Rockefeller Foundation Activities
A Transportation CrossroadsMay 8, 2008; Yhe Washinton Post
Opinion by Judith Rodin
...we must expand affordable, accessible and environmentally sustainable transportation options: high-speed and light rail, rapid and mass transit, and walkable, bikeable streets. Washington must provide new incentives for states and cities to promote greener land use, cleaner cars and decreased automotive dependence. more | Washington Post
Peggy Shepard, Alexie Torres-Fleming
Awarded 2008 Jane Jacobs Medals
May 5, 2008
Peggy Shepard, the executive director and co-founder of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT), is cited for Lifetime Leadership. Alexie Torres-Fleming, founder of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ) and other South Bronx organizations, is recognized for New Ideas and Activism. The Medals will be awarded on September 8th at the Morgan Library. moreOil & Water: Adapting to Scarcity
Judith Rodin Addresses the Regional Plan Association
April 18, 2008
PLUS: Speaker of the House Pelosi's Remarks at the RPA Event
'Over the last 95 years, the Rockefeller Foundation helped to eradicate disease…alleviate poverty by modernizing agriculture to feed millions…established arts and education institutions... Today, the Rockefeller Foundation has lent its power to no less significant a cause: rebuilding and renewing America.'Perspectives on Funding Climate Change Programs
April 11.2008 NYRAG discussion memo
Climate change is perceived as an environmental issue when in reality it impacts every dimension of society. Funders who perceive it that way will never break out of the box. —Maria Blair more; NYRAG
The Role of Science in Addressing Global Warming
April 1, 2008; Transcript of contribution from Maria Blair
Conversations on Sciences's Transforming Impact(CRDF)
Climate Change Adaptation:The Next Great Challenge for the Developing World
February 15, 2008; speech-Judith Rodin
Inaugural Winners of Noguchi Africa Prizes Announced
March 25, 2008
The Rockefeller Foundation congratulates and applauds Brian Greenwood and Miriam K. Were, inaugural recipients of the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prizes. Each is worthy of this exceptional honor. We are quite familiar with the crucial work they do in Africa and applaud their selection. The Foundation is proud to be a supporter of the Hideo Noguchi African Prizes, named after the esteemed physician, Hideo Noguchi, who during his distinguished career was engaged in work supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. --Ariel Pablos-Mendez, RF Managing Director; member of the Noguchi Prize selection committees. Japanese Cabinet Office: press release
Center for Clean Air Policy Awarded RF Grant
March 18, 2008; Press release
The program will assist nine partner cities and counties in making effective policy and investment decisions to increase their resiliency to the impacts of climate change and to educate key audiences on adaptation. more
Ellen Taus Named Rockefeller Foundation CFO
March 20, 2008; Press release
Ellen Taus will join the Foundation as Chief Financial Officer on April 1st. She was most recently CFO of Oxford University Press and previously, CFO for the Electronic Publishing Division of the New York Times Company. A graduate of Northwestern with a BA in Economics, Taus also has an MBA from Columbia University. more
RF President Rodin Interviewed on Bloomberg TV
Broadcast March 7, 2008; Interviewed by Judy Woodruff
...in the 20th century, foundations operated more as aid institutions...in the 21st century, foundations are looking to take on big thorny problems, find partners who are willing to work on those problems with them, and often now the partners are in the private sector. --Judith Rodin
video; transcript
A New Grant in Support of 'B Corporations'
February 28, 2008; Press release
The Foundation has awarded a grant to B Lab, a non-profit that supports B Corporations, a new type of corporation that uses business structure to create a public benefit. The grant is part of RF's Impact Investing work, focused on expediting access to capital to generate opportunities for poor and vulnerable people. more
Winners: What if New York...
