News

Ahead of the Paris conference on climate change, The New York Times created an interactive feature to explain how pledges by countries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will affect global temperatures. “The Climate Change Pledges Are In. Will They Fix Anything?” used data and scenarios from a simulation model built by RBF grantee Climate Interactive.

One year after announcing the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s plan to divest from fossil fuels, President Stephen Heintz said its portfolio’s exposure to oil, coal, and tar sands has been reduced from about seven percent at the beginning of 2014 to just over four percent.

RBF President Stephen Heintz spoke about the Fund's experiences around its divestment and impact investment process during a panel discussion organized by the European Green Party and 350.org.

Dancewave, a Brooklyn-based organization that inspires young people to express themselves authentically through an innovative model of dance education, performed at The Pocantico Center this summer. The youngest and first pre-professional dancers to appear on Pocantico’s stage, Dancewave's Company I members performed works by renowned contemporary choreographers, Larry Keigwin, Andrea Miller, and Kyle Abraham.

The balance of political influence needs to be shifted from the few with money to the many, said Lucas Welch, executive director of the Pluribus Project, at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Introducing a panel discussion about money in politics, Welch pointed to public frustration with elected government and the influence of corporate spending. Panelists included leaders of The Pluribus Project, Take Back our Republic, Demos and change.org.

During a plenary session at the Center for Effective Philanthropy's National Conference in San Francisco in May 2015, Stephen Heintz, president of the Fund, participated in a panel discussion about different models of philanthropy and how each can maximize foundation impact. Heintz said foundations can demonstrate leadership by using intellectual, endowment, reputational, and relational capital, in addition to their grantmaking dollars.

In an editorial, Valerie Rockefeller, former chair of the Fund and a great-great granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, explains the RBF’s rationale for joining the global shift toward divesting from fossil fuels and investing in clean energy businesses.

During one of two Composers Now residencies at The Pocantico Center in October 2014, composer and violinist Mari Kimura wrote "Breuer Vivant," a piece inspired by the historic Marcel Breuer House, and performed it at The Pocantico Center in February 2015.

Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, spoke at a seminar about philanthropy at the Terry Sanford Institute's Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society at Duke University in December 2014. Mr. Heintz discussed the Rockefeller family tradition of philanthropy, impact investing, and collaboration with other foundations, among other topics.

Known for their playful and unexpected choreography, Monica Bill Barnes and Company is a contemporary American dance company based in New York City. Two of its key members had the opportunity to participate in a week-long residency at The Pocantico Center in July 2013. In this video, the dancers talk about their creative process and how the time and setting helped to shape their pieces.