J.C. Flowers Foundation works with a range of partners, details of which can be found on the individual malaria country pages on this website and the Circles of Support Website.
Our malaria work is implemented through the Anglican Dioceses of Tete, Mozambique; Namibia; Lusaka, Zambia; and Harare and Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, as well as the Anglican Diocese of the Center and South, Angola; and the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, all in partnership with national ministries of health.
.jpeg)