Disrupt Foundation
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Disrupt Foundation is the Podjarny family foundation, established in 2021 and incorporated and registered in England and Wales with registered charity number 1198872, company number 13738626.
The Foundation states that :
- Disrupt Foundation is an independent family foundation, currently active in the UK and Israel/Palestine. Our mission is to promote a stronger, more connected and more impactful ecosystem of activists and groups, led by and for minoritised communities, in order to disrupt unjust systems, lever strategic long-term processes of change, and pursue social justice. Our mission is achieved by funding and strengthening our grantees: supporting their resilience and strategic development; cultivating links and networks; and amplifying their work through technology solutions.[1]
People
Trustees
| Name | Role | Date of Appointment | Resigned on | Date of Birth | Nationality | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guy Podjarny | Chair | 11 November 2021 | March 1979 | British | None on record | |
| Einat Podjarny | Trustee | 28 July 2023 | March 1978 | Israeli | None on record | |
| Gal Podjarny | Trustee | 11 November 2021 | January 1979 | British | None on record | |
| Jonathan Brinsden | Trustee | 11 November 2021 | January 1975 | Israeli/Canadian | None on record |
- Miri Weingarten - Managing Director
- Daniel Saat
- Dalia Abu Yassien Grants Manager at Disrupt Foundation
Finances
Connections to Prism the Gift Fund
The Disrupt Foundation has utilised Prism the Gift Fund as a fiscal host and administrative partner for its grant-making activities. Prism the Gift Fund, a registered charity (No. 1099682), facilitates efficient philanthropic giving by providing infrastructure for donor-advised funds and foundations, allowing organisations like Disrupt to operate under its regulatory umbrella while maintaining independence in grant decisions.
Prism has administered significant grants from Disrupt Foundation, including support for social justice initiatives in the UK. For example, Prism's accounts and reports reference grants channelled through structures involving Disrupt Foundation to various recipients working on issues such as Palestine-related causes and broader social change.
This relationship enables Disrupt Foundation to leverage Prism's expertise in compliance, Gift Aid, and efficient fund distribution, minimising administrative overhead for the family foundation while aligning with its mission to promote social justice.[2][3]
- Prism the Gift Fund was set up by Anne Josse. Josse is described by the Jewish Chronicle as “an Orthodox Jew who … co-runs private equity firm Regent Capital (with Prism co-founder Gideon Lyons)” She ran the Zionist funding agency the New Israel Fund UK in the 1990s. When younger, she travelled to occupied Palestine and spent time at a religious seminary, as well as having been chair of the Manchester University Jewish Society, the Manchester branch of the Zionist Union of Jewish Students.
- The charity operates as a donor advised fund, a mechanism to obscure public knowledge of where funding for recipients originates. The charity, unsurprisingly, is deeply embedded in the Zionist movement. It runs the activities of the Jerusalem Foundation - engaged in ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem [Al-Quds] as well as at least two other Zionist family foundations (the Bluston Charitable Settlement, of which Anne Josse is a trustee, and the Pelz Trust), which also give to the IOF and other genocidal charities.[4]
Income
| Income of the Disrupt Foundation in £ sterling | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
| Bank Interest | 8,611 | 4,768 | 13,379 | |
| Donations | 1,200,000 | 4,016,250 | 2,859,716 | 8,075,966 |
| Total: | 1,200,000 | 4,024,861 | 2,864,484 | |
Note: Data from Disrupt Foundation Financial Statements 2022-2024.
