The U.S.-Baltic Foundation records, 1990-2013, documents the work of the U.S.-Baltic Foundation, a non-profit organization that aimed to support the democratization of the Baltic States after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The collection consists of financial reports, legal documents, newspaper articles, newsletters, magazines, and a small number of photographs documenting the Foundation's activities and programs in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. It also contains briefings, which offer broad information on various projects, monthly events, and final reports on a project's progress. Proposals, agreements, and modifications of grants awarded by the U.S.-Baltic Foundation are also included. The U.S.-Baltic Foundation (USBF) was founded in 1990 as a response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the United States' desire to restore independence and democracy to the Baltic States. In 1990, they also obtained non-profit status. As part of the U.S. Democracy Network, the U.S.-Baltic Foundation received a 2.4-million-dollar budget from Congress to work with Baltic organizations and embassies to aid in the democratization of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. USBF held Baltic Municipal Management Seminars and established Municipal Training Centers, which taught local Baltic officials how to govern in a capitalist system. Municipal Training Centers were created in partnership with universities in the Baltic States, including the University of Tartu in Estonia, the University of Latvia, and the Kaunas Technological University in Lithuania, emphasizing decentralization and providing opportunities to visit America and observe how government operated in a capitalist society. USBF's operations slowed in 2011. In 2019, USBF donated $250,000, the last of its cash assets, to the University of Central Florida for a new dual undergraduate program in public administration and nonprofit management in partnership with Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania.
