About Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding
Promoting and preserving South Asian arts, culture, and education through thoughtfully produced cultural programming, culinary showcases, festivals, and community partnerships.
Focus Areas
South Asian arts and culturefestivals and eventsculinary arts / food festivalsfilm and media (film festival)arts educationcommunity engagement
Who They Fund
school-aged youth (including after-school and summer program participants)refugees and displaced personswomen and girls in remote/low-resource regionshomeless and formerly homeless individuals (including youth)incarcerated and at-risk youth
About Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding
Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding backs a wide mix of intercultural, educational, and relief-oriented work through repeated $5,000 and $7,500 grants. In the recent grants list, that includes support for peacebuilding through Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, interfaith programming at iACT, and education for girls and women through Central Asia Institute. The foundation also appears to connect cultural expression with social purpose: it has funded Austin Classical Guitar Society for youth music instruction, Creative Action for social-emotional learning in schools and camps, and the Museum at Eldridge Street for an intercultural festival. Its portfolio reaches beyond arts and dialogue into refugee support, housing, and emergency aid. Grants to Multicultural Refugee Coalition, World Central Kitchen, UNHCR, and Doctors Without Borders show attention to displaced people and crisis response alongside its community-facing cultural work. The pattern is consistent with a funder that supports direct service, convening, and educational programming across several intersecting areas rather than a single narrow cause.
What Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding Funds
A clear theme is intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding. The foundation gave $7,500 to Karuna Center for Peacebuilding in 2024 for international and domestic peace initiatives through structured dialogue, and $7,500 to iACT in 2024 for programs that bring people of different faiths together. Education is another repeated area. It awarded $7,500 to Central Asia Institute in 2024 for bringing education to girls and women in the high Himalayas, and $5,000 to Shanti Bhavan Children's Project for residential schools for underprivileged children in India. Arts-based youth development also appears often. Austin Classical Guitar Society received $5,000 in 2024 for guitar lessons and ensemble performances for underprivileged and incarcerated youth, while Creative Action received $7,500 for social emotional education in central Texas schools and after-school programs.
How Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding Gives
Grant sizes cluster tightly around two levels: p25 is $3,000, median is $5,000, and p75 is $5,000. That points to a relatively standardized grant program with a small number of larger awards at $7,500. The recent record shows repeated support for several organizations across 2023 and 2024, including Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, iACT, Creative Action, Central Asia Institute, World Central Kitchen, UNHCR, Lifeworks, Austin Classical Guitar Society, Multicultural Refugee Coalition, Doctors Without Borders, and Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. Shanti Foundation for Intercultural Understanding does not fund individuals and makes no program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$99K
Total Assets
$2.5M
Total Revenue
$144K
Total Expenses
$108K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $3K and $5K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$5K
Geographic Reach
National9 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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