Expenditure
| Grant recipients of the Disrupt Foundation in £ sterling | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recipient | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
| 01 Founders Ltd | 25,000 | 75,000 | 100,000 | |
| Access Social Care | 42,000 | 82,000 | 80,000 | 204,000 |
| Access to Justice Foundation (Community Justice Fund) | 100,000 | 100,000 | ||
| ACORN | 40,000 | 40,000 | 80,000 | |
| Action for Race Equality (Windrush Justice Foundation) | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||
| Asylum Aid | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 150,000 |
| Asylum Matters | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Automomy Institute / Autonomy Research | 25,000 | 105,000 | 130,000 | |
| Baobab | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Black South West Network (BSWN) | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||
| Bristol Refuge Rights (BRR) | 40,979 | 62,530 | 103,509 | |
| British Shalom Salaam Trust (BSST) | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| CAST | 269,066 | 208,076 | 477,142 | |
| CIAC | 30,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | |
| Civic Power | 20,000 | 26,880 | 46,880 | |
| Climate 2025 Limited | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Crisis UK | 35,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 335,000 |
| Disability Rights UK | 26,000 | 26,000 | ||
| Doctors of the World UK | 34,800 | 34,800 | ||
| Friends Families & Travellers | 20,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | |
| Fuel Poverty Action | 31,178 | 31,178 | 62,356 | |
| Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||
| IMIX | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Immigration Law Practitioners Association | 20,160 | 20,160 | ||
| Independent Workers Union of Great Britain | 31,063 | 31,063 | ||
| Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants | 87,694 | 87,694 | ||
| Just Fair | 55,000 | 55,000 | 110,000 | |
| Kanlungan Filipino Consortium | 31,790 | 31,790 | ||
| Kinfolk Network CIC | 25,000 | 25,000 | ||
| Law for Change CIC | 50,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | |
| Leeds Refugee Forum | 30,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | |
| Living Rent | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Makani CIC | 59,500 | 59,500 | ||
| Manuel Bravo Project | 30,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | |
| Migrants Organise | 68,500 | 65,000 | 133,500 | |
| Outlandish Cooperative / Space4 Project | 35,000 | 35,000 | 29,245 | 99,245 |
| Polish Migrants Organise for Change (POMOC) | 30,000 | 30,000 | ||
| PRAXIS | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||
| Public Interest Law Centre | 40,000 | 40,000 | ||
| Public Law Project | 50,000 | 60,000 | 110,000 | |
| Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL) | 20,000 | 25,000 | 45,000 | |
| Revive CIO | 21,928 | 21,928 | ||
| Safe Passage | 20,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | |
| Social Change Nest CIC | 45,440 | 25,000 | 60,700 | 131,140 |
| South Yorkshire Refugee Law & Justice | 20,000 | 25,000 | 45,000 | |
| Ubele | 49,688 | 49,688 | ||
| War on Want | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| Grants made to other institutions | 165,643 | 213,721 | 242,560 | 621,924 |
| Grants to Israel based charities: | ||||
| Alliance for Israel's Future | 43,504 | 42,556 | 86,060 | |
| ARTEAM | 45,641 | 43,281 | 88,922 | |
| CallActivit | 67,404 | 43,270 | 110,674 | |
| Centre for the Advancement of Peace Initiatives (CAPI) | 21,417 | 21,417 | ||
| Follow Up Committee on Arab Education (FUCAE) | 55,511 | 54,105 | 109,616 | |
| Haamuta Lemaan Noar Ve Tzeiirim Aravim | 25,622 | 25,622 | ||
| Haraba | 20,533 | 43,609 | 64,142 | |
| I'Iam - Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel | 45,641 | 53,416 | 99,057 | |
| Injaz - Center for Professional Arab Local Governance | 21,567 | 20,885 | 42,452 | |
| Isha L'Isha | 30,466 | 20,802 | 51,268 | |
| Kav LaOved | 16,400 | 16,400 | ||
| Kedma | 44,916 | 42,556 | 87,472 | |
| Mizrahi Civic Collective | 43,609 | 43,609 | ||
| Nazareth Nurseries Institute | 43,270 | 43,270 | ||
| Nine Seven Two | 41,418 | 41,418 | ||
| Tishreen Core | 104,882 | 41,896 | 146,778 | |
| Tishreen Project Grants | 37,153 | 37,153 | ||
| Women Against Violence | 42,376 | 42,376 | ||
| Grants made to other Israel based charities (less than £20,000) | 142,372 | 143,159 | 285,531 | |
| Total: | 648,083 | 2,430,769 | 2,576,704 | |
Note: Data from Disrupt Foundation Financial Statements 2022-2024.
- Alliance for Israel's Future – Promotes civic equality, Jewish-Arab partnership. Israel (Lod). https://thealliance.org.il/
- ARTEAM – Education/advocacy for migrants. Tel Aviv. https://en.thegardenlibrary.com/
- Call.Activit – Ethiopian Jewish group. https://callactivit.com/
- Centre for the Advancement of Peace Initiatives (CAPI) – Peace/coexistence. Jerusalem. https://capi.org.il/
- Follow Up Committee on Arab Education (FUCAE) – Arab education rights. Israel.