A Competition to Design Post-Disaster Urban Housing
February 6, 2008
The New York City Office of Emergency Management, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, held a competition for innovative urban housing designs that would function as provisional housing for New Yorkers who lost homes as the result of a catastrophic coastal storm.Winning designs | Jury Report | Press release
Public Health: Bellagio Call for Action
February 4, 2008
Representatives from infectious disease surveillance networks all over the world met in December at Bellagio to share best practices and lessons learned and recommend action to advance the global capacity for public health surveillance... Call for Action | UPI story | moreFoundation Supports Non-partisan Coalition to Rebuild America's Transportation Infrastructure
January 21, 2008; Remarks by Judith Rodin
'The Rockefeller Foundation is immensely proud to provide the funding to seek, implement, and model nonpartisan solutions for our national transportation and infrastructure crisis...' --Judith Rodin
Transcript of remarks; video of event press releaseA New Approach to Improving Global Health, Humanitarian Efforts, and Disaster Relief
January 17, 2008; Press release
InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters), a nonprofit organization focused on improving early detection, preparedness, and response capabilities for global health threats and humanitarian crises, was launched today. InSTEDD has received initial financial backing from Google.org, the Rockefeller Foundation and private donors. Press release; Coverage: NY Times; c/net
Green Revolution, the Old Fashioned Way
January-March, 2008; The Africa Report
While some are attempting to boost African agricultural productivity by biotechnological engineering, others prefer the results-oriented, plant-breeding approach. Left, AGRA Chairman Kofi Annan visits recent test crops.more
Debut RF/InnoCentive 'Challenge' Is Solved
An electrical engineer from New Zealand found a successful solution to the debut RF/InnoCentive challenge: Transforming the functionality of a solar-powered flashlight widely used in Africa into an all-purpose room light. Read about the light's inventor in Newsweek; The Rockefeller Foundation/InnoCentive Partnership; RF's Innovation for Development Initiative.
News [more news]
Available positions at the FoundationRice: Coping With Climate Change
April-June 2008; Rice Today
Climate change threatens to affect rice production across the globe. What is known about the likely impact, and what can be done about it? more; Rice Today-the magazine of the International Rice Research Institute (April-June 2008)
Rockefeller Supports ‘Social’ Stock Market Study
March 22, 2008; FT.com; By Jonathan Guthrie
The Rockefeller Foundation is [supporting] a feasibility study for a 'social stock exchange' in which ethical investors can trade shares in worthy enterprises..the exchange would aim to combine profitable trading with social or environmental missions. more; Impact Investing homepage; news coverage
InnoCentive & the Rockefeller Foundation
Science by the Masses
By John Travis; Science Magazine; March 2008
Trying to understand why certain [InnoCentive Challenges] got solved, [Karim Lakhani of Harvard Business School] found that the more diverse the pool of solvers, the greater the odds of a solution. And...the further a challenge was from a person's field of interest, the more likely they were to solve it. Read the article; Innovation homepage
Rwanda's Kagame Meets Rockefeller Boss
March 13, 2008; By Felly Kimenyi; All Africa--excerpt
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame met a delegation from the Rockefeller Foundation...'We mainly discussed agriculture and the progress...in rural development,' said Foundation President Rodin. moreFor Good Measure
March 9, 2008; NY Times Sunday Magazine; By John Gertner
The first Green Revolution...is generally believed to have saved one billion lives over six decades, making it arguably the single-most-effective philanthropic initiative in human history. more
Tribeca Film Institute, Renew Media to Combine
March 3, 2008; Press release
Tribeca Film Institute, the not-for-profit organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and Renew Media, founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, will formally combine their organizations under the name of the Tribeca Film Institute. more; coverage
WHO Finds Highest Rates of MDR-TB to Date, Link to HIV
February 27, 2008; World Health Organization Press release
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been recorded at the highest rates ever, according to a new WHO Report published today. The report presents findings from the largest survey to date on the scale of drug resistance in tuberculosis...WHO estimates there are nearly half a million new cases of MDR-TB a year... more; Fact Sheet
Citing Opportunity NYC, UK PM Proposes 'Contract Out of Poverty'
January 22, 2008; UK coverage
Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes some of the novel elements of Opportunity NYC are worth exploring...the scheme is testing whether temporary cash payments that provide incentives for work, education and health activities can help to combat poverty. more; Opportunity NYC home
Reviving Depleted Soils in Africa
January 25, 2008; AGRA Press release
Determined to revive the grossly depleted soils of sub-Saharan Africa--an underlying cause of poverty and hunger--AGRA announced a program to restore African soil fertility.
more | news coverageGates Foundation Commits $306m to Agriculture in the Developing World
January 25, 2008; Press release
The goal is to boost yields of millions of small farmers in Africa and other parts of the developing world so they can lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty. The largest grant in the package --with support from the Rockefeller Foundation--is to AGRA to establish a Soil Health Program that will complement its existing Seeds Program. more
An Old Mentor’s New Medium
January 20, 2008; The New York Times; Summary
...the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will begin recording “Mondays With Merce,” an online video program featuring weekly episodes of Mr. Cunningham’s Monday class, on its Web site, merce.org. The program is financed, in part, by a NYC Cultural Innovation Fund grant. more
Jane Jacobs & the Future of New York: An ExhibitionSeptember 12, 2007
The Municipal Art Society of New York offers an interactive exhibit honoring Jane Jacobs at the Urban Center galleries in Manhattan. Order BLOCK BY BLOCK, a companion anthology. more