News

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 2009 online annual review features two Southern China slidecasts. Included is a discussion with Richard Rockefeller, chair; Wendy O’Neill, trustee; and Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund about the Rockefeller family’s history in China, and the evolution of the Fund’s Southern China program.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has a strong institutional commitment to philanthropic excellence. During 2010, the RBF commissioned the Center for Effective Philanthropy to conduct a series of surveys to gain insight into grantee and applicant perceptions of the Fund’s performance. We are pleased to share the Grantee Perception Report and Applicant Perception Report, along with our insights.

The 2009 online annual review features two Southern China slidecasts. The slidecast features Shenyu Belsky, director of the Fund's Southern China program, and two RBF grantees—Ma Jun of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs and Alex Wang of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.—discussing the importance of environmental information disclosure.

In 1991, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund leased from the National Trust for Historic Preservation the portion of the Rockefeller estate bequeathed to the Trust by Nelson Rockefeller. Subsequently, through the generosity of members of the Rockefeller family, the Fund created The Pocantico Center as an extension of its grantmaking activities.