- Haamuta Lemaan Noar Ve Tzeiirim Aravim (Baladna) – Arab youth empowerment. Haifa.
- Haraba – Bedouin youth education. Rahat (Negev).
- I'lam – Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel – Arab media. Nazareth. https://ilam-center.org/en
- Injaz – Center for Professional Arab Local Governance – Arab local governance. Nazareth. https://injaz.org.il/en/
- Isha L'Isha – Haifa Feminist Center – Women's rights. Haifa. https://isha.org.il/
- Kav LaOved – Workers' rights. Tel Aviv. https://kavlaoved.org.il/en/
- Kedma – Volunteerism/community. Jerusalem.
- Mizrahi Civic Collective – Mizrahi equality. Israel.
- Nazareth Nurseries Institute (Al-Tufula) – Early childhood/women. Nazareth. https://altufula.org/en/
- Nine Seven Two (+972 Magazine) – Left-wing journalism. Israel. https://www.972mag.com/
- Tishreen Core / Tishreen Project – Environmental initiatives. Israel.
- Women Against Violence (WAV) – Palestinian women's rights. Nazareth. https://wavo.org/
Projects
Windrush Justice
- Windrush Justice £109,186 2022
- Partner Charity: Action for Racial Equality
- Reasons for setting it up as a Major Project: The scandal of the ‘Windrush Generation’ is well known. As a result of the ‘hostile environment’ policies implemented in 2012 by Theresa May, the then Home Secretary, many of those who came to the UK from the former colonies to take up work have never received adequate documentation, This has meant that they have found themselves 'technically undocumented', with ensuing problems around employment, pensions, healthcare etc. Some have even been deported. Most of the victims are Black; the four largest groups are Jamaicans, Nigerians, Ghanaians and Barbadians. Measures to rectify the situation and provide compensation were set up by the Home Office in 2017, the ‘Windrush Taskforce’ but there have been difficulties in accessing the services promised. It is believed that up to 50,000 people may have been affected, but no detailed records were kept at the time. In the wake of these events a number of small grassroots organisations sprang up among communities who are directly impacted. These organisations have been leading the work on seeking justice, compensation, and policy change often without funding.
- How the programme came about: In June 2020, following an open tender, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation commissioned a report to explore how to support and sustain the advocacy and action with and on behalf of the organisations mentioned above. The report found that there is a huge gap between need and actual service provision across advice, advocacy, community events, service delivery, research, etc. These grassroots organisations are a critical bridge and their community engagement methods are crucial to reaching more of those affected. Together they had already aided over 5000 victims and family members impacted by the scandal, many of whom lived relatively deprived lives. However, in the absence of legal aid, there exists a bottle-neck in referring people affected to lawyers. In response to the report, Paul Hamlyn Foundation convened a group of funders in February and March 2022. This led to the creation of the Windrush Justice programme which currently consists of six funders, including ourselves: Paul Hamlyn Foundation, City Bridge Trust, AB Charitable Trust, Greater London Authority and Disrupt Foundation. Together we have committed £1,200,000 to Action for Race Equality (ARE) to deliver the programme over three years to:
- support grassroots organisations to sustain their advocacy and action on Windrush;
- narrow the huge gap between need and actual service provision across advice, advocacy, community events, media engagement etc;
- improve community engagement so that more affected people engage with the Windrush Taskforce (the government help scheme);
- address the backlog in referring people affected to lawyers in the absence of legal aid. shift
- ARE made a clear commitment to co-designing the programme with the grassroots groups. This led to a in the application process, using conversation-based assessments rather than forms to assess suitability for the programme. In Round 1, in late 2022, twelve grassroots organisations were awarded £22,000 across two years. In Round 2, August 2023 a further six groups were funded. When the full programme is underway, ARE will also *provide bespoke 1:1 organisational development support;
- share best practice between organisations to help groups work through shared challenges together;
- work with Patrick Vernon, prominent Windrush activist to keep this issue on the agenda for policy makers.
- The project originally came to our attention through the Network’s Racial Justice Working Group. [5]