News

Dwell, a magazine about modern architecture, profiled the Marcel Breuer House at Pocantico in their February issue. Curator Cynthia Altman and Staff Architect and Director of Operations Kimberly Miller discussed restoring the house to Marcel Breuer's original design, while making it habitable for artist residencies and other public programs.

New York City's arts and cultural community is gearing up to welcome dozens of artists from Cuba and across the United States to partake in "¡Sí Cuba!" a three-month festival celebrating Cuban arts and culture that will encompass music, dance, cinema, literature, and the visual arts. The festival will run from March 31 to June 16 in venues across New York City.

Naomi Jackson, program officer for the New York City program, examines why only 21 percent of eligible voters, ages 18-29, turned out for the 2010 midterm elections, and offers ways to engage and empower young people in time for 2012.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has updated its Sustainable Development guidelines. The new guidelines clarify the Fund's definition of 'sustainable development' as well as its focus on the single goal of advancing solutions to climate change with four accompanying strategies.

Ash Hammond, development coordinator at F.I.E.R.C.E., an RBF grantee, has co-written a piece reflecting on the spike in LGBTQ violence in 2010, and the commitment to working for a more peaceful year in 2011. The essay, "Shoulder to Shoulder, Ending the Violence," appeared in The Huffington Post on Dec. 30, 2010, and was co-written with Sharon Stapel, executive director of New York City Anti-Violence Project.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed RBF President Stephen Heintz to serve on the Commission on Key National Indicators.   The bipartisan Commission is charged with overseeing the implementation of the Key National Indicator System, which will be executed by the National Academy of Sciences.

Jared Duval’s book, Next Generation Democracy: What the Open Source Revolution Means for Power, Politics, and Change debuted as the number one bestseller in Amazon’s Democracy and Civics category on Nov. 9. The book began as a project about youth organizing, climate change, and democratic renewal for Demos.

RBF President Stephen Heintz and president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Phil Buchanan, share their insight on how new philanthropists like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg can make the greatest impact with their giving. In an op-ed featured in the San Jose Mercury News, they address Zuckerberg and others who have signed onto the Giving Pledge.

Earth’s future depends on the United States and China acting to curb greenhouse gas emissions. These two countries together account for over 40 percent of global emissions. Yet, both countries remain reluctant to commit to binding climate action, and attempts to find agreement between them veer between useful cooperation on clean energy technology and finger pointing in global climate talks. 

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is pleased to announce the election of Kavita Ramdas to the Fund’s board of trustees, effective November 17, 2010.  Ms. Ramdas is a senior advisor to the Global Fund for Women, after serving as its president and chief executive officer from 1996 to September 2010.  She has been appointed to serve a three-year term.