On any given day, health and human services issues can dominate the news cycle—from tragic front-page stories about children in foster care to advances in biomedical research that bring the promise of new treatments and cures, along with ethical concerns about the implications of some breakthroughs and other health-related developments.
Policy makers struggle to solve these compelling health and social policy problems affecting the lives and futures of all Americans. Pew’s Health and Human Services policy program seeks to engage with decision makers in identifying workable solutions on a host of these pressing issues. We take great care to ensure that the development of policy options is informed by a wide range of stakeholders and that our work is timely, results-oriented and, perhaps most important, responsive to the challenges facing policy makers and society as a whole.
All of our initiatives are developed in close consultation with specialists and interested parties in the relevant fields. We value this participation and look for it in several ways. We meet with experts, participate in conferences and keep abreast of current events and the latest literature. We watch for trends developing at the state and national levels, and we seek out leaders and organizations focused on emerging issues. Some matters are best addressed at the state or local level while others require national solutions or actions by both federal and state policy makers. Some call for government action whereas others may benefit from intervention by the private sector or through a public-private partnership.
We are currently playing a leadership role in the following areas: public health and human services policy, family financial security issues, and science and technology.
Public Health and Human Services Policy Examples of Pew’s work in this arena are foster care reform; a project to eliminate conflicts of interest in the marketing of drugs and medical devices, while promoting sound and cost-effective health care; and a newly initiated food safety project.
In 2003, Pew launched a policy initiative to help move children in foster care more quickly and appropriately to safe, permanent families and to prevent the unnecessary placement of children in foster care. After a year of intensive analysis, the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care (www.pewfostercare.org) at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute recommended changing the federal financing structure to facilitate these twin objectives. The commission also recommended providing courts with specific tools and information so that they can make more timely decisions to help ensure children’s safety and move them to permanent families more promptly.
In 2006, Congress passed and the president signed into law legislation incorporating many of the commission’s court improvement recommendations, including $100 million for state court training and tracking of foster care cases. Pew is now focused on raising awareness of the commission’s federal financing recommendations and is collaborating with other organizations to highlight the urgent need for reform and to encourage support for the necessary changes to be made at the federal level (www.kidsarewaiting.org).
A second example of our activities is an initiative dedicated to ensuring public confidence in the medical profession. Launched in February 2007, the Prescription Project (www.prescriptionproject.org) aims to eliminate real and perceived conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries that lead to questions about the appropriateness of treatment choices. Led by Community Catalyst, in partnership with the Institute on Medicine as a Profession, the project seeks to promote policy change among academic medical centers, professional medical societies, and public and private healthcare payers. Working with a wide range of stakeholders, the Prescription Project champions policy changes recommended by a group of leading academic physicians in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which include prohibiting doctors from accepting industry gifts as well as policies to foster greater reliance by physicians and payers on evidence-based, independent information about drug effectiveness.
Finally, Pew is supporting a project designed to improve the safety of our nation’s food supply. Americans expect that the food they consume will not harm them. Yet, in recent years, numerous food-borne illnesses have seriously sickened and even caused the death of American consumers. Among the most notable incidents were those related to contaminated spinach, lettuce and peanut butter. Pew’s recently launched Food Safety Initiative will address three issues: (1) ensuring a safer supply of domestic produce through new regulations at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), (2) strengthening the FDA’s ability to oversee imported foods, and (3) determining whether there are steps that can be taken to improve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracking and reporting of food-borne illnesses. Working with a wide range of stakeholders, the Food Safety Initiative intends to contribute toward the establishment of a new and proactive risk-based oversight system, capable of handling the food safety demands of the twenty-first century.
Family Financial Security Examples of Health and Human Services Policy’s work in this area are initiatives on retirement security, student debt and subprime mortgages. The Retirement Security Project is supported by Pew in partnership with Georgetown University and the Brookings Institution (www.retirementsecurityproject.org). Through nonpartisan research and analysis, public forums and outreach and communications, the project advances practical policy solutions aimed at helping middle- and low-income Americans better prepare for a financially secure retirement. With broad, bipartisan support, these policy solutions will make retirement saving easier for more Americans.
