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GO Humanity (Giving and Organizing for Humanity) was a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
founded in 2009 in Georgia by Dale McGowan, originally under the name Foundation Beyond Belief. The organization's mission was to "end poverty and hunger, promote good health and well-being, and foster employment opportunities and economic growth in ways that exemplify humanist values." Through giving and organizing a volunteer network, the organization served individuals and communities. Dale McGowan served as executive director from 2009 to 2015. In 2015, Noelle George took over leadership of the organization. In 2020, Tiffany S. Ho replaced George. On October 1, 2023, Go Humanity dissolved and ceased operations.


History

GO Humanity was founded in 2009, then under the name Foundation Beyond Belief (FBB). The organization's founder Dale McGowan originally envisioned it as a way for nonreligious people and humanists to give to charity by "passing the tithing plate." The organization was featured in an April 2010 ''New York Times'' article on secular philanthropy. In March 2011, the organization responded to the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a  9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
by launching a disaster response program, raising and distributing $20,000 for recovery. In August 2011, FBB merged with the Houston, Texas-based Secular Center USA to launch Volunteers Beyond Belief, a service network initially consisting of five volunteer teams. The
American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...
was criticized in 2011 for turning down participation from Foundation Beyond Belief in its Relay For Life "National Team" program. FBB subsequently partnered with philanthropist Todd Stiefel to create a national team in support of the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1949, is a voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer world-wide. LLS funds blood cancer research on cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin ...
, raising $300,000 in 2012 and nearly $1 million over three years to fund lymphoma research. Foundation Beyond Belief later sponsored the Reason Rally in both 2012 and 2016. In July 2014, Foundation Beyond Belief held its first Humanism At Work conference focused on humanist service. The organization held talks about nonreligious identity and humanist service programs, and recognized outstanding contributions by humanist volunteers and organizers with its ongoing annual Heart of Humanism awards. The Humanism At Work conference was held a second time in 2015 before the organization transitioned to integrating the Conference's programming into the
American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...
's Annual Conference in 2018. In October 2014, FBB launched the competitive Compassionate Impact Grant (CIG), consolidating all donations to its Humanist Grants program for the quarter into one large capacity-building grant to the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. Through 2020, FBB gave the CIG one quarter per year to various anti-poverty organizations that met high standards of innovation, inclusiveness, data, and cultural sensitivity. In 2020, the grant became an annual three-year grant of $150,000 to a worthy organization. The Minnesota Atheists partnered with Foundation Beyond Belief in 2014 and 2015 for the third and fourth atheist-themed St. Paul Saints charity games. They were the first games the secularized ''Mr. Paul Aints'' team won, with the 2014 game taking 11 innings and being the last ''Aints'' game to be played at Midway Stadium. Rebranded player jerseys were auctioned off during the games and a shoe drive benefiting Soles4Souls was incorporated into 2015 the event (promoted as "Leave Your Soles at the Gate"). The team beat the
Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of ...
in 2015 7–4 in front of 8,500 fans at CHS Field bringing the ''Aints record to 2 wins and 2 losses. The ''Aints'' won again in 2016, but lost in 2017 bringing their record to 3 games won and 3 games lost. In January 2016, FBB launched a Humanist Disaster Recovery program which deployed to South Carolina following Hurricane Juaquin. In 2019, Foundation Beyond Belief partnered with Atheist Community of Austin to expand Volunteers Beyond Belief, renamed the Beyond Belief Network. Foundation Beyond Belief rebranded as GO Humanity in May 2022, updating its values to further emphasize radical inclusion and shared, local power. On October 1, 2023, Go Humanity dissolved. An email to donors stated "We have met with an insurmountable financial crisis combined with liabilities that have led us to this very hard decision."


Programs and initiatives


Grantmaking

Since 2009, GO Humanity has raised more than $3.6 million for philanthropic causes worldwide. Through its original Humanist Grants program, the organization awarded over $1.5 million to 177 nonprofits exemplifying humanist values over 11 years. Each fiscal quarter through 2020, FBB selected four organizations to support, in the categories of Poverty and Health, Human Rights, Education, and Natural World.


Service Teams

GO Humanity's Service Team network GO Teams encourages and assists local organizations groups to give and organize in their communities. The network is made up of approximately 150 teams throughout the U.S. and the world. GO Humanity provides grants and other support to these teams, sponsoring events in local communities. As of 2022, teams have collectively donated over 227,000 hours of community service (valued at $6.1M).


Disaster Recovery

In 2014, the American Humanist Association (AHA) and GO Humanity merged their respective charitable programs Humanist Charities (established in 2005) and Humanist Crisis Response (established in 2011). Between 2014 and 2018, Humanist Disaster Recovery raised over $250,000 for victims of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, Refugee Children of the U.S. Border, Tropical Cyclone Sam, and the
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and Ecuadoran Earthquakes, Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, and Hurricanes Irma and Maria. In addition to grants for recovery efforts, volunteers have also helped to rebuild homes and schools in the following locations:
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
after the effects of
Hurricane Joaquin Hurricane Joaquin ( ; ) was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated several districts of The Bahamas and caused damage in the Turks and Caicos Islands, parts of the Greater Antilles, and Bermuda. It was also the strongest Atlantic hurricane ...
; Denham Springs, Louisiana; and Houston, Texas after flooding from
Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...
.


Humanist Service Corps & Humanist Action: Ghana

In 2013, GO Humanity launched the Pathfinders Project, a project to determine the viability of a long term Humanist Service Corp (HSC). Over the course of a year, the team worked with several organizations across the world, including in Cambodia, Uganda, Ghana, Haiti, Ecuador, Colombia, and Guatemala. Upon returning to the United States, the members of the Pathfinders continued their work of promoting humanist service, including speaking about the project to gain new members for future years. In 2015, the Humanist Service Corps officially launched, with the members serving in a camp for accused witches in Ghana. In 2015 and 2016, Humanist Service Corps provided free health screenings to the rural Ghanaian community of Kukuo. It created a bilingual medical records system to increase healthcare access. For the first time, 1,250 residents of Kukuo gained access to their health information in their native language. HSC also discovered and reported several child marriages during this time. Humanist Service Corps was renamed Humanist Action: Ghana in 2020, and in 2022 broke off from GO Humanity to become an independent, Ghanaian-run NGO.


See also

* Dale McGowan *
American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...
*
Hemant Mehta Hemant Mehta (; born February 25, 1983) is an American author, blogger, YouTuber and atheist activist. Mehta is a regular speaker at atheist events, and he has been a board member of charitable organizations such as the Secular Student Alliance ...
* List of secularist organizations * Minnesota Atheists * Greta Christina * Skepticon *
Secular Coalition for America The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "protecting the equal rights of nonreligious Americans." The Secular Coalition has chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, composed of lo ...
* Reason Rally


References

{{Reflist


External links


Foundation Beyond Belief website
Secularist organizations Secularism in the United States Humanist associations Freethought organizations Freethought in the United States Atheist organizations Atheism in the United States Irreligion in the United States Disengagement from religion Nonpartisan organizations in the United States 501(c)(3) organizations Charities based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States