The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent nonprofit and nongovernmental organization, founded in 1948. Its current mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and stimulating civic life."

History

The Trusts, a single entity, is the successor to, and sole beneficiary of, seven charitable funds established between 1948 and 1979 by the adult children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew (1848-1912) and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. The four co-founders were J. Howard Pew (1882-1971), Mary Ethel Pew (1884-1979), J.N. Pew, Jr. (1886-1963), and Mabel Pew Myrin (1889-1972). The Trusts is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an office in Washington, D.C..

Joseph Pew and his heirs were politically conservative. The J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust had as its mission to "acquaint the American people with 'the evils of bureaucracy' and 'the values of a free market' and 'to inform our people of the struggle, persecution, hardship, sacrifice and death by which freedom of the individual was won.'" Joseph N. Pew, Jr. called Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, "a gigantic scheme to raze U.S businesses to a dead level and debase the citizenry into a mass of ballot-casting serfs."

Early beneficiaries included a cancer research institute, a museum, higher education, the American Red Cross, and historically black colleges. For many years, the Trusts tended to fund charities and conservative causes located in Philadelphia. However, under the leadership of Thomas Langfitt, President 1987-94, and his successor Rebecca Rimel, Pew shifted its resources dramatically to the left. Arguing that the "political ghosts" of the Pews were gone, Ms. Rimel has sought to "reinfuse the idealism of the Sixties into our work."[1][2]

In 2004, the Pew Trusts changed from a foundation into a nonprofit. It can now raise funds freely and devote up to 20% of its budget to lobbying the public sector.

According to the 2007 Annual Report, five of the 12 persons currently serving on the Board for the Trusts are named Pew, including the Chair. Two of the five are physicians.

Current concerns

The Trusts fund the Pew Research Center, the third-largest think tank in Washington DC, after the Brookings Institution and the Center for American Progress.

The Trusts have worked closely with the Vera Institute of Justice on issues related to state correction policies in the "Public Safety Performance Project." [3] In 2007 the Trusts issued a report lauding states that had adopted strategies recommended by the Trusts to avoid increased incarceration of felons, praising in particular Connecticut for its "data driven policies." In the wake of the July 2007 Cheshire home invasion, in which two paroled criminals were charged with three murders, the Connecticut Chief State's Attorney admitted the state's criminal justice data system was "nonexistent." [4] Governor M. Jodi Rell abandoned this effort in September 2007 by announcing a parole moratorium for violent offenders. [5] Following a Quinnipiac University poll showing overwhelming opposition to the early parole of criminals [6], state legislators proposed the more traditional apporach of longer sentences and additional prison space. [7]

The Trusts funds the Pew Biomedical Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, intended to support promising early and mid-career scientists investigating human health, both basic and clinical. The awards provide flexible support ($240,000 over a four-year period). Grantees are encouraged to be entrepreneurial and innovative in their research.[8]

Financial facts

According to the 2007 Annual Report, as of 30 June 2006, the Trusts owned over US$5 billion in assets. For the 12 months ending on that date, total revenues were about US$264 million and total expenses were about $197 million, of which $12 million were for operating costs and fund raising expenses.

See also

• List of wealthiest foundations

External links

• Official web site of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
  • Listing of Pew initiatives.
  • 2007 Annual Report with financial information.
  • History of the Trusts.