Movement
When Jim Luce founded Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) in 1999, he had no idea it would grow into an international movement. A Google search today reveals tens of thousands of mentions of “Orphans International” on the Internet. In 1999 there was none. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, the idea caught fire. Today, there are over 100 “Orphans International” organizations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas – but only one Orphans International Worldwide.
The mission of Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) is to help orphaned or abandoned children grow into solid leaders of the world through a sound structure that is simultaneously Interfaith, because there are many paths up the mountain; Interracial, because there is but one race – the human race; International, because our neighbors are our family; Intergenerational, because there is much to learn from our elders; and Internet-Connected, because the world today is at our fingertips.
UNICEF estimates that the number of orphaned children worldwide is about 163 million, largely due to the AIDS pandemic, natural disasters, low world health standards, immense poverty, and food shortages. In Haiti, where most residents live in extreme poverty, there are approximately 300,000 orphaned children. In nations particularly vulnerable to conflict, that number is growing every day.
When Jim Luce founded Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) in 1999, he had no idea it would grow into an international movement. A Google search today reveals tens of thousands of mentions of “Orphans International” on the Internet. In 1999 there was none. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, the idea caught fire. Today, there are over 100 “Orphans International” organizations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas – but only one Orphans International Worldwide.
Honorary Advisors. The Global Advisors to Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) have included luminaries such as H.E. Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, former U.S. Congressman the Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman, and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary.
Board of Directors The Corporate Board of Directors is comprised of Jim Luce, President and C.E.O.; William Bauer, Ph.D., Vice President; Tong “Tony” Wu, J.D., Secretary; Jonathan “Bix” Luce, Treasurer; and members Mathew Tendean Luce and Gabi Zyskowska. Dr. Kazuko Hillyer Tatsumura is Vice President Emeritus.
Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) was founded by Jim Luce in 1999 as a response to the global crisis facing orphaned children. Inspired by his own adopted son Mathew and encouraged by his child psychologist mother, Jim established a network of locally incorporated homes to house and educate orphaned children though traditional ‘full-care.’ The primary aim is Raising Global Leaders.
GLOBAL STANDARDS
OIW has set forth Global Standards for international orphan care, covering both full care and family care of orphaned or abandoned children. The OIW Global Standards – about 20 pages long – are posted online. This is the only standard for international orphan care readily available to the public.
They were approved and amended at OIW’s biennial World Congresses held in Bali (2004), Aceh (2005), Columbia University (2006), and NYU Medical School (2008). These Global Standards include OIW’s non-participation in international adoption.
To learn more about their efforts and access additional resources, click here.
Founder Jim Luce
Jim Luce. Former banker Jim Luce is an organizer, philanthropist, international development specialist, writer, and publisher. He founded Orphans International Worldwide in 1999, which became affiliated with the United Nations in 2004.
Wall Street
Luce began his career as an Assistant Eurobond Portfolio Manager with Daiwa Bank on Wall Street upon his return from studying at Waseda University in Tokyo in 1983 at the age of 23. He was the first Japanese-speaking American manager hired by the New York branch of Daiwa Bank. He went on to work with Merrill Lynch and Rhône Capital.
Congressional Recognition
Luce left the financial world for the second time after the 2004 Tsunami. For his work with orphans, Luce was awarded the Certificate of U.S. Congressional Recognition that year. Luce was anointed the “Tsunami Saint” by the New York Post for his work with orphans in Indonesia in 2005. He was recognized again by Congress in 2007. He has occasionally faced danger in the field (BBC) and has since raised over $2.5 million for orphaned children in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Writer & Publisher
In 2008 he began to write about his work for the Huffington Post and Daily Kos, in columns on “Thought Leaders and Global Citizens.” At his 50th birthday party in 2009 he announced the launch of The Stewardship Report revolving around the universal theme “Connecting the World.”
Foundation
Luce has created the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation with the purpose of supporting young global leaders bettering humanity.
Dear Friend,
More than 25 years ago I envisioned building a network of full-care orphanages in the Global South (“Developing World”) with a standard far higher than existed. I had witnessed how impoverished these child-warehouses could be when I adopted my own son, Mathew, then ten months of age. His orphanage in Indonesia was so destitute I was asked to leave his tattered t-shirt behind for the next child.
My mother, a child psychologist, encouraged me to bring this vision to life. Later, beginning with my portion of her estate, I created an organization to build small homes for children who had lost their parents to the Tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and a hurricane in Haiti. I then donated my pension from Wall Street.
