Arts for LA is a leading voice for the arts in greater Los Angeles, working to engage individuals and organizations to advocate for access to the arts across all local communities. Its ACTIVATE Arts Advocacy Leadership Program trains both arts education professionals and committed citizens to become more effective advocates for the arts in Los…
Fossil fuel subsidies are “the world’s dumbest policy,” argued the editorial board of Bloomberg Media last September. They persist, despite relatively low oil prices. And while fuel subsidies can take many forms, there is overwhelming consensus among researchers that the estimated $5.3 trillion in fuel subsidies worldwide each year is bad for people and the planet. Although many governments acknowledge these facts and seem …
Andrea Keller Helsel joined the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in May as program officer for western conservation, an issue that the foundation has been dedicated to since its establishment more than 50 years ago. We sat down recently with Andrea to talk about progress in protecting the West’s treasured places, and new directions in conservation. …
When you think of a Congolese miner, I bet you picture a man. But one in four miners in Africa are women — like Bibicha Sanao, who pans for gold to support herself and her family. Sanao is featured in Geoffrey York’s excellent Guardian and Mail article from northeastern Congo where “unequal pay and cultural …
Jonathan Pershing, former Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State and lead U.S. negotiator to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, joined the Hewlett Foundation as environment program director in January. Five months into the job, we sat down with him to discuss the impact of U.S. exit from the Paris climate accord, climate…
About a month ago, Hewlett Foundation’s open educational resources grantees gathered in Canada to reflect on progress in the OER field and how equity plays a role. Coming out of the conference, we asked education program officer TJ Bliss what trends he’s keeping an eye on in the OER space. Where are we in the …
The introduction of terms like “fake news” and “post-truth” in recent years doesn’t bode well for democracy, which hinges on the need of citizens to either share a common understanding of facts, or willingly defer to institutions to parse truth from fiction. American institutions – government, media and elites – used to reflect a broad…
MENLO PARK, Calif.— Statement of Environment Program Director Jonathan Pershing, former Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State, on behalf of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in response to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement: “This decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement is a grave mistake that will harm …
With a global ransomware attack on more than 150 countries creating disruptions for thousands of businesses, hospitals and universities and the repercussions from last year’s DNC hack still a matter of intense public interest, the challenge of crafting effective cyber policies is only becoming more urgent. Earlier this year, the Center for Strategic and International …
Recently, ClimateWorks Foundation and the Climate Action Tracker published a report, “Faster and Cleaner 2: Kick-starting Global Decarbonization,” that summarized progress in three major sectors of the economy — power, transportation and buildings. The good news is that renewable energy is transforming electricity in ways that have exceeded expectations. Likewise, the rise of electric vehicles…