News

In June 2013, the RBF contracted with M+R Strategic Services to conduct an impact assessment of the Democratic Practice program's money-in-politics grantmaking. The purpose of the impact assessment was to step back after 10 years of grantmaking and  review the money-in-politics portfolio, including related transparency grants.

Charting Our Progress is an annual report of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s activities over a three-year period. This year's cover story, by Charles Granquist, spotlights The Pocantico Center, which is located on the historic Rockefeller family estate.

Community philanthropy strengthens civil society and should be a priority of development aid practitioners, according to a new report published by the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A., the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Global Fund for Community Foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The findings are aligned with the trend in the field of community philanthropy; local foundations grew by 86 percent from 2000 to 2010.

The Institute for Integrated Transitions has released an analysis of international expert assistance offered in Tunisia after the January 2011 revolution. The report focuses on the country's reforms in its media, security sector, and judiciary, as well as youth employment; results have been mixed more than two years after the uprising.

Fossil fuel companies have been overvaluing coal and gas reserves resulting in a dangerously inflated investment bubble, according to the latest report released by the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. With the 2010 agreement among governments to limit global warming to two degrees, the study's authors calculated that 60 to 80 percent of the oil, gas, and coal reserves listed on stock exchanges are unburnable.

Sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran have fallen short of expectations and the unintended consequences may pose risks, according to The Iran Project's latest report, released on Wednesday. The report, backed by former senior U.S. officials and outside experts, recommends that Washington rebalance its dual-track policy by strengthening its diplomatic efforts.

United States forces and agents engaged in torture following the attacks on September 11, 2001, according to a nonpartisan, independent study by The Constitution Project. The report found that the country's most senior officials were ultimately responsible for allowing and contributing to torturous interrogation techniques. There also is no firm evidence that the widespread use of torture produced significant and valuable information.

According to Bob Moser, executive editor of The American Prospect, democracy suffered a blow in the 2012 election, due to big money and voter suppression. In a special report supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Moser argues that the enormous influence and amount of money spent on campaigns and attempts to disenfranchise populations of voters across the country, contributed to the failure of American democracy.

Charting Our Progress is an annual report of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s activities over a three-year period. This year's cover story, in the form of two videos, highlights the New York City program's Charles E. Culpeper Arts and Culture Grants. The arts and culture grants account for approximately one half of the New York City portfolio and is a prominent aspect of program offerings at The Pocantico Center.

The world has been making progress in recognizing the importance of gender issues in conflict areas, but not enough has been done on the ground, according to the Peace and Security Funders Group's new report, Philanthropic Investments in the Emerging Field of Women, Peace and Security. The report examines the significance of empowering and protecting women in conflict areas and the urgency to fund these efforts.