By using independent research and analysis and aggressive communications and outreach, Pew’s student debt initiative (www.projectonstudentdebt.org), a partnership with the Institute for College Access and Success, advances practical policy approaches to prevent unmanageable student debt burdens and help students avoid unnecessary borrowing and borrow more wisely. The effort also continues Pew's commitment to youth civic engagement by involving young people in public education and outreach activities to raise the awareness of the burden of student debt and its impact on their life choices.
In an effort to protect American families from abusive subprime mortgage practices, Pew is supporting the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL; www.responsiblelending.org). CRL is working with federal and state policy makers and industry leaders to create an environment of much needed reforms to prevent more abusive subprime mortgages from being generated, including strengthening underwriting standards to prohibit such unsuitable home loans from jeopardizing the financial security of millions of American families.
Science and Technology Three examples of the work done by Health and Human Services Policy in this area are an initiative on nanotechnology, a project to ensure full and effective oversight of genetics testing and support of cutting-edge biomedical research.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (www.nanotechproject.org) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars works to ensure that the federal government and the private sector address the potential human health and environmental risks as well as the benefits of emerging nanotechnologies. The project works with industry, the government and the scientific and public-interest communities to identify gaps in nanotechnology risk-assessment research and oversight and to develop strategies to address them.
The Genetics and Public Policy Center at the Johns Hopkins University (www.dnapolicy.org) is working to facilitate regulatory and administrative policy changes that improve public and private sector oversight of genetics testing. For example, rapid advances in reproductive genetic technologies are providing prospective parents an increasing array of options to help them have healthy children. The center seeks to ensure that the accuracy and safety of genetics tests keep pace with these advances.
Finally, the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences (www.pewscholars.com) and the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences (www.pewlatinfellows.com) are designed to promote continued excellence in biomedical research in the United States and Latin America, respectively. Both very competitive programs support outstanding biomedical researchers who are encouraged to explore scientific areas of interest that might be considered high risk, but also have the potential for high return, regarding new scientific insights and breakthroughs that could lead to new understandings about human health.
We typically work with groups that fall into three categories: public-interest organizations, research universities and private-sector stakeholders. These groups share our goals and have a demonstrated commitment to achieving results, a high level of policy experience and excellence in the topic area, and a willingness to tackle difficult tasks in a shifting and often unpredictable policy environment. We welcome inquiries from potential partners or donors who share our interests.
For more information on our health and human services work or donor partnership opportunities, contact Shelley Hearne and her staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 1025 F Street NW, 9th floor Washington, DC 20004-1409 tel: 202.552.2014 e-mail: hhsmail@pewtrusts.org
The end of the twentieth century was marked by the widespread and startling realization of how much damage is being done to the earth’s natural systems by human society. In less than 100 years, no more than a blink of the planet’s historical eye, human beings have altered virtually every significant biological corner of the globe, shattering the long-held belief that nature is impervious to the hand of man.
We know now that nature is not infinitely resilient. We also know that technological advances, however ingenious, cannot compensate for the destruction of nature. Indeed, even if this were possible, living in the equivalent of a manmade world, devoid of many of the natural wonders that add meaning, mystery and dimension to our lives, would leave us remarkably impoverished as a species.
Pew’s environmental work is aimed at halting and ultimately reversing the trends that are threatening nature, through the use of science, law, public education and advocacy. We work collaboratively with a host of colleagues and institutions representing a broad spectrum of society in this country and elsewhere in the world on three major problems facing the global environment: Global Warming and Climate ChangeThe United States is the world’s largest emitter of global warming pollution, accounting for roughly 25 percent of global emissions to date. Thus no strategy to address global warming can succeed without substantial and permanent reductions in U.S. emissions. Although the United States still lacks a federal commitment to limit greenhouse gas emissions, mounting scientific evidence, progress at the international, regional, state and municipal levels, and increasing concern in the private sector suggest that the momentum is shifting.
Pew is working to create a policy environment that leads to the adoption of mandatory federal limits on emissions that contribute to global warming. Our efforts are focused on educating policy makers and the public about the causes, consequences and solutions to the problem of climate change; informing and mobilizing opinion leaders and key constituencies about the urgency of the problem and the need for action; promoting policy options that will achieve real emissions reductions throughout the economy; and advancing a new global climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
Conservation of Living Marine Resources Our marine work is aimed at preserving the biological integrity of marine ecosystems. We focus primarily on efforts to curb overfishing, reduce bycatch and prevent the destruction of marine habitat in the United States and elsewhere in the world’s oceans, and are engaged in activities designed to educate the public, policy makers and the media about the problems affecting both the national and the global marine environments.
