News

The trustees and staff of the RBF mourn the passing of our former trustee and board chair, Abby M. O’Neill, who was elected as a trustee of the Fund in 1958, the first member of her generation to serve as a Fund trustee and, later, the first woman to serve as board chair.

RBF President Stephen Heintz and more than 80 other leaders from the American and European philanthropic communities have signed a statement recognizing and affirming the important role of civil society in Hungary amid repeated efforts to restrict and stigmatize nongovernmental organizations operating there.

An evaluation of the RBF's grantmaking work in the global Democratic Practice portfolio 2010 to 2015 found that it was successful in its primary goal of strengthening the vitality of democracy in global governance. Program director Thomas Kruse's memo reflects on the evaluation and outlines the continuing strategies of the portfolio.

The 2015 and 2016 fellows discuss their research projects on “Preserving Urban Renewal’s Modern Legacy” and “Chicano Architecture” with our partner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund voices strong support of the preservation of the Johnson Amendment, and has joined as a signatory to an open letter to members of Congress to support its continued maintenance.

With deep sadness, the trustees and staff of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund mourn the passing of our founder, David Rockefeller, who launched the RBF in 1940 with his four brothers, and devoted his remarkable life to creating a better world.

Recognizing the challenges to many of the RBF's program priorities presented by the political climate, the board of trustees has approved an increase in the Fund’s grants budget by nearly 12 percent for 2017, Fund President Stephen Heintz announced today.

The RBF is pleased to become a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI’s members collaborate to implement and promote a set of voluntary principles that integrate environmental, social, and governance factors into their investment analysis.

We marked the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s 75th anniversary last year and continue to reflect on common themes from our history through a series of essays. As a sector, philanthropy can afford to take risks that private investors and government programs cannot. What have we learned about trying to maintain an "experimental disposition" over the years?

Creativity can be fueled by the collaboration between artists who approach their work in different ways and together discover new forms of expression. The Pocantico Center hosted more than a dozen residencies in 2016. Here is a glimpse into two of them.