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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.
The 2017 TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting was awarded to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for The Panama Papers and to freelance Journalist, Dorothee Myriam Kellou, for her investigation into Lafarge's operations in Syria.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Elias Mambo of The Zimbabwe Independent Newspaper, for an investigation chronicling how Zimbabwe's government circumvented tender procedures to corruptly award a power energy deal to a company that had not submitted its bid, and to Michael Kavanagh, Thomas Wilson and Franz Wild, reporters at Bloomberg, awarded for their work entitled "Congo's Secret Web of Power" exploring the network of businesses built up by President Joseph Kabila and his relatives that reach into every corner of the Congo's economy.
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