The Oakland Institute is a progressive

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

founded in 2004 by Anuradha Mittal. It is headquartered in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Mission and areas of focus

Since 2011, the Institute has investigated land investment deals in developing countries, particularly where there are questions about transparency, fairness, and accountability. The Oakland Institute's mission is to "increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, and

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

issues in both national and international forums". The institute works in

coalitions A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

and networks to strengthen

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group ...

, especially in partnership with

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

constituencies such as

faith-based Faith-based may refer to: * Faith-based organization * Faith-based community organizing * Faith-based school * White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships * Faith Based (film) ''Faith Based'' is a 2020 American comedy film ...

organizations,

farm workers A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harv ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

rights groups, black farmers, and international proponents of

food sovereignty Food sovereignty is a food system in which the people who produce, distribute, and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate food regime, in which ...

and

trade justice Trade justice is a campaign by non-governmental organisations, plus efforts by other actors, to change the rules and practices of world trade in order to promote fairness. These organizations include consumer groups, trade unions, faith groups, ...

. The Oakland Institute categorizes its work into the following program areas: *

Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

* Foreign investment * High food price crisis *

International aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

Land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

Poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

Sustainable food systems A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable a ...

Trade agreements A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tr ...

Activities

In 2011, the institute detailed a $26 million investment made by

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Emergent Asset Management, later known as EMVest Asset Management, a hedge fund accused of abusive practices sub-Saharan countries including Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.Vanderbilt University Divests from "Land Grab" in Africa
Oakland Institute, February 13, 2013 The episode was covered internationally and led to student protests on campus in 2012.John Vidal, Claire Provost
US universities in Africa 'land grab'
''The Guardian'', June 8, 2011

Controversies

In 2021, the Oakland Institute was involved in a watchdog complaint to the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

that alleged

self-dealing Self-dealing is the conduct of a trustee, attorney, corporate officer, or other fiduciary that consists of taking advantage of their position in a transaction and acting in their own interests rather than in the interests of the beneficiaries of ...

by Mittal, who is also the vice president of Ben & Jerry's non-profit foundation. In 2017 and 2018, Ben & Jerry's foundation paid $104,000 to the Oakland Institute, where Mittal is the only salaried employee; during this time, the Oakland Institute paid Mittal a salary of $156,000.

Awards and recognition

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' magazine recognized the institute's work, and the efforts of Anuradha Mittal in particular, in their list of ''Most Valuable Progressives of 2008''. The Oakland Institute received the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

East Bay's Global Citizen Award in 2007 and the KPFA Peace Award in 2006. in 2012, the Oakland Institute was honored by the Responsible Endowments Coalition for its leadership in drawing attention to college and university investments in land grabs in Africa. Articles and opinion pieces by The Oakland Institute's staff and fellows and/or perspectives on its work are regularly published in U.S. media outlets including ''

Alternet AlterNet is a left-leaning online news outlet. It was launched in 1997 by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of ''Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections related to progre ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''

Inter Press Service Inter Press Service (IPS) is a global news agency headquartered in Rome, Italy. Its main focus is news and analysis about social, political, civil, and economic subjects as it relates to the Global South, civil society and globalization. Hist ...

'', and ''

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' is a magazine that covers the nonprofit world of philanthropy. Based in Washington, DC, it is aimed at charity leaders, foundation executives, fund raisers, and other people involved in philanthropy. ''The Chroni ...

''.www.oaklandinstitute.org/?q=node/view/101
Listing of published articles about the Oakland Institute.

External links

The Oakland Institute official website

References

{{reflist Think tanks based in the United States Organizations based in Oakland, California 2004 establishments in California Progressive organizations in the United States