MENLO PARK, Calif. – The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has authorized $44,858,748 in new grants to a total of 175 different organizations. Some highlighted new grants awarded include:
Education – Providing Support for California’s Teachers
The Foundation announced a total of $6,158,000 in grants to education programs nationwide, including a $1,500,000 grant to the Santa Cruz-based Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. This grant will provide much-needed research and outreach that will focus on improving teacher quality, ensuring that fully prepared teachers are available to all students, and developing teaching strategies for English language learners and special education students.
Environment – Helping Vulnerable Communities Fight Air Pollution
The Foundation announced $12,340,000 in grants from its Environment Program, including $425,000 in grants to a host of grassroots organizations working for clean air in low income California communities. Organizations receiving funding include: the Liberty Hill Foundation, which works with a host of community groups in Los Angeles; the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment, which provides legal support to community-based organizations; and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, an organization working to reduce air pollution in Los Angeles ports.
Global Development – Assisting Non Profits in Mexico
The Foundation’s new Global Development Program is making grants to alleviate poverty in the developing world, and announces $4,533,000 in new grants. The new program will also continue key aspects of the Foundation’s former U.S.-Latin American Relations Program. Part of the new program’s evolving strategy will include a focus on supporting a vibrant civil society in Mexico by supporting the development of local philanthropic organizations. In this area, the Foundation has awarded $175,000 to FECHAC (Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahaense), an organization based in Chihuahua, Mexico, that provides resources and assistance to community-based organizations in that region.
Performing Arts – Supporting Bay Area Music
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most vibrant and diverse musical environments in the country, and the Hewlett Foundation provides support to a wide spectrum of music organizations through its Performing Arts Program. The current set of grants is dedicated to helping to continue the important contribution that music plays in the education, economic development, and quality of life for audiences and communities throughout the Bay Area. The Foundation has announced that it will make $5,267,000 in grants to organizations that span the musical spectrum – 37 in all – from American Bach Soloists to San Jose Jazz to the world music venue Ashkenaz.
Philanthropy – Strengthening the Field of Philanthropy
The Philanthropy Program makes grants to support organizations that conduct research, educate donors, and provide a variety of tools to advance the field of philanthropy. The program has awarded $520,875 in new grants, including a $200,000 grant to Social Venture Partners International, which will help strengthen their network of over two thousand donors in twenty three cities throughout North America.
Population – New Approaches to HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Services
The Population Program has made $8,356,945 in grants, including a planning grant of $75,000 to Oxfam Great Britain to learn how to better coordinate efforts in Africa to provide both HIV/AIDS and family planning/reproductive health services. The grant will begin by focusing on two African countries, Mozambique and Malawi, and could prove to be a model for programs throughout southern Africa.
Regional Grants – Helping Bay Area Students Succeed
The Hewlett Foundation has had a long history of making grants to support disadvantaged communities in the Bay Area. The Foundation’s new Regional Grants Program will continue that work in collaboration with the Foundation’s other programs, and in partnership with other grantmaking organizations. The program has awarded $1,296,210 in new grants, including a $500,000 grant to the East Palo Alto-based BUILD (Businesses United in Investing, Lending and Development), an organization that helps disadvantaged students in East Palo Alto graduate from high school and go on to college. Though 70 percent of East Palo Alto high school students drop out of school, an astonishing 100 percent of BUILD program participants have graduated high school and now attend college.
About the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Hewlett Foundation makes grants to solve some of the most difficult social and environmental problems facing society. The Foundation focuses its grantmaking on activities in education, environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, population, and makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation has an endowment of approximately $6.3 billion, and in 2004 made gifts and grants totaling $268,041,368.