In the United States, we focus on increasing protection for fish, marine mammals and other living marine resources at both the federal and regional levels of government; on ensuring that the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Regional Marine Fishery councils comply with existing federal laws related to the nation’s fisheries and other life in the sea; and on halting the destruction of habitat that is critical to maintaining a healthy marine food web.
Internationally, we are engaged in a variety of campaigns to protect large marine predators, such as whales and sharks that are endangered or whose populations have plummeted due to overfishing and destructive fishing practices; as well as those small fish and crustaceans such as krill that are critical as a food source for other marine life and are threatened by targeted fishing efforts. We also focus our efforts on protection of areas of the oceans that are of particular ecological significance and on the design of effective fisheries management systems for the high seas.
Finally, since the late 1990s, we have sponsored groundbreaking science aimed at both better understanding human impacts on ocean life and assessing alternative approaches to protecting ocean habitat and marine species. We have established the Pew Institute for Ocean Science (www.pewoceanscience.org) and the Lenfest Ocean Program (www.lenfestocean.org) to implement that work and to deliver the research results to policy makers and the public.
Old-Growth Forests and Wilderness Protection Since the early 1990s, Pew has been involved in public education and advocacy efforts to mobilize support for improved management of and strict protection for old-growth forests and wilderness areas on public lands in North America. In the United States, Pew spearheaded a campaign that was instrumental in securing the protection of 58.6 million acres of pristine national forests in 2001, protections that we continue to defend today. We are heavily engaged in efforts aimed at advancing the designation of wilderness, the gold standard for land conservation, and on elevating the involvement and the voice of the nation’s hunters and anglers in efforts to protect wild places and habitat that is important to wildlife. Our work in the boreal forest of Canada, which was initiated in 2001, is designed to protect one of the earth’s largest remaining unspoiled wilderness areas. Through the International Boreal Conservation Campaign (IBCC) we lead a unique coalition of interest groups, including environmentalists, aboriginal Canadians and responsible corporations. IBCC’s ultimate aim is adoption of a comprehensive conservation plan for Canada’s boreal forest, believed to be the most ambitious wilderness conservation plan in the world. To date, IBCC has been instrumental in the protection of 100 million acres, an area the size of California, and expects to protect another 20 million acres over the next two years.
Finally, our new Australian conservation initiative focuses on several critically important wilderness areas found in that country’s vast unspoiled northern and western regions. Australia boasts some of the world’s highest numbers of endemic species, and large numbers of relatively pristine landscapes. Our work there joins scientists, conservationists and local residents to identify and protect some of these irreplaceable global treasures.
Most of the large campaigns in which we are engaged are coordinated by Pew staff, but involve multiple organizations that share common goals and are committed to working collaboratively to accomplish objectives that no single organization can achieve on its own. Our working relationships with our partners are built on carefully crafted agreements in which each organization commits to undertake certain activities and deliver specific results within a designated period of time. We select these organizations on the basis of shared goals, a demonstrated commitment to achieving results, a high level of professional experience and excellence and a willingness to tackle difficult tasks in a shifting and often unpredictable policy environment. For more information on the work of the Pew Environment Group or donor partnership opportunities, contact Joshua Reichert and his staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 tel: 215.575.4740 e-mail: envimail@pewtrusts.org
State policy makers hold significant and growing influence over the lives of all Americans. Issues of national importance—from education to public safety, health care to environmental quality—increasingly have become the province of states. State policies and practices help determine whether our children get a good start in school, whether we breathe clean air and how well businesses compete in the global economy.
States are deliberating these and other critical matters under tough conditions. States’ budgets are tightening, and the fiscal forecast is grim for the next several years. In addition to reduced tax revenues, states face major challenges such as deferred spending on education and other important programs, along with ballooning Medicaid costs. Fortunately, state lawmakers are often more willing than their federal counterparts to cross party lines and take risks to devise innovative solutions to difficult problems.
