Breakthrough Foundation

Breakthrough Foundation The Breakthrough Foundation was an independent non-profit organization dedicated to changing the direction of thousands of young people’s lives through the Youth at Risk Program. The project won national acclaim for its outstanding results in turning around the lives of young people who were severely at risk for drug abuse, unemployment, and violent crime. The National Institute of Justice studied the Youth At Risk Program and found a significant reduction in recidivism. President George H.W. Bush recognized the Breakthrough Foundation as one of his "thousand points of light." - Werner Erhard Foundation
Here is an inspiring video about the Youth at Risk program in Colorado:

Werner Erhard Foundation Projects

Werner Erhard's est Training inspired thousands of est participants to fulfill humanitarian objectives and create a better world. Creating many not-for-profit organizations, the foundation which was started by Werner Erhard along with other original est staffers, most notably Gonneke Spits. Literally hundreds of thousands of people illustrated that the power of "the little individual" can improve communities and the world. 'The Breakthrough Foundation' gave 'Youths At Risk' new opportunities in their lives. The Breakthrough Foundation also fostered and funded development in Africa. People committed to end hunger in the world through 'The Hunger Project' and its many offshoots created many projects that continue 4 decades later. The 'Community Workshop' gave ordinary citizens a new opportunity to contribute to their communities. These organizations, along with the Werner Erhard Foundation, played a hand in inspiring est Training participants to go out and make a difference in their lives,to contribute to humanity, and give back to their communities, in addition to providing forums for the individual to make a difference worldwide. For more information about the Werner Erhard Foundation visit http://wernererhardfoundation.org.

Werner Erhard Foundation Video

Video from 1982 which describes the many projects created by The Werner Erhard Foundation.

The Werner Erhard Foundation (originally founded as The est Foundation) fostered and supported this emerging paradigm by providing financial and organizational support to individuals and groups engaged in charitable and educational pursuits – research, communication, education, and scholarly endeavors in the fields of individual and social transformation and human well-being. We see our contribution to these people and groups as an investment in the development of a new context: a world that works for everyone.

Reviewing the grants they made, one might question what a Tibetan holy man and a systems analyst have in common. A closer look reveals that the emerging paradigm shows itself in every field of endeavor: from religions to sports, from health care to art, from education to entertainment. The Werner Erhard Foundation supported a remarkable diversity of ideas, projects, and people, welcoming opportunities to provide for interdisciplinary interactions. - read more at http://www.wernererhardfoundation.org

PHYSICS CONFERENCE
"Novel Configurations in Quantum Field Theory"

Sponsored by The Werner Erhard Foundation

January 22 through 24, 1977 San Francisco, California

The Werner Erhard Foundation Physics Conference, like the early Solvay Conferences, brought together a relatively small group of renowned physicists who experienced a close working relationship in a supportive and congenial environment outside of a university or professional society setting. This particular group of outstanding physicists had never before met together in a conference. This was the first opportunity for these distinguished physicists to participate directly with each other.


NAMES OF PHYSICS CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
Eduard Brezin C.E.N. Saclay Gif sur Yvette
Curt Callan Universite de Paris - Sud
Geoffrey Chew University of California at Berkeley
Sidney Coleman Harvard University
Roger Dashen School for Natural Sciences Institute for Advanced Study
Richard Feynman California Institute of Technology
David Finkelstein Yeshiva University Jean-Loup Gervais Universite de Paris - Sud
Fred Goldhaber State University of New York at Stony Brook
David Gross Princeton University
Roman Jackiw, M.I.T.
T. D. Lee Columbia University
Claudio Rebbi M.I.T.
Stanley Mandelstam University of California at Berkeley
Leonard Susskind Yeshiva University
J. A. Swieca Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janiero
Steven Weinberg Stanford University
John Wheeler University of Texas
Edward Witten Harvard University

Werner Erhard Physics Conference - at scribd.com

Physics Conferences

In 1977 the Werner Erhard Foundation brought together a relatively small group of renowned physicists working closely together in a supportive congenial environment outside of a university. The topic of discussion, representing the frontier of theoretical physics at the time, was "Novel Configurations in Quantum Field Theory" Richard Feynman, Leonard Susskind, Sidney Coleman and David Finkelstein were among the notable physicists in attendance. Read more about how the Werner Erhard (est) Foundation created this event.

Presentations by the Werner Erhard Foundation

The Werner Erhard Foundation funded and organized public programs and national speaking tours in order to present the ideas of prominent philosophers, scientists, and theologians to the public. By 1980, the Werner Erhard Foundation had sponsored 31 of these presentations, which were attended by 57,000 people in cities throughout the US. The global thinker R. Buckminster Fuller; British philosopher Douglas Harding; an eminent leader of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa; and a world renowned siddha yogi, Swami Muktananda were among the presentations given. Read more at the Werner Erhard Foundation website.