When I started working as a Program Officer on the Hewlett Foundation’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy a year ago, I shifted from being a grantee to becoming a grantmaker—and the difference in perspective was stark. I began thinking about what it means to give money away, and how different it is from raising money. Especially…
We’ve just wrapped up Women’s History Month. This year’s celebration stood out as having an exciting focus on data. Whether taking stock of “what we know and don’t know about women” globally or asking why sex-disaggregated data aren’t sexy—data were front and center. When the pursuit of equity touches on data—for women or other groups…
This is the second in a series of blog posts on fostering equitable partnerships and shifting power in international development. See the first piece by Pat Scheid here. “You’ve just assumed a position of immense power and privilege; you will be hailed by grant seekers as the smartest person with the best ideas in the…
The performing arts sector, in the Bay Area and beyond, is facing a profound set of challenges brought on by the pandemic and stay-at-home orders. The vast majority of arts organizations will be deeply impaired for the foreseeable future, even with the generosity of individual donors keeping many afloat for now, and a second round…
As I enter my final six months at the Hewlett Foundation, it’s a good time to consider what I have learned as a grantmaker. As I have just celebrated a milestone birthday (New Year’s Day 2021) and mark 30+ years in the global development profession, I also find myself (a white American woman) reflecting on…
COVID-19 has altered everything—from where we work, to travel, to how we socialize. And, without a doubt, COVID-19 has changed how we educate our youth. But it may not be a bad thing that schools and teaching will look different when we come out of this crisis. Working in the Long Beach Unified School District…
One of the scariest moments for me as a parent was leaving my boys at their childcare center for the very first time. Little did I know, but this community of teachers, children, and families was going to be foundational, not only in my children’s development, but also in my own as a parent. Over…
My eight-year term at the Hewlett Foundation comes to an end this month. Like all Hewlett program officers, I knew the end date when I was hired; I did not know it would come in the middle of a global pandemic. So much of this job is about building relationships and trust. Not being able…
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was clear that the 2020 election would be challenging. We knew it would be conducted amidst pervasive polarization and partisan rancor, and that disinformation would be a more serious threat than ever before. By spring 2020, though, the situation appeared far more dire than anyone had expected as…
The pandemic has exposed many problems in the global supply chain and left people rethinking whether we need a larger role for government. Jennifer Harris, Director of the Hewlett Foundation’s Economy and Society Initiative, joined POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast to discuss the rise in bipartisan support for industrial policy and the need to find a…