Pew has long operated at the nexus of research, public education, advocacy and policy at both the federal and state levels. Recognizing the growing influence of state policy on a range of issues of national importance, Pew Center on the States is expanding the Trusts’ efforts in this arena—exploring potential new issues, developing novel tools to help all of our state-focused initiatives improve policy, and prompting states to use research-driven, cost-effective approaches that generate a solid return on investment.
The Pew Center on the States helps advance effective policy approaches to critical issues facing states. The center conducts rigorous policy research, brings together diverse perspectives, analyzes states’ experiences to determine what works and what does not, and collaborates with other funders and organizations to shine a spotlight on innovative, nonpartisan, pragmatic policy solutions and, when the facts are in, advocates for reform. Pew invests in several critical state policy projects, described in more detail below. The center supports those efforts and explores a wider range of state policy issues as strategically and efficiently as possible.
Gathering Information. The center gathers data across states on factors that affect policy, from budget, population and economic trends to states’ policy climates. This baseline research informs us as we explore a range of potential state policy issues on which to work. It also is used to generate a series of Web-based indicators and reports that highlight—and in some cases, grade—variation across states in areas of key concern to the public, advocates and policy makers.
Highlighting Innovation. As problems become serious, states begin to explore policy options by tackling issues in different ways. The center identifies challenges affecting multiple states and locales where fresh ideas are emerging. Using various tools—from research to meetings that bring diverse stakeholders together—the center illuminates the different policy directions unfolding in the states, assesses their impact and identifies approaches that have been most effective and those that have not.
Advancing Policy Solutions. We start with the facts—but we do not stop there. When solid evidence exists that an approach is both effective and feasible, the center helps states move forward using a range of tools, including
All of our work is developed in close consultation with experts and stakeholders in the relevant fields. We value this input and look for it in a number of ways. We participate in conferences and keep abreast of current events and the latest literature. We watch for trends developing at the state and national levels, and we seek out leaders and organizations who bring many differing perspectives to issues that affect the public.
The center provides both the opportunity and an improved capacity to identify and explore new areas of interest in the state policy arena. We welcome inquiries from potential partners and donors who share our interest in working at the state level to address issues of national importance.
Pew Center on the States’ Initiatives (www.pewcenteronthestates.org)Early Education. Research shows that attending a high-quality prekindergarten can have a substantial impact on a child’s success in school and in life. Based on this data, Pew seeks to fundamentally change the way this country invests in education for its 3 and 4 year olds. We fund research and public education campaigns that support policies at the federal level and in selected states on voluntary, high-quality preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds and that build national visibility for the issue. We also support projects that identify and engage new and diverse constituencies as active leaders for early learning at the state and national levels.
Partnership for America’s Economic Success (www.partnershipforsuccess.org). This project, operated by Pew with additional support from 11 other funders, is designed to assess the economic benefits of investments in young children prenatal to age five. It funds research on the impact of specific interventions, the effect of investments in children on state and national economies, innovative financing strategies and ways to communicate these findings to the public.
Public Safety Performance Project. This project, operated by Pew, helps states advance fiscally sound, data-driven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs. The initiative helps states diagnose the factors driving prison growth and identify options for reform, drawing on solid research, promising approaches and best practices in other states. The project also helps state officials, practitioners and others share state-of-the-art knowledge and ideas through policy forums, public opinion surveys, multistate meetings, and national, regional and state-level convenings. These efforts are carried out in collaboration with several highly respected external partners, including the Council of State Governments, the Vera Institute of Justice, the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Center for State Courts.
Make Voting Work. Since 2000, flaws in the nuts and bolts of our election system have raised serious public concerns and prompted changes that have had unintended consequences and failed to modernize our elections. In collaboration with partners from the election community, the private sector and related fields of expertise, the Make Voting Work initiative diagnoses problems, gathers evidence of which policies and practices are effective, determines where constructive change would be feasible, and uses that evidence to inform and advance policies and practices that make voting convenient for eligible voters without compromising accuracy.
For more information on the work of the Pew Center on the States or donor partnership opportunities, contact Susan Urahn and her staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 tel: 215.575.4755 e-mail: statepolicymail@pewtrusts.org
A vibrant democracy depends on a citizenry that pays heed to the issues and on policy makers who are in touch with constituent concerns. Information Initiatives comprises projects that have been conceived in that spirit.
