The Guardian Foundation is a charitable organization based in the United Kingdom that promotes “global press freedom and access to liberal journalism.” It was founded by the Scott Trust, which is its primary funder. Its programs include working with young people, people from “under-represented backgrounds,” and aspiring journalists to encourage and develop the next generation of journalists. ¹

Background

The Guardian Foundation is an independent U.K.-registered charity that acts as the charitable, educational, and archival arm of the Guardian ecosystem. This ecosystem also consists of the Scott Trust, the Guardian Media Group, The Guardian newspaper, and the Guardian.org Foundation. The Guardian Foundation was established by the Scott Trust “to promote global press freedom and access to liberal journalism.” ^{2  1}

The Guardian Foundation focuses on working with young people to develop the next generation of journalists, encouraging diversity in journalism, and supporting independent journalism projects. ³ It campaigns for news and media literacy training to be a part of school curriculum and be recognized as a core competency in schools. ⁴

Work Areas

The Guardian Foundation has developed and provides news and media literacy programs to youth in classrooms, working with teachers, teacher training colleges, and children and engaging with governments and regulatory organizations to promote news literacy in school curriculum. ⁵ Its NewsWise program offers lesson plans, activities, teacher training, and workshops for schools focused on news literacy. ⁶

The Guardian Foundation works directly with journalists and independent media to mentor and train them and to provide funding for journalism projects. It has expanded its work with journalists to other countries, including Turkey, Ukraine, India, and Syria, with a plan to build a global network of independent journalists that network and support each other. ⁷

The Foundation focuses on supporting people from “underrepresented backgrounds” to help them progress in the field of independent journalism through its Scott Trust Bursary and Emerging Voices Awards programs. ⁸

The Scott Trust Bursary pays for tuition, living expenses, and paid positions at The Guardian. Annually, three awards go to aspiring Black journalists and three go to journalists from another “under-represented background.” ⁹ It focuses on candidates from “a lower socio-economic background, Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and people with a disability.” ¹⁰

The Emerging Voices Awards is a political opinion writing competition for young aspiring journalists aged 16 to 25 who were educated in the U.K.’s government-funded tuition-free “state schools.” The awards program encourages candidates from “a lower socio-economic background, Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and people with a disability” to participate. Winners’ articles are published in The Guardian. ¹¹

The Guardian Organizations

The Scott Trust is The Guardian Foundation’s founder and principal funder.  It was created to be the long-term custodian of The Guardian news and to manage its endowment. The Scott Trust also funds programs that “promote liberal journalism and support the next generation of journalists.” ¹²

The Guardian Media Group is a global news organization that was created and is wholly owned by the Scott Trust to be the owner and publisher of The Guardian newspaper and website. ¹²

The Guardian is a newspaper based in the United Kingdom known for its left-of-center editorial stance. It publishes United Kingdom, United States, Australian, European, and international editions. ¹³

The Guardian.org Foundation is a United States-based nonprofit organization that was set up by the Scott Trust to raise funds for projects that highlight left-of-center issues such as climate, social justice, and inequality. It supports independent journalism and several of The Guardian’s editorial projects, including Animals Farmed, funded by Open Philanthropy, and Democracy and Justice, funded by the Open Society Foundations. ¹⁴ Other major donors include the Skoll Foundation, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Energy Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the 11th Hour Project. ¹⁵

Funding

In addition to the Scott Foundation, The Guardian Foundation is funded by individual donors, charitable trusts and foundations, and corporate partnerships. Donors include grantmaking organizations including the Arsenal Foundation, DMF Ellis Charitable Trust, the George Cadbury Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Grantham York Trust, the Hull Family Foundation, Google, and several universities located in the United Kingdom. ^{16  17}

Leadership

Esmet Jeraj is the interim executive director of The Guardian Foundation. Previously she held several roles for Citizens UK, an alliance of civil society organizations that organize campaigns for left-of-center issues. She was the chief operating officer for the Patchwork Foundation, which encourages and supports the “active participation of young people from disadvantaged and minority communities in British democracy and civil society.” In 2022, she participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program hosted by the U.S. Department of State during the Biden administration. She joined The Guardian Foundation in 2022 and was made the interim executive director in August 2025. ^{18  19  20}

Keith Magee is the board chair of The Guardian Foundation. He is known as an academic, theologian, and left-of-center social-policy scholar. He is the chair and a professor of cultural and social justice at University College London and at Newcastle University Law School. He was a senior advisor on religious affairs for the Obama 2012 presidential campaign, a board member of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and an advisor to former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. ^{21  22  23}

1. “Our purpose.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/about
2. “About The Guardian Foundation.” The Guardian. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-foundation/2022/jan/25/the-guardian-foundation
3. “Impact report. 2024/2025.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/assets/files/the-guardian-foundation-impact-report-2024-25.pdf
4. “The Guardian Foundation call on the government to embed news and media literacy into the curriculum.” The Guardian. December 2, 2024. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-foundation/2024/dec/02/the-guardian-foundation-call-on-the-government-to-embed-news-and-media-literacy-into-the-curriculum
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6. “NewsWise.” The Guardian Foundation – Programmes. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/programmes/newswise
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8. “Championing diverse voices.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/support-us/voice-and-agency
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10. “Scott Trust Bursary.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/programmes/scott-trust-bursary
11. “Emerging Voices Awards.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/programmes/awards
12. “The Scott Trust Limited Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025.” Page 3. Link from Gov.UK: The Scott Trust Limited – Group of companies’ accounts. Published September 18, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06706464/filing-history
13. “About Us.” The Guardian. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/about
14. “Philanthropic partnerships at the Guardian.” The Guardian – Information. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/info/2018/oct/02/philanthropic-partnerships-at-the-guardian
15. Theguardian.org homepage. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardian.org/
16. “The Scott Trust Limited Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025.” Page 22. Link from Gov.UK: The Scott Trust Limited – Group of companies’ accounts. Published September 18, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06706464/filing-history
17. “Support Us.” The Guardian Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://theguardianfoundation.org/support-us
18. LinkedIn – Esmat Jeraj. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmatjeraj/
19. Citizens UK homepage. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.citizensuk.org/
20. Patchwork Foundation homepage. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://patchworkfoundation.org.uk/
21. “Dr. Keith L. Magee.” WGBH. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.wgbh.org/people/dr-keith-l-magee
22. “Keith Magee.” TIME. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://time.com/author/keith-magee/
23. “The Reverend Professor Keith Magee.” 4justicesake. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.4justicesake.org/