ROCKPORT — The Institute for Global Ethics has received a $200,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to support its leadership transition planning process following the unexpected death earlier this year of the institute’s president, Dr. Rushworth M. Kidder, who founded the institute in 1990.

IGE was founded to promote ethical behavior by increasing awareness of ethical values, providing practical tools for making ethical decisions and encouraging moral action based on those decisions. IGE has succeeded in making ethics both practical and practiced, bridging the gap between moral philosophy and daily life. Many of life’s greatest challenges involve right-versus-right dilemmas between competing moral arguments; IGE’s approach enables people to be more cooperative and less polarized in the face of dilemmas. Among IGE’s clients are top corporations, government agencies and some of the country’s largest public school districts.

The Board of Directors of IGE has embarked upon this planning process to enable the institute to assess and respond to its current needs and determine its future direction before the search for the next long-term leader is launched. The board has also engaged John Corwin, an experienced professional nonprofit interim leader, to serve as interim executive director.

“We are very grateful to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its support at this pivotal moment,” said Paul McAuliffe, chairman of the Board of Directors of IGE. “We are also most fortunate that Dr. Kidder leaves behind a respected and time-tested body of both theory and practice, embodied in the Ethical Fitness seminar and other training that IGE continues to offer, and which equips IGE to continue to advance his vision.”

Kidder was a trustee of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for more than 20 years. The Mott Foundation, established in 1926 by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. The foundation, with 2011 year-end assets of approximately $2.13 billion, made 456 grants totaling $89.3 million. For more information visit www.mott.org.

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