On Monday, the government of Rwanda hosted a group of environmental experts, philanthropists, business leaders, and government representatives to mark the adoption of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Sixty-seven countries ratified the amendment—named after the place of its adoption, Kigali, Rwanda—to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, chemicals used…
Commissioning a new work of art requires a leap of faith and a healthy imagination—from both the artists bringing something new into the world, and those supporting it. For our Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions, we asked local nonprofits to partner with world-class artists on new work that will inspire, engage, and challenge audiences when it…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
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 …
The Hewlett Foundation announced today $1.2 million in grants to help local arts organizations affected by the wildfires that devastated communities across the North Bay in the fall of 2017. Among the eight organizations receiving grants from the fund is Creative Sonoma, a program of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board that supports the local …
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…
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…