With assets of approximately $14 billion, Hewlett is one of the wealthiest grant makers in the United States.[6] The Foundation has grantmaking programs in education, the environment, global development and population, the performing arts, and philanthropy. The Hewlett Foundation is based in Menlo Park, California.
History
Bill and Flora Hewlett consolidated their philanthropic activity into the William R. Hewlett Foundation, which Bill, aged 53, founded in 1966 in their Palo Alto, California, home.[7] Founding board members were Bill, Flora, and the couple's oldest son, Walter Hewlett. The years 1966–1972 were referred to as "the living room years".[8] Flora Hewlett served as a board member and Bill Hewlett was an active part of the foundation until his death. Bill Hewlett sought to fund established organizations operating in his fields of interest. In its first ten years, the foundation awarded close to $15.3 million to organizations involved in education, population, performing arts, environment, health, and social services.[9]
In 1972, the foundation's board of directors was expanded with the addition of William A. Hewlett and James S. Hewlett. In 1974, the foundation hired its first executive director, John May, who was also the executive of the San Francisco Foundation.[8] Following Flora Hewlett's death in 1977, and in her memory, the foundation's name was changed to "The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation".[10] Shortly after, the foundation appointed former University of California Chancellor Roger W. Heyns as president, with Bill Hewlett becoming the board chair.[11] The board was expanded with the addition of Eleanor Hewlett Gilmon and Mary Hewlett Jaffe, daughters of Bill and Flora. Since 1981, the majority of the foundation's board has been composed of non-family members.[8]
In 1993, with the appointment of former University of California President David P. Gardner,[13] who succeeded Roger Heyns who retired after 15 years, the foundation's focus widened. The foundation expanded its funding of environmental causes, formerly restricted to California, to all over the Western United States and Canada. The foundation also began focusing on K-12 education reforms. Gardner introduced a new program supporting relations between the US and Latin America. Gardner served for six years.[14]
During Gardner's tenure, the foundation introduced the limitation of terms served as program officers with terms expiring after six years, followed by an extension of three years with board approval. In 2005, this term limit was extended to eight years.[14]
In January 2000, Paul Brest, the former dean of Stanford Law School, was appointed as the new president of the foundation.[15] He served for 12 years. On January 12, 2001, Bill Hewlett, aged 87 years, died from heart failure.[16] During Brest's time as president, the foundation started to focus on awarding grants for efforts curbing global warming and the expansion of the use of open educational resources.[17] During this time, the foundation also relocated to Menlo Park, California.
Larry Kramer, also a former dean of Stanford Law School, became the foundation's president in 2012.[18] He introduced new initiatives addressing political polarization as well as cybersecurity.[19] Kramer stepped down in December 2023.[20]
Stephen C. Neal, who had been serving as a board member since 2006, was appointed as and succeeded Walter Hewlett as board chair.[21]
Foundation assets and endowment
During its first ten years, the foundation awarded grants of approximately $15.3 million.[22]
The foundation's endowment kept growing considerably, with Flora Hewlett's estate bolstering it to more than $300 million in 1981 and the foundation's assets reaching more than $800 million by the 1990s, an increase of more than 30 times.[23]
Between 1993 and 1999, under the leadership of David P. Gardner, the foundation's assets grew to more than $2 billion and grants increased from $35 million in 1993 to $84 million in 1998.[24]
In 2000, the foundation's assets had grown to $3.93 billion. This increased further with the transfer of Bill Hewlett's estate bringing the assets up to $8.52 billion and catapulting the foundation into the fifth place of private foundations in America.[25]
According to the OECD, the Hewlett Foundation provided USD 123.3 million for development in 2019, all in the form of grants.[26]
Programs and grants
The Hewlett Foundation's office building in Menlo ParkInterior of the Hewlett Foundation's headquarters
Education
In 2001, the foundation gave $400million to Stanford University for humanities, sciences, and undergraduate education. At the time, the gift was the largest on record to a university.[27] In 2007, the Hewlett Foundation made a $113million donation to the University of California, Berkeley to create 100 new endowed professorships and provide financial help for graduate students.[28]
In May 2010, the Hewlett Foundation announced its strategy of "Deeper Learning", which is a set of student educational outcomes including acquisition of robust core academic content, higher-order thinking skills, and learning dispositions.
The following table lists the top sectors to which the Hewlett Foundation has committed funding within its Global Development and Population Program. Data are taken from the International Aid Transparency Initiative activities publication, and is expected to cover 21% of the foundation's overall grantmaking; this does not include international grantmaking in Environment, Education, and other program areas, although those total a significant proportion of grants. The Foundation's Climate Initiative, in particular, is oriented toward international as well as U.S.-focused work.[39] The sector names use the DAC 3 Digit Sector names.[40]
Committed funding (US$ millions)
Sector
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Sum
Population policies/programmes and reproductive health
46.6
48.9
53.4
39.0
28.3
30.3
33.3
34.3
38.2
39.3
28.9
420.5
Government and civil society, general
21.8
5.3
7.0
13.4
13.1
44.3
37.9
33.7
51.7
54.8
26.6
309.5
Education, level unspecified
0.0
0.0
0.3
0.0
0.0
16.3
12.1
11.6
11.0
0.8
0.0
52.0
Emergency Response
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
5.0
5.0
0.0
10.0
Other
40.6
87.9
53.9
47.3
54.8
0.8
1.1
5.7
9.7
8.9
5.5
316.1
Total
109.0
142.1
114.5
99.7
96.1
91.7
84.4
85.3
115.6
108.7
61.1
1,108.1
The following table lists the all-time top 30 grantees, as recorded in the IATI activities publication.
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