A board member of Episcopal Relief & Development has donated $1 million to the organization through her family foundation, to support international initiatives to prevent violence against women and girls worldwide.
Laura Ellen Muglia, who has served on ER&D’s board of directors since 2016, said in a news release: “I have seen firsthand how Episcopal Relief & Development creates long-term, sustainable change for the most vulnerable people in communities around the world.” The donation was made through the Laura Ellen and Robert Muglia Family Foundation, a Seattle-based foundation with about $10 million in assets. Robert Muglia was a longtime Microsoft executive.
ER&D is perhaps best known in the United States for its disaster recovery assistance, but the organization actually spends twice as much on supporting sustainable development as on disaster recovery. ER&D, with revenues of $21 million in 2018, focuses its international efforts on women, children and climate.
In Liberia, for example, ER&D works with the Episcopal Church of Liberia and other partners to train local faith leaders such as priests and imams to speak out against violence and to change cultural norms in their communities.
Read more at Episcopal Relief & Development.
Kirk Petersen
Kirk Petersen began reporting news for TLC as a freelancer in 2016, and was Associate Editor from 2019 to 2024, focusing especially on matters of governance in the Episcopal Church.