What if testing could be used to reveal what students in grades K-12 know, understand, and feel about the events they’ve lived through in 2020? A 2001 National Research Council (NRC) report defined assessment as “a tool designed to observe students’ behavior and produce data that can be used to draw reasonable inferences about what…
The COVID pandemic helped accelerate efforts to modernize Congress. U.S. Democracy Program Officer Jean Bordewich weighs in on the changes and what’s in store for the future. This is part of Think Again, a series of essays from Hewlett Foundation experts exploring how the current crises are catalyzing change—and what that could mean for reimagining…
About a year ago, we introduced a refreshed strategic framework for our Performing Arts Program that recognized who, how, and where the arts are being created, experienced, and practiced are changing, and that we needed to change with it. We never imagined the pace of change would accelerate so dramatically. We had planned to begin…
The events of this year and the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd have impacted many of us in deeply personal ways. As a Black woman, I often wonder how to show up as my authentic self and use what power I have to undo systemic racism. At the Hewlett Foundation, I…
This post originally appeared in Alliance. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a gut punch to the world. Millions of people infected. Hundreds of thousands dead. Hospitals (again) overflowing. And the effects disproportionately falling on BIPOC communities facing systemic racism and structural inequality. While this may be a once-in-a-century crisis, it does not stand alone. It…
Leticia Corona is a fellow with the Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program. Last fall, Leticia shared Hewlett’s expanded grantmaking to support youth-led organizing, engagement, and leadership in U.S. reproductive health, rights, and justice. As she comes to the end of her three-year term this week, she reflects on her work with Hewlett colleagues…
“Preparing for Better Times: Restoring Data Rights in the Post-Pandemic World” was the provocative title that pulled me out of bed before 5 a.m. on Thursday, April 23. Open Institute and DataReady brought together folks from across at least 11 time zones for a virtual forum. Why would I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m.…
On this 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, we are all in an unsettled place. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken tens of thousands of lives and containment measures have caused unprecedented economic disruption. Our world has turned upside down. Beyond the pandemic disaster, other dangers — most notably the very real threat and current…
The following is a message sent by Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer to the foundation’s grantees and nonprofit partners. We are sharing it as a matter of transparency: Dear grantees and partners: I’m writing to update you about some decisions the foundation has made concerning grantmaking during this difficult time. I do so while…
Government officials around the world make thousands of decisions a day. How to allocate budgets, how to design and target public programs, where to invest in infrastructure or public services, when to expand or end a program based on its performance. These decisions are consequential for the people governments are meant to serve. Whether or…