These initiatives use public opinion surveys and other social science research tools to produce timely, objective information, and their thoughtful infusion of facts and trustworthy analysis make an invaluable contribution to political discourse, policy making and public discussion. Most of this work is carried out through the Pew Research Center (www.pewresearch.org). The center is open to collaboration with think tanks, universities and other research organizations sharing an interest in this kind of work, and with those who wish to invest in it.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The center (www.people-press.org), a Trusts-supported initiative since 1995, has a national reputation for measuring Americans’ attitudes and values with independence, impeccable rigor and consistent accuracy. It compiles information in clearly written reports and makes them fully accessible in both traditional and new technologies. It undertakes at least one public opinion survey per month and at least three major surveys per year on the degree of attention the public gives to major news stories; public views of politics and current policy issues; fundamental values that animate American political behavior; and public attitudes about the credibility, social value and salience of the news media.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project. This project (www.people-press.org/pgap) fulfills one of the fondest hopes of the legendary George Gallup: to ask identical questions to people all over the world—at the same time. It does so in an era when the world is paradoxically being drawn closer together and pulled further apart by the rapid flow of information and misinformation. The project’s surveys help to illuminate how America sees the world, how the world sees America and how people on all continents see important trends pertaining to such concerns as globalization, terrorism and economic issues.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The Forum (www.pewforum.org) seeks to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs by delivering timely, impartial information to opinion leaders, including journalists, government officials and religious leaders. The Forum conducts independent public opinion and demographic research on religion, politics and public policy in the United States and around the world. It also publishes backgrounder papers, commentaries and analyses on a wide range of domestic and global issues, and aggregates news coverage of religion and public life. The Forum also functions as a town hall, providing a neutral venue for discussion of important trends in religion and public life worldwide.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project. The project (www.pewinternet.org) studies the social and civic impact of the Internet, arguably the most far-ranging, behavior-changing communications innovation in recent history. It surveys not only what people think about the technology but also how they use it, for instance, to learn about health care, expand their educational and religious activities, engage in politics and build relationships with family and friends. More recently, it has expanded its scope to study the social impact of information and communication technologies more broadly.
The Pew Hispanic Center. The center (www.pewhispanic.org) studies the economic, social, cultural and political realities of America’s Latino population, as well as the impact Latinos are having on America’s civic, political and economic life. The object of the center’s surveys and data analysis is to inform policy discussions about the nation’s most rapidly growing minority population. In addition, the center analyzes broader immigration trends, including the size and characteristics of the unauthorized immigrant population.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism. The project (www.journalism.org) specializes in the study of media content and trends, guided by the belief that a better understanding of press performance and its effects can lead to better journalism. It releases a regular index of what stories the media are covering and produces periodic reports detailing how specific stories are reported or how a particular news medium is performing. Its annual State of the News Media report provides the most comprehensive look at the state of American journalism across the cable, television, print, radio and online sectors.
The Social and Demographic Trends Project. The newest Pew Research Center initiative (www.pewsocialtrends.org) studies behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives, including family, community, health, finance, work and leisure. The project explores these topics by combining original public opinion survey research with social, economic and demographic data analysis. Its most recent work has included the first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans, a major survey of racial attitudes, and a comprehensive report on the state of the American middle class.
For more information on the work of Information Initiatives or donor partnership opportunities, contact Donald Kimelman and his staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 tel: 215.575.4848 e-mail: information@pewtrusts.org
National Civic Initiatives has a broad mandate that captures a wide range of work outside the policy, information and Philadelphia arenas. Reflecting the interests of our founders, the program seeks to educate the American public about the nation’s democratic principles and the roles and legacies of the Founding Fathers. It also aids efforts to provide comfort and relief during times of significant natural disasters.
Over the past decade, Pew has provided support for the conservation of the Star-Spangled Banner and Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence. We have also funded efforts to edit and publish the papers of the Founding Fathers and to build a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Pew was the lead sponsor of a major exhibition devoted to the life of Benjamin Franklin in honor of the 300th anniversary of his birth. After opening in Philadelphia in December 2006, the Franklin show traveled to four additional American cities before its final stop in Paris in winter 2008. Pew also contributed to the construction of the new visitor center and museum at Gettysburg, set to open in April 2008.
