Ploughshares Fund

Formation	1981; 43 years ago (1981)
Founder	Sally Lilienthal
Location	San Francisco, California, US
President	Emma Belcher
Chair	Terry Gamble Boyer
Website	ploughshares.org

Ploughshares Fund is a public grantmaking foundation that supports initiatives to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons, and to prevent conflicts that could lead to their use.^[1] Ploughshares Fund is a 501(c)(3) foundation that pools contributions from individuals, families and foundations.^[2] Ploughshares Fund enables individual contributors to pool resources and provide support for initiatives^[3] to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons. With over $100 million awarded in grants since its founding in 1981, Ploughshares Fund is the largest US philanthropic foundation focused exclusively on nuclear weapons.^[4]

History

Concerned about the world's burgeoning nuclear arsenals, San Francisco philanthropist and activist Sally Lilienthal founded the organization in 1981. Since it was founded, Ploughshares has made grants totaling nearly $100 million to hundreds of people and organizations around the world.^[4][5] Lilienthal died in October 2006, at the age of 87, while still serving as Ploughshares Fund's president.^[6]

In 2008, the Board of Directors appointed Joseph Cirincione as Ploughshares Fund's president, the same year that the organization opened an office in Washington, DC.^[7][8] Cirincione stepped down as president in July 2020 and was succeeded by Dr. Emma Belcher, formerly of the MacArthur Foundation.^[9]

Issue areas

Ploughshares Fund's grantmaking is focused on the following issues:

• Promoting the reduction and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons
• Preventing the emergence of new nuclear states
• Building regional peace and security^[10]