Women’s health, reproductive rights, and economic opportunities are front page news. They’re at the heart of debates over whether to roll back the Affordable Care Act’s broad coverage of birth control, restrict government reimbursement for services provided by Planned Parenthood, provide paid family leave, and expand child care options. And women around the world will…
When the Hewlett Foundation introduced its deeper learning grantmaking in 2010, the goal was to spread a concrete set of skills that American students should be learning. The strategy anticipated that high schoolers who gain academic knowledge alongside inter and intra-personal skills in school will be better prepared as college students, workers and citizens. At…
The people Jessica González-Rojas works with along the Rio Grande in Texas are not defined by one issue. Reproductive justice, immigration, access to health and child care, LGBTQ rights, the environment and socioeconomic policy are connected and affect their daily lives. The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health that González-Rojas runs helps Latina leaders and…
From Mozart’s Don Giovanni to Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring, commissions have long helped artists achieve their unique vision. And while today’s artists develop, fund and share their work in varied ways, commissions are still critical to fostering artistic expression. That’s why the Hewlett Foundation launched our Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions, which will support the creation…
History is replete with examples of societies that vanished when the local climate changed. But the threat we face from climate change today is much greater than that, because it’s not local, it’s global. Human activity is changing the climate of the entire world, and the impact will be felt everywhere and by everyone—particularly those…
The best think tanks around the world provide timely, independent research that informs policy decisions and improves lives. Yet many of these organizations struggle to explain how they measure the impact of their work. My view is that moving beyond numbers — and talking instead about how they are positioned, what they decide to work …
Stuart Butler, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, is no stranger to working across the political spectrum on complex issues. Previously, he spent 35 years at the Heritage Foundation as director of the Center for Policy Innovation and vice president for Domestic and Economic Policy Studies. He has worked with lawmakers and…
When staff and board members at foundations need trusted information about philanthropic practice, there’s one source that tops their list: their peers. In a new, first-of-its-kind study of how U.S. foundations access and use knowledge about effective philanthropy, most foundation staff and board members shared that they rely on their peers and colleagues, as opposed…
How is the social sector adapting to solve the world’s most pressing problems? That’s the theme of a two-day symposium the Hewlett Foundation hosted at Stanford University recently to mark our 50th anniversary. Over 300 philanthropy professionals and nonprofit leaders from large and small organizations gathered to discuss the history and future of philanthropy, how to work …
Editor’s note: This essay is part of a series of symposium reflections. To mark our 50th anniversary, the Hewlett Foundation hosted a special symposium last December at Stanford University. More than 300 leaders from across the social sector – foundation executives and nonprofit founders, conservatives and liberals, artists and policy wonks – joined us for …