Since its founding in 1948, Pew has responded to calls for help during some of our nation’s most significant natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina.
For more information on Pew's national civic initiatives, contact Donald Kimelman and his staff:
Philadelphia is enjoying a renaissance as a great American city, and arts and culture are key components of “The New Philadelphia Story.” Residents and visitors enrich their lives with the arts in many ways, through the performing and visual arts, museums and libraries, historic buildings and sites, folk and traditional arts, and public art works, parks and gardens. As such, the arts are an important part of daily life in our community and help define Philadelphia as an important cultural center in the eyes of national and international observers.
By supporting a broad spectrum of institutions and artists, innovative artistic and programmatic projects and marketing initiatives, the Culture program assures that the region’s arts and heritage continue to thrive. All projects involve significant technical assistance and professional development, components that have proven to be effective means of extending the impact of our support.
We manage these investments proactively, working with organizations that benefit from established leadership and management skills and substantive knowledge of their respective artistic disciplines. We structure our programs competitively in order to identify organizations and projects of high quality and impact, and we frequently assemble panels of nationally recognized experts to advise on the selection processes. All institutional support and artistic initiatives require the submission of applications based on specific guidelines, as follows:
The Philadelphia Cultural Leadership Program provides operating support to help well-governed organizations in the five-county Philadelphia region strengthen their management, operations and program development. A related program, the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative (PCMI) offers technical assistance funds and activities. PCMI (www.artshelp.org) addresses such areas as marketing, technology planning, financial management, strategic planning, fund-raising and staff training.
The Artistic Initiatives aim to increase the quality and scope of artistic programming through targeted projects that provide financial support and professional development assistance to artists and arts and heritage organizations. These initiatives, which are housed together in the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, elevate artistic excellence, giving residents and visitors to our region a wide range of outstanding performances and exhibitions to attend. They also enhance the cultural community’s ability to work together effectively, contributing to a vibrant environment for the arts. Select projects funded by the Artistic Initiatives receive further assistance for innovative audience-building strategies through PCMI’s Marketing Innovation Program. There are six initiatives:
Pew also funds Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour (www.pennpat.org), in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Vira I. Heinz Endowment and the William Penn Foundation; and Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) Philadelphia, a partnership between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation that is supported by a consortium of six other foundation and corporate philanthropies.
Support for Regional Culture helps the cultural community do a better job of promoting its programs through marketing and research initiatives. Pew-supported Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s Campaign for Culture (www.philaculture.org/campaign/campaign.htm), with its comprehensive online directory of cultural events and innovative weekly e-mail offers of discounted tickets, aims to increase local arts participation.
The Cultural Data Project (www.culturaldata.org), a program operated by Pew in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, the Heinz Endowments, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pittsburgh Foundation and the William Penn Foundation, significantly streamlines the process for organizations to apply for support from funding organizations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and California. The project provides comprehensive information on the activities and finances of hundreds of cultural organizations in these states, for use not only by participating organizations and funders but also by advocates and policy leaders. The Cultural Data Project is currently being expanded to several additional states.
We encourage nonprofit arts and heritage organizations in the Philadelphia region to examine the specific guidelines of the program relevant to their needs and then contact the appropriate project. The project directors are experienced in recognizing organizational and artistic excellence and in helping individuals and organizations make their best case for support. The directors are immersed in the issues pertaining to their areas of specialization and bring a national perspective to concerns particular to Philadelphia. They also share a commitment to stimulate artistic innovation and operational leadership by encouraging creative ideas and new influences.
The Culture program welcomes prospective donor partners who are seeking to invest in the arts. We offer a structure for fostering and sustaining the arts, plus organizational capacity and leadership to manage new funds and projects. We invite ideas about new cultural collaborations that will have significant impact on the region’s cultural profile and contribute in compelling and measurable ways to the civic life of Philadelphia.
