| Bill Ackman |
The Pershing Square Foundation, the charitable group of Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman and his wife Karen, has pledged $10 million over five years to advocacy nonprofit Human Rights Watch.
The New York watchdog will use the $2 million a year to expand its work in countries that have a growing voice in human rights issues including India, Brazil and South Africa.
The Ackmans have supported the group in the past and Karen, a landscape architect, is on HRW’s board of directors. She also serves on advisory committees for the group’s Africa and women’s rights divisions.
The Ackmans have been giving to HRW since 2008, usually donating several hundred thousand dollars each year excluding the current pledge, according to Michele Alexander, deputy executive director for global initiatives.
“Human Rights Watch is grateful to Bill and Karen Ackman for their significant investment in human rights,” said Alexander.
Other past hedge fund supporters of HRW include Stanley Druckenmiller and George Soros, who in September 2010 pledged $100 million over 10 years to “more effectively protect and promote human rights around the world.”
