OUR 2025
2025 has been a year that strengthened the purpose of the Grieg Foundation.
In a world marked by both uncertainty and possibility, we have seen how arts, culture, and knowledge continue to create meaning, foster connection, and strengthen communities. Throughout the year, we have supported initiatives that nurture creativity, promote inclusion, and contribute to a more sustainable and humane society.
Looking back, 2025 stands as a reminder of the power of long-term commitment and collaboration — and of the vital role philanthropy can play in enabling positive change, today and for generations to come.
HIGHLIGHTS
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Scroll for our 2025 - we look forward to another inspiring year
The year started with a project visit to Kenya, were we visited one of our long standing projects, Right to Sight. The visit was made by our managing director, Ingvild Hestad. She says «Visiting Kwale Eyecenter in Diani, Kenya, was incredibly inspiring and insightful. I got to see how the amazing work that Dr. Helen and her team does every day, gives not only children and people their eyesight back, but their life».
«Creating meaningful, lasting change by building sustainable, local solutions to prevent avoidable blindness»
In February we attended “The Youths Concert” in Grieghallen. Grieg Foundation has been the main partner for this historical concert since 2023. It was a memorable evening, filled with great music and young talents. Our chair, Elna-Kathrine Grieg handed out scholarships, and the People’s Choice Award.
In February, we held our only application round of the year, which meant a strong focus on reviewing applications and identifying new projects through meetings and evaluations. New partners were recommended to the board, while collaborations with reliable, long-standing partners were also renewed through strong project proposals.
This month, we said goodbye to one of our board members, Gry Larsen, as she stepped down from the board. We would like to thank her for her dedication, commitment, and inspiring contributions to the work of the Grieg Foundation.
In March we joined and supported an important campaign directed toward young people’s mental health. “Kampen ingen ser” was a hockey match with a strong focus on men’s mental health.
We continued our partnership with both HER Initiative, and our long-term partner CARE. With new projects periods, we look forward to bringing education, and vocational training for the young girls and women.
April was marked by several project grants. We visited Robin Hood House, Give Music a Chance, and JazzPlass to personally share the good news that they had received support for their projects. In addition, we awarded funding to projects including Dale Oen, CARF, and United World College, among others.
We invited the board and valued colleagues to the opening of Kode’s Harriet Backer exhibition, accompanied by a concert series featuring music by her sister, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, supported by Grieg Foundation. We enjoyed a guided tour of the exhibition, followed by beautiful musical performances by Lydia Hoen Tjore and Christian Grøvlen.
We also launched new webpages dedicated to our impact investment work. These pages provide insight into the investments we have made and the impact they have on society, the world, and the climate.
We are pleased to welcome Kjerstin Hersnes from Grieg Maritime Group as a new member of the board of the Grieg Foundation. We look forward to working with her in her role on the board.
The spring sunshine and the month of May were filled with visits from one of our projects, Sunnaasstiftelsen. We hosted a breakfast gathering and a RIB boat tour for young participants from the Brain Camp Alumni programme. Through our collaboration with NattJazz, we filled the courtyard at USF Verftet with music, dance, and jazz, making JazzPlass an inclusive, free, and vibrant meeting place centred around music.
We have opened a new Sherpa trail in Skredderdalen, made possible through funding from the Grieg Foundation. We hope the trail will inspire more people to get outdoors, support good public health, and bring joy to many hikers for years to come
We also attended the opening of the Bergen International Festival in beautiful spring weather—at last, the city was filled with music and joy. Our partnership with the festival has given the city Festallmenningen, a lively stage in the heart of Bergen, open to everyone and completely free of charge.
June was filled with the Bergen International Festival and many wonderful events at Festallmenningen. We also took part in a leadership gathering with the Grieg Group.
We worked on the annual report, which was published in early July. This gave us the opportunity to reflect on 2024 and the key moments that shaped the year. In 2024, we donated 101 million kroners to projects around the world. Creating a meningful change and great impact for a better world. You can read the annual report here.
In June, we also said goodbye to Elisabeth Grieg, who has served on the board of the Grieg Foundation for several decades. Her dedication, commitment and deep concern for the world have meant a great deal to the foundation’s work and projects. She has shown a particular commitment to women’s rights, and we are grateful for the important contribution she has made through her long-standing service on the board of the Grieg Foundation.
Both July and August was filled with some work, and summer holiday. The team worked on an impact report from the last five years.
September was an active month. Since spring, companies within the Grieg Group had been working on their chosen “Din Hjertesak,” and these initiatives were presented at the annual Kick-Off event. It was a meaningful and rewarding session, where organizations such as Framtidshavet, Forandringshuset, Alltidhjelp.no, Stiftelsen Norsk Luftambulanse, Barnekreftforeningen, and Løvemammaene were selected as this year’s causes. In total, NOK 2.5 million was distributed on behalf of the employees of the Grieg Group.
A new exhibition opened at Oseana on 17th September. Folk og Folkeliv features works from the Grieg Art Collection and is a beautiful exhibition on display until 5th April.
We also welcomed a new board member, Markus Grieg. With several new members joining the board, we held a strategy workshop and set the direction for the years ahead.
October was filled with meaningful impact work. We spent considerable time working with the team and had productive meetings with our partners.
We also took part in the business community fundraising effort for TV-aksjonen. In addition to helping raise funds, we contributed NOK 250,000 on behalf of the Grieg Foundation. This year’s TV-aksjonen supported Atlasalliansen.
In November, we marked the end of a long-standing board tenure as Nicolai Grieg stepped down from the board. We would like to thank him for his dedication, commitment, and the depth of knowledge he brought to the foundation’s board work. His financial perspective and clarity will be greatly missed. We wish him every success in his continued work at Grieg Maritime Group and on other boards.
We had two fantastic project visits during our travels to Tanzania and Uganda. We visited Strømmestiftelsen in Tanzania and Girls Up in Uganda. It was a rich and inspiring journey, where we gained close insight into the projects—and, not least, the people behind them. Read more about the project visits here: Tanzania, Uganda.
As December arrived and Christmas approached, we hosted Christmas breakfasts for all our employees in both Bergen and Oslo. We took the opportunity to highlight the importance of seeing and supporting one another during the holiday season, as not everyone looks forward to Christmas. For many, it is a time of increased financial pressure—often affecting more people than we realise. The board of the Grieg Foundation therefore decided to distribute Christmas donations totalling NOK 1 million, shared between two Norwegian and two international organisations working to make the holiday season better for those who need it most.
Organizations as CARF and Strømmesstiftelsen internationally received support, and KIL-fondet and Frelselsarmeen in Norway. We thank you for making this time a joyfull time for everyone.
