Bridging generational and partisan divides in Congress: Q&A with Millennial Action Project President Steven Olikara

When the 116th Congress was sworn in earlier this month, it included a record 26 millennial representatives according to Pew Research Center’s definition, which includes members born between 1981 and 1996. This is almost five times the number of millennial representatives in the House in the last Congress. Steven Olikara is the founder and president…

How arts organizations are growing the audiences of tomorrow

It’s a typical Wednesday evening at SPiN: the rock music is blaring, the drinks are flowing, and the balls are flying. The only unusual thing about this particular night at the trendy ping-pong bar in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood is the dancing. The place is packed with young artists from the San Francisco…

Building a strong infrastructure for arts and culture organizations in Oakland

Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo is a program officer at Akonadi Foundation, an Oakland, California-based funder focused on racial justice. Her role includes managing the Beloved Community Fund, which supports free public art and cultural events rooted in Oakland’s communities of color. We spoke with her about her work, including a recently launched pilot effort to strengthen…

How more conflict could fix Congress: Q&A with R Street Institute’s James Wallner

James Wallner is a senior fellow at R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization that promotes free markets and limited, effective government. R Street Institute’s work is supported in part by grants from the Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative that seeks to strengthen U.S. democracy and in particular, Congress. Daniel Stid, director of 

Lifting up new voices in tech policy: Four questions for Susan Hennessey

The Hewlett Foundation’s Cyber Initiative aims to build a field of institutions—staffed by experts diverse in background, experience, and perspective—that can develop solutions to pressing policy challenges. One challenge faced by this nascent field is its notorious lack of diversity, which is both reinforced by and reflected in events and news coverage worldwide. The recent 

Why the U.S. needs more cyber translators

In February 2016, a few months after two perpetrators walked into an office holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif., and killed 14 people, a federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to allow the FBI into one of the shooter’s locked iPhone. The Justice Department had made the request to investigate potential terrorism connections. Apple argued that…

Partisan animosity is at a high. Is progress still possible?

Launched in 2014, the Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative focuses on strengthening democracy and its institutions – Congress, in particular – to be more effective in a polarized age. The initiative is nonpartisan in its approach and supports organizations across the ideological spectrum – think tanks, advocacy groups, academic researchers and civic leadership organizations  – who…

Q&A with Hez Norton: What do nonprofit leaders need for a graceful exit?

Hez Norton served as a director of TSNE MissionWorks What’s Next: Leading a Thriving Transition, a program that supports long-time nonprofit leaders to prepare their organizations and themselves for their departure and ensure ongoing sustainability. Applications for 2018’s cohorts are now open. The Hewlett Foundation has supported What’s Next in California in partnership with other 

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