Conference Program

Conference Center

Pocantico Conference Center Online Application

Since its opening in April 1994, The Pocantico Center has both complemented and extended the impact of the Fund's grantmaking programs. The Pocantico Center serves the common good locally, nationally, and globally in creative and innovative ways that are consistent with Rockefeller family philanthropic traditions and that further the missions and reflect the values of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The conference center provides a setting where nonprofit organizations and public-sector institutions can bring together people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives to engage critical issues related to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's philanthropic program, leading to new levels of understanding and creative resolution of problems.

Programs for conferences are designed by RBF staff, grantees, and outside groups whose objectives are consistent with those of the Fund. Programs are selected based on five criteria:

  • The direct and strong relationship of the conference to the RBF's program objectives;
  • The diversity of perspectives, range of opinions, and breadth of experience that will be represented;
  • The involvement of skilled, experienced conference leaders, organizers, or facilitators;
  • The clarity of conference objectives, of the agenda that will accomplish those objectives and, as appropriate, of the steps to be taken following the conference; and
  • The demonstrated added value of having the Pocantico Center as the site of the meeting.

Approximately 60 meetings (conferences, seminars, and workshops) are held annually at the center, the majority of them two- or three-day events designed by RBF staff, grantees, or other nonprofit or public sector organizations. The Pocantico Center also hosts a limited number of foundation retreats and smaller one-day meetings. Certain RBF-sponsored meetings result in the publication of occasional papers; these Pocantico Papers are intended to bring meeting proceedings or outcomes to the broader attention of policymakers, specialists in the field, and the general public.