After the Tsunami, Orphans International Worldwide expanded our model to include ‘family-care,’ placing children far too numerous for my organization to handle inside their own extended families, providing health care and education to both children and caregivers.
Over the last quarter century, OIW has supported children in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Ghana, India, Nepal, Kenya, Afghanistan – and even the Sudan. But orphanages are a stop-gap measure that cannot support the tremendous need. Today, we are also doing all that we can to help End Orphanages Globally in place of ‘family care.’
Before I began Orphans International Worldwide, I realized that I could only do 100% of what I can do. I have done my best to give 100%. Now I am asking you to give what you can.
Make your contribution for OIW’s children here.
Or mail a check to our executive office:
540 Main Street, Suite 418, New York, N.Y.10044
I can’t do it alone. Stand with me. Together, we can End Orphanages Globally.
Cheers,
Jim Luce
Founder & C.E.O.
Orphans International Worldwide
OUR PLEDGE
ACCOUNTABILITY
To take care of orphaned children globally – and to be lead NGO within an international movement – places great responsibility on an organization and its leadership. Towards this end, Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) instituted Global Standards in 1999 that have been posted on-line since 2001. Global Honorary Advisors include or have included H.E. Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman, and Mr. Peter Yarrow. OIW’s electronic newsletter, OI Worldwide InterNews, has been registered with the U.S. Library of Congress and was published from 2001 until 2011. It has been replaced by The Stewardship Report (www.stewardshipreport.org) published by The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation. Funding. OIW is funded in part by The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation (www.lucefoundation.org) with additional support from generous friends around the world. OIW was founded with the help of White & Case and Skadden Arps as a 501(c)3 organization incorporated in the State of New York. OIW has a long tradition of volunteer support and donated or subsidized office space, allowing its administrative costs to be kept well under 10%.
PROJECT NATIONS
OIW supports both the small home-based full care and community center-based family care of orphaned and abandoned children. OIW stands emphatically against the institutionalization of children in Dicksonian warehouses and prefers family care to full care. OIW supports “Ending Orphanages Globally” in favor of children remaining with extended families. OIW pays particular attention to the needs of orphans as they ‘age out’ of the programs it supports.
Orphanage Accreditation
Full-care orphanages in the Global South (“Developing World”) may apply for Orphans International Worldwide Certification of Compliance with Global Standards.
As part of Orphans International Worldwide’s Vision 2050, orphans who age-out (‘graduate’) from these accredited homes are eligible for free college tuition towards a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree from Dudley Luce College (www.dudleyluce.edu) as of 2025. This Vision 2050 program is known as Project Orphan Education.
Full-care orphanages may apply for certification / accreditation
Click Here
GLOBAL CITIZENS
In the Initial Report of Orphans International Worldwide, written from 1998-1999, founder Jim Luce wrote, “Without saints, secular or divine, sanctity can too easily be viewed as mere abstraction. Our children need heroes. The courage of Mahatma Gandhi and the brilliance of Albert Einstein make sainthood a reality for us all.” In his Initial Report, Luce called for 36 real-life saints to serve as role models for the children of OIWW as part of the process of Raising Global Citizens.
These global heroes included:
Mahatma Gandhi
Oscar Romero
The Dalai Lama
Thich Nhat Hanh
Katharine Drexel
Dorothy Day
Woodrow Wilson
Albert Schweitzer
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mother Teresa
Desmond Tutu
Nelson Mandela
Yitzhak Rabin
Pearl S. Buck
Menachem Begin
Heinrich Böll
Willy Brandt
Albert Camus
Winston Churchill
Albert Einstein
T.S. Eliot Gabriel
García Márquez
Dag Hammarskjöld
Ernest Hemingway
Herman Hesse
Yasunari Kawabata
Rudyard Kipling
Le Duc Tho
Sinclair Lewis
Claire Boothe Luce
Thomas Mann
Eugene O’Neil
Anwar Sadat
Jean-Paul Sartre
Eisaku Sato
Isaac Bashevis Singer
John Steinbeck
Rabindranath Tagore
Elie Wiesel
Since then, Orphans International Worldwide (OIW) has presented its Global Citizenship Award for Leadership in Helping Humanity.
Recipients have included U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Hellenic Republic Parliamentarian Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary, and WCBS Anchor Cindy Hsu.
