The One World Program

The One World Program was the Fund’s first major, comprehensive reorganization of its program architecture. Developed by a review committee chaired by David Rockefeller, Jr., One World was unveiled in 1983. It expressed the vision and values of the cousins’ generation, setting the new direction for the RBF under their leadership. At the same time, it continued the Fund’s core commitments to building a healthy, sustainable environment and to international cooperation and understanding. The new rubric reorganized RBF grantmaking into two main categories: resources and security, often combining the two emphases in complex, interdisciplinary projects. One World was a response to the global situation, which the committee observed had become dangerously nationalistic, isolationist, heavily armed, and destructive of natural resources. It recognized that nations had become economically and ecologically interdependent, and resource consumption, environmental degradation, and international security must therefore be addressed on a regional and global basis.

database icon

Browse the major events in the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's history