Bangladesh Freedom Foundation

Bangladesh Freedom Foundation was established as a trust in 1997 and registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau in 1998.^[6] It is funded by the Ford Foundation.^[6] Mahfuz Anam was the founding chair and Rehman Sobhan was the original treasurer of the organization.^[4] The founding trustee board included Debapriya Bhattacharya, Qazi Fazlur Rahman, Meghna Guhathakurta, Muhammad Younus, Nayla Khan, Sultana Kamal, Syed Manzoor Elahi,^[7] and Wahiduddin Mahmud.^[4] The board of trustee would later include Angela Gomes, Rokeya Afzal Rahman,^[8] Samson H Chowdhury,^[9] and Zafar Iqbal.^[4] Jamilur Reza Choudhury was affiliated with the organization.^[10]

In 2009, the foundation sponsored Museums: Building Community event at the Liberation War Museum.^[11] It is partnered with Agrogoti Sangstha, Local Environment Development and Agricultural Research Society, Udayankur Seba Sangstha.^[12][13][14]

Bangladesh Freedom Foundation has also received support from The Malala Fund and the Australian High Commission.^[15] It publishes a quarterly newsletter called Philanthropy.^[4] The Ford Foundation has mixed in with the Bangladesh Freedom Forum and has received criticism from the Gateway House of the Indian Council on Global Relation for hiring the best talent away from government service.^[16]

The foundation has provided funding for Bangladesh Junior Science Olympiad, Children Science Congress, National School Science Debate, STEM & ICT Skills for the Girls of Coastal Areas, and increasing harvest.^[15][17]

• Mahfuz Anam (chair)^[18]
• Firdous Azim^[18]
• Rasheda K. Choudhury^[18]
• Perween Hasan^[18]
• Mohammad Kaykobad^[18]
• Pratima Paul Majumder^[18]
• M Arshad Momen^[18]
• Abdul Quayum^[18]
• Rezaur Rahman^[18]
• Zeba Islam Seraj^[18]
• Iftekharuzaman,^[18] executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh^[19]