Highest Common Denominator Fund

Mission

Highest Common Denominator Fund (HCD Fund) is a nonprofit corporation organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is dedicated to enhancing public education, promoting and defending human rights, fighting the cruelty and hardships caused by prejudice and discrimination and the promotion of real market development economics as the only sustainable answer to global poverty.

Who Do We Support?

The Angola Trilogy

Since 2009 HCD Fund has supported public education and potential reform of the criminal justice system through the screenings of three films: The Farm, The Farm: 10 Down and most recently Cast The First Stone. All staged at the largest maximum-security prison in America: Angola Prison, located in Louisiana.

Cast The First Stone – Created in 2013
The Farm: 10 Down – Created in 2009
The Farm – Created in 1998

 

We recognize the impact of storytelling is dramatically amplified when the storytelling is leveraged alongside trusted organizations.  We take great pride in the company we keep and the valued relationships that we have formed to stand behind our mission.

In addition to supporting outreach for media and social change, HCD Fund supports indigenous organizations and their members in the creation of new media assets to fight censorship, prejudice, oppression and discrimination in the United States and other emerging democracies in the fight for freedom of speech, civil liberties and gender equality.  To that end, we have partnered with the student owned, independent network Mideast Youth, in hopes of furthering peace and human rights.

Gabriel City

In 2009, HCD Fund launched Gabriel City in response to the tens of millions of Americans directly affected by our criminal justice system.  At GabrielCity.com, we come together to share our stories and help to shape new ones. Inmates and formerly incarcerated, family members of those serving time, men and women under community supervision, professionals in the field of criminal justice and corrections, and victims of crime; we support and respect each other as we work to break the endless cycle of crime and incarceration that afflicts our nation.  Gabriel City will help promote a national dialogue of the criminal justice system as well as promote community awareness of the issues through web outreach, education, interactive social networking and information.  Additionally, Gabriel City will be the catalyst for implementing a nationwide outreach campaign that will utilize documentary film screenings and Q&A discussion about criminal justice issues throughout our local communities.

Louisiana State Penitentiary Television (LSPTv)

Over 10 years of filming inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) in Angola, producing a series of award-winning films, director Jonathan Stack has worked with many inmates on a variety of paths, and all have witnessed the transformative power of storytelling in the lives of the men involved. A small, closed-circuit station currently broadcasts church services and occasional events to the prison population. Highest Common Denominator Media Group will bring to LSP world-class training, programming, experts, and technology, and build a 3,000 square foot, state-of-the-art broadcast facility, to be called “Angola Studios”. LSPTv will be run by trained inmate staff and will broadcast educational programming, judicial and life skills training, and sports and entertainment, all from inside one of the oldest prisons in the United States. Click here to watch the LSPTv trailer.

Board of Directors

Directing the work of the HCD Fund is an outstanding Board of Directors whose expertise included policy, media, private equity, technology, development economics and filmmaking.