News

The Investigative News Network (INN) has been granted nonprofit 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. INN's new tax status will allow the organization to receive support directly from foundations and other donors, making it easier for the organization to help its member news organizations in producing and distributing reliable investigative and public service reporting.

In 2008, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund launched a foundation-wide project to assess and improve diversity within its operations and grantmaking. The 2012 Diversity Project update summarizes the Fund’s progress in collecting and analyzing data on human resources, operations, grantmaking, public programs, and conference activities. This report also provides a brief update on board diversity, which was previously examined by staff in 2010.

By 2030, the sea level along many of the United States' coasts will rise at least four feet, affecting the nearly five million residents who live in homes on land below this level, according to a report published by Climate Central. New data from the report, Surging Seas, and the accompanying website, are featured in a front-page New York Times article, detailing the sea level rise that has already doubled the annual risk of coastal flooding in the country.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has made revisions to its Southern China program guidelines, primarily aiming to refine the strategies under the environment and health goal. While there has not been a significant change in the direction of the Fund’s current work in southern China, the changes reflect the RBF’s grantmaking experience in the region over the past six years.

The OneVoice Movement, a project of RBF grantee the PeaceWorks Network Foundation, organized a flash mob in Jerusalem's Zion Square in January. The purpose of the flash mob, where participants simultaneously froze in place for five minutes, was to bring attention to the need to move forward on negotiations for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shareholders want to know where corporations are spending their political dollars, according to a new report released by corporate watchdog groups. In an interview on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on February 28, 2012, Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), said investors need to understand the risks of corporate spending in politics.

Not long ago, Nezir Sinani was working for a state-owned power company in Kosovo. As he learned about the detrimental effects of coal on human health and the environment, he decided to make a change. Now, Mr. Sinani is advancing clean energy solutions in Kosovo with RBF grantee the Institute for Development Policy.

RBF grantees the Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc. and Crisis Action, Inc. are among 15 recipients of this year's MacArthur Awards for Creative and Effective Institutions. Both organizations were recognized for demonstrating outstanding innovation and efficacy, with great potential to continue effecting change in the future.

Poet Kwoya Fagin reflects on her residency at The Pocantico Center. The impact of the time and setting were invaluable to her as an artist and as an individual, she says.

Citing new data on the Florida primaries, the Wesleyan Media Project, an RBF grantee, has released the first analysis of campaign advertising for the 2012 presidential election cycle. It found that interest groups have sponsored nearly half of the Republican nomination television ads through January 25, compared to only three percent of ads aired during the same time period in the 2008 Republican nomination race—a 1600 percent increase.