Bill and Flora Hewlett had a deep and abiding commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area in which they lived. Today, their foundation not only makes grants to organizations working on major national and global issues, but also those that work on local issues. Through our Serving Bay Area Communities grantmaking, each of the foundation’s permanent programs provide funding to nonprofits that serve the region’s disadvantaged communities.
Goals
Address some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most pressing problems, including developing strong leadership, revitalizing urban parks, reducing teen pregnancy, and improving student achievement and teacher retention in low-income communities.
Drawing on the deep experience of our staff, our programs support organizations working in disadvantaged communities across the Bay Area. Our Global Development and Population Program has funded efforts like the 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, which provides health services and sexual health education with the goal of reducing teen and unplanned pregnancies there.
Our Environment Program supports efforts to improve outdoor recreational opportunities, transit availability, and reduce environmental impact on disadvantaged communities. A grant to the Trust for Public Land, for example, helps revitalize urban parks through the Parks for the People-Bay Area Program.
The Hewlett Foundation also supports the Community Leadership Project, a partnership with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and James Irvine Foundation. Working together, we have funded general operating support, leadership development, and technical assistance for hundreds of organizations serving low-income people and communities of color in the Bay Area as well as on the Central Coast and in the San Joaquin Valley.