Editor’s note: This is the fourth of six reflections by Ruth Levine, Director of the Global Development and Population Program, before her eight-year term ends. The first post was “Closing the Gap Between Social Movements and Policy Change.” The second was “Strength in Numbers: Taking a Field-Level View.” The third was “All Happy Grantees are…

Editor’s note: This is the third of six reflections by Ruth Levine, Director of the Global Development and Population Program, before her eight-year term ends. The first post was “Closing the Gap Between Social Movements and Policy Change.” The second was “Strength in Numbers:  Taking a Field-Level View.” In eight years, I’ve had about 750…

In 2007, cyber threats weren’t even mentioned in the intelligence community’s list of worldwide threats to U.S. national security; this year, cyber is the top threat—for the seventh year in a row. But while the scope and scale of the threat is growing, and affecting the U.S. on political, economic, and military fronts, decisionmakers in…

Editor’s note: This is the second of six reflections by Ruth Levine, as she approaches the end of her eight-year term as Director of the Global Development and Population Program. The first was “Closing the Gap Between Social Movements and Policy Change.” One day in 2002, when I was at the Center for Global Development,…

Editor’s note: Between now and the end of May 2019, as Ruth Levine wraps up her eight-year term as Director of the Global Development and Population Program, we’ll publish six reflections. This first is on what she’s learned about the importance of social movements in the work we do to promote positive change. Jump to…

Earth Day provides a time to reflect both on past environmental successes and future challenges. We have many successes to celebrate, though unfortunately a great number of challenges still to overcome. First, some of the good news: This past year has seen a record number of new zero-emission electricity generating facilities come on line, and…

In a year when public support for conservation of our land and water is at an all-time high, and so many Western candidates for public office ran and won on pro-public lands platforms, it is regardless still extraordinary to see the bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress when it passed in February, and President Trump…

Peter Rivera recently joined the Hewlett Foundation as an Education program officer. He works with our partners to spread, scale, and support educators in effective teaching and learning practices. Peter comes to us from the nation’s second largest public school district, Los Angeles Unified. We spoke with Peter about his work at the foundation and…

This post is based on comments Sarah Lucas made at the 2018 World Data Forum Financing for More and Better Data panel. Sarah thanks her colleagues Ruth Levine, Norma Altshuler and Sarah Jane Staats for helping craft the ideas outlined here. The prolonged U.S. government shutdown has raised awareness about government functions we take for…

Among the most corrosive developments of recent years—one that predates the election of Donald Trump—has been a breakdown in our ability to debate and reason with others with whom we disagree. The term du jour, “tribalism,” replaced the earlier “polarization” precisely to capture the added ingredient of animosity that has made even conversation across partisan…