Stephen Heintz Named President Emeritus

Last week, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Board of Trustees announced it would confer upon Stephen Heintz the title of president emeritus—a distinction that has never before been granted in the organization's history. The title will take effect when Stephen retires from his position as RBF president and CEO later this year.

Stephen joined the RBF as president in February 2001. He coined the term “acupuncture philanthropy” to describe his philanthropic approach of leveraging modest financial assets to trigger larger systemic change on critical issues. Over his quarter-century tenure, he did just that, helping establish the RBF as a philanthropic leader in international engagement, mission-aligned investing, and democracy.

Among his many achievements, Stephen initiated the RBF’s 2002 joint project with the United Nations Association of the USA to open a Track II dialogue with Iran, which helped lay the groundwork for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In 2010, he set an ambitious path to align the Fund’s investment portfolio with its mission, resulting in its 2014 divestment from fossil fuels.

Stephen co-chaired the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2020, the Commission produced Our Common Purpose, a report outlining 31 nonpartisan recommendations to re-energize democratic culture, reduce racial and economic inequity, and reinvent American democracy to better serve all Americans. Building on one of its recommendations, he helped found the Trust for Civic Life, a philanthropic collaborative that supports communities to solve problems, build trust, and strengthen democracy at the local level.

He is also the author of A Logic for the Future: International Relations in the Age of Turbulence, an in-depth analysis of the contemporary hurdles to global problem-solving that urged swift and holistic reform of global governance institutions to respond to urgent transnational challenges. The report will provide the basis for an annual symposium at The Pocantico Center.

Congratulations, Stephen!