The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced today that Eli Sugarman, who previously led the foundation’s Cyber Initiative, will join the foundation as Director of Special Projects. In this role, he will support the foundation’s president, Amber D. Miller, in managing the institution’s Special Projects portfolio, which has been used for unique catalytic opportunities, collaborative grantmaking, and exploring new areas of work.
Sugarman brings a wealth of experience working at the intersection of security and emerging technologies, as well as deep knowledge of philanthropic strategy. Most recently, he served as a senior fellow with the Special Competitive Studies Project, a Schmidt philanthropy, where he worked on projects related to technology policy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and trust and safety. He currently serves on the board of ROOST.tools (Robust Online Safety Tools), which he helped incubate and launch while at the Special Competitive Studies Project. He also serves on the boards of the Institute for Security and Technology and Girl Security and is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Cybersecurity Group.
“Eli’s experience scoping and scaling new grantmaking efforts, and his deep knowledge of Hewlett and the way we work, will be hugely valuable to the foundation, and to what I hope to achieve with our Special Projects portfolio,” said Hewlett Foundation President Amber D. Miller. “I’m looking forward to welcoming him back to the foundation, and to working with him to explore new areas where the foundation can have a real impact.”
Earlier in his career, Sugarman held positions with the Oversight Board, Gryphon Partners, the Afghanistan Legal Education Project and the United States Department of State. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Middlebury College and a law degree from Stanford Law School.
Sugarman will join the foundation on April 14.