The Fund in 2024: An Interdependent World

Last July, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund released a report by its president and CEO, Stephen Heintz, describing the unique confluence of forces—political, geo-strategic, economic, social, technological, and environmental—fueling the turbulence we saw in 2024. It was the hottest year on record and the first to pass the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold scientists say will mark the worst impacts of climate change. There were 56 active conflicts in 2024, the most in any year since the end of World War II. More people than ever before turned out for elections worldwide despite rising threats of political violence.

As Stephen describes in his report, the interconnected causes and cascading impacts of these challenges demand a new approach—one that requires vision, diligence, and greater connectivity. For example, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), together with the Partnership Funds and Rebuild by Design, spearheaded a project in the United States that aims to address the destabilizing impact extreme weather events will have on democratic institutions by melding civic engagement expertise with knowledge about the infrastructure and tools policymakers and communities need to cope with climate-related shocks.

Grantmaking

Our grantees also modeled what this new approach might look like, scoring victories in the face of uncertainty by finding intersections across issues, geographies, and ideologies. Trade campaigners and climate advocates contributed to increasing public awareness that preceded the EU’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, which put corporate interests above national, environmental, and health interests. Journalists, researchers, advocates, and families joined forces to raise global public awareness of Syria’s disappeared, sparking the implementation of the United Nations Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. 

The Trust for Civic Life, launched in 2024 with the RBF, Stand Together, and the Omidyar Networks as initial funders, embarked on an ambitious agenda to bring together a wide range of national philanthropy to support problem-solving at the local level, where shared challenges bring communities together across social and ideological divides.

Finance

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund approaches philanthropy as the “risk capital” for civil society in the face of urgent challenges that require innovative thinking and bold experimentation. In 2024, we distributed approximately six percent of our endowment to advance our mission. Over the past several years, the RBF has regularly exceeded the federally required five percent payout rate as part of our long-time commitment to use all our assets to the fullest extent possible in service of a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. That’s also why, a decade ago, we decided to divest from fossil fuels and align our investment portfolio with our mission.

Financial figures reported here for 2024 are unaudited and will be updated upon completion of the 2024 audit.

For definitions of allocation categories and up-to-date information about the Fund’s divestment progress, impact investments, ESG investments, and Gender and Racial Equity Lens investments, please visit our website. Detailed financial information is available in the Fund’s annual 990PF form and audited financial statements.

Pocantico

The Pocantico Center celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024. What began in 1994 as a conference center to extend the RBF’s grantmaking has now grown into a vibrant campus also offering a robust slate of artist residencies, performances, community programs, permanent exhibitions, and tours of the historic Rockefeller estate. In partnership with the Rockefeller Archive Center, which celebrated 50 years in 2024, Pocantico presented an exhibition of rarely-seen sketches by renowned artist Mark Chagall in the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center gallery. These sketches detail Chagall’s preparations for his stained-glass windows, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, for the Union Church of Pocantico Hills.

Staff & Trustees

After nearly a century of combined service to the Fund, Pocantico Center Executive Director Judy Clark and RBF Trustee David Rockefeller, Jr. both retired in 2024. Judy was a member of the original staff team at The Pocantico Center and became its executive director in 2014. David joined the RBF board in 1984 and was the first of his generation to serve as chair. Together, they stewarded the decade-long campaign to transform the historic Orangerie at Pocantico into the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center. Peter O’Neill, a fifth-generation member of the Rockefeller family and avid supporter of Pocantico, also completed a nine-year term on the RBF board in 2024. 

In 2024, the Fund also said goodbye to Colin Campbell, who passed away in June. As RBF president from 1988-2000, Colin partnered with the Rockefeller family and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to open The Pocantico Center as a conference space for Fund grantees and other social change leaders on the family’s former estate in 1994.

Notes

1. Donor contributions from individuals and other foundations expand the Fund’s available resources and impact. Grants awarded include approved grants that subsequently lapsed and differs from grants paid because some grants are payable over more than one year. See the Finance section for total 2024 grants spending. Back to report →

2. Additional grantmaking supports distinct institutes and initiatives through universities and fiscal sponsors, operating as general support. Back to report→ 

3. Grants paid differs from grants awarded because some grants are payable over more than one year. Non program-related grants to support Philanthropic Stewardship, Pocantico conferences, employee matching gifts, president’s and vice presidents’ discretionary giving, and the Staff Grantmaking Fund account for 15 percent of 2024 grants paid. Back to report→ 

4. Not including investment fees. Back to report→ 

5. Includes consultancies and other expenses that advance the Fund’s mission but do not take the form of traditional grants. Grants spending differs from grants awarded because some grants are payable over more than one year. See the Grantmaking section for total 2024 grants awarded. Back to report→ 

6. Individuals employed may exceed the number of staff positions to account for both new hires and terminations for the same role. Staffing figures do not include short-term internship positions. Back to report→ 

7. Trustee demographic data collection processes were updated in 2024. Because individuals can select more than one demographic category, totals may add up to more than 100 percent. Back to report→