Stephen B. Heintz, President of the RBF, announces New Grantmaking Guidelines and Restructuring of the Fund's Program

Dear Colleagues and Friends:    

I am pleased to announce that the Rockefeller Brothers Fund restructured its program areas and implemented new grantmaking guidelines as of January 1, 2003.

The four new program areas are Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, Peace and Security, and Charles E. Culpeper Human Advancement. The RBF will also support cross-programmatic grantmaking in a limited number of RBF "Pivotal Places." These are countries or regions that have special importance with regard to the Fund's substantive concerns and that the Fund deems to have disproportionate significance for the future of a surrounding region, an ecosystem, or, indeed, the world. As before, the Fund's Pocantico Conference Center will continue to extend the reach of the RBF's programs through conferences and meetings that address the Fund's priorities.

This restructuring is the culmination of an 18-month strategic review of existing program areas as well as the larger universe of needs, challenges, and opportunities facing us at the dawn of the 21st century. It was conducted by the Fund's trustees and staff and included input from grantees, academic experts, independent consultants, and colleagues in the philanthropic community.

The new guidelines required some difficult decisions, such as ending the Fund's grantmaking in early childhood education and scaling back the RBF's geographic reach within Asia. But the result represents an important step forward in the RBF's commitment to fulfilling its mission of working to promote social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.

Sincerely,
Stephen B. Heintz
President
Rockefeller Brothers Fund