For more information on Pew's culture work or donor partnership opportunities, contact Gregory Rowe and his staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 tel: 215.575.4875 e-mail: culturemail@pewtrusts.org
Philadelphia is in many ways a city on the cusp. It is beset by crippling urban problems—high rates of poverty and crime; job and population loss; low educational attainment. But the city has lots of positives as well. Its downtown is booming and that growth has spread to contiguous neighborhoods. It has strong educational and medical institutions, a vibrant arts scene and a growing tourist economy. Through its Philadelphia Civic Initiatives, Pew seeks to help propel the city forward and make it a more appealing place for residents and visitors alike.
Pew helped assemble a public-private partnership to renovate Philadelphia’s Independence Mall and made significant contributions to the buildings that are assembled there—the Independence Visitor Center, the Liberty Bell Center and the National Constitution Center—as well as to the mall’s general landscaping. All of these efforts have rejuvenated America’s “most historic square mile.” We are currently working with a range of partners on a full-scale renovation of the museum in Independence National Historical Park dedicated to Philadelphia’s most famous and accomplished citizen, Benjamin Franklin. To enhance the wider ambiance of the city, we have supported new landscaping at picturesque Logan Circle; new lighting for the streets, sidewalks, monuments and building facades of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway; and the preservation of such local cultural landmarks as the Academy of Music. We also partnered with two other Philadelphia-based foundations to spearhead the successful fund-raising for the Barnes Foundation’s court-approved move of its world-renowned art collection to a new location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and we helped put together a group of cultural institutions, philanthropies and other donors to purchase Thomas Eakins’ iconic painting, The Gross Clinic, ensuring that Philadelphia will be its permanent home.
Pew has also worked to shine a light on some of Philadelphia’s most pressing problems and apply fact-driven research and analysis to help inform the public debate. Recently, it has published two reports: “Philadelphia 2007: Prospects and Challenges” and “Philadelphia’s Quiet Crisis: The Rising Cost of Employee Benefits.” The latter pulled in information from other cities and offered a range of policy options that Philadelphia might want to consider in the face of rapidly increasing health care and pension benefit costs.
For more information on Pew's local civic initiatives or donor partnership opportunities, contact Donald Kimelman and his staff:
The five-county Philadelphia area contains vulnerable populations, among them adults who live on society’s margins even in the best of economic times, the isolated and frail elderly, and disadvantaged children and youth and their families. Building on a long-standing commitment, the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services in Philadelphia provides operating and project-specific support to nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties to offer much-needed assistance to individuals and families in these populations.
The Pew Fund also provides capacity-building resources to its local partners so that they can more effectively fulfill their missions by becoming increasingly outcome-oriented, financially secure and able to adapt to new demands. To help these organizations better understand the external environment, in which the context for health care and social service delivery is changing rapidly and profoundly, the Pew Fund sponsors Programs Adjusting to a Changing Environment. This informational seminar series gives the Pew Fund’s partners a larger and more interconnected view of the implications of the critical issues facing them so that they can adapt appropriately. The Pew Fund’s strategy also includes a component that identifies opportunities to inform solutions to significant public policy challenges affecting disadvantaged populations in the region.
The Pew Fund staff closely tracks and assesses key demographic, policy and financing trends that affect the ability of local health and human service nonprofits to deliver effective, efficient programs. We augment our knowledge and experience by consulting national and local experts, including researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Consequently, our funding priorities are based on the latest research on best practices in the field, emerging community needs and lessons learned through the experience of the nonprofit organizations with which we work.
The Pew Fund identifies the nonprofit organizations it supports through a rigorous, competitive solicitation and review process involving our staff and external experts. Applicants respond to an announcement, soliciting letters of intent, that sets forth goals and objectives, application requirements and selection criteria. Potential applicants are encouraged to review the announcement to determine whether the Pew Fund’s objectives are consistent with their priorities and aims. Requests are held to a high standard of review that assesses the rationale for the proposed services, the likelihood that these will result in meaningful and measurable outcomes for the individuals served, the research or evidence that indicates that the proposed activities will be successful, and the organization’s experience and track record.
For more information on the Pew Fund or donor partnership opportunities, contact Frazierita Klasen and her staff:
The Pew Charitable Trusts 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 tel: 215.575.4865 e-mail: pewfundmail@pewtrusts.org
You may download a PDF of Pew's 2008 Program Priorities using the link below.
Pew Program Priorities 2008
