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Established to promote, support and fund research, investigative journalism, publications, videos and related initiatives, the TRACE Foundation advances commercial transparency and anti-bribery education. Through scholarships, prizes and grants awarded to individuals and organizations, it helps deepen understanding of the causes of corruption and the most effective ways to address it.
Funded by TRACE International, the Foundation operates under the guidance of an independent board with sole authority over project selection, execution and the distribution of funds—together, these efforts help drive meaningful progress in the global fight against corruption.
Given the extraordinary pressure on investigative journalism in the U.S. and many autocratic countries, the TRACE Foundation will shift its focus in 2026 from recognizing and rewarding past journalism to supporting future efforts with grants.
Luisa García Tellez and Lilia Saúl Rodríguez's work uncovered the consequences of a decades-long drive to privatize pensions across Latin America: poor returns, excessive fees, opaque transactions and questionable investments.
Sveriges Television of Sweden, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen of Germany, and Confluence Media of India's reporting documented a double standard that allowed a host of unethical and possibly illegal practices to flourish at the India operations of Swedish company Scania.
An honorable mention went to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Reuters, the Times of Malta and Suddeutsche Zeitung for their investigation “Trail of Murdered Journalist’s Reporting Leads from Malta to China,” carried out as part of The Daphne Project led by Forbidden Stories.
A second honorable mention went to Zack Kopplin of the Government Accountability Project and Margaux Benn of Le Figaro for their investigation “How Afghanistan’s President Helped His Brother and a U.S. Contractor Secure a Lucrative Mineral Processing Permit,” published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
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