Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), (Philanthropy for an Interdependent World), is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was set up in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle of the five famous Rockefeller brothers: John D. Rockefeller, III, Nelson, Laurance, Winthrop and David, and is distinct from the Rockefeller Foundation, which is more independent from family control. Its headquarters are located at 475 Riverside Drive, New York, which is also the location of the family's fourth-generation philanthropic Rockefeller Family Fund.
The current president of the Fund is Stephen B. Heintz. Until June 13, 2014, its chairman was Richard Rockefeller, the fifth child of David Rockefeller. Richard Rockefeller died in a single engine plane crash attempting to fly home to Maine after attending his father's 99th birthday on the Rockefeller family estate in Pocantico Hills, New York.[1][2][3]
Contents
Founding[edit]
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. made a substantial gift to the Fund in 1951,[4] and in 1960 the Fund received a major bequest from his estate. Together, these constitute the original endowment of the Fund. Initially, the five brothers contributed funds via their income from the various family trusts. Beginning in 1952, the brothers began to include on the board of the Fund trustees who were not members of the Rockefeller family. In 1954 they included their sister Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, who had not been involved in its founding. In 1958, the first of a number of daughters and sons of the founders joined, and the first of their children became trustees in 1992. Since the establishment of the Fund, three generations of family members have served as trustees.[citation needed]
Mission and programs[edit]
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The Fund manages three major programs: Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, and Peace and Security. Its three principal operational locations, or pivotal places, are New York City, Western Balkans, and Southern China. It also acts as an incubator for in-house projects that later evolve into free-standing institutions - a case in point being The Climate Group, launched in London in 2004.[citation needed]
Its central mission is to promote social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world; through its grantmaking, the Fund supports efforts to expand knowledge and shape public policy; and its programs are intended to develop leaders, engage citizens and strengthen institutions through durable social partnerships. A major affiliate foundation is the Asian Cultural Council (an offshoot of the JDR III Fund), formed by John D., III in 1963, which supports cultural exchange in the arts between America and Asia; as well as providing fellowship grants to primarily Asians artists, scholars and students.[citation needed]
From 1992 to 2009, the Fund also awarded the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color to about 25 students annually from a nationwide pool of 27 participating colleges and universities. These fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding minority undergraduate students in the arts and sciences wishing to pursue graduate degrees in education and to teach in American public elementary or secondary schools.[citation needed]
In April 1957, the trustees of the Fund established the Ramon Magsaysay Award - named after the former Philippines President - with the concurrence of the then Philippine government. A nonprofit Foundation was set up to administer the awards, the RMAF, and seven prominent Filipinos were elected to the inaugural board of trustees (it now has nine). Awards are issued in six categories to all Asians for achieving distinction in their policy area and for selfless public service. The Ford Foundation supported this Award programme with a grant to establish the most recent award, Emergent Leadership, in 2000.[citation needed]
On July 1, 1999, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation of Stamford, Connecticut, merged with the RBF, substantially increasing its assets, which amount to $821.8 million, as of August 2006.
The assets were further bolstered in November 2006 by a bequest of $225 million from David Rockefeller, upon his death, to create the David Rockefeller Global Development Fund, which will complement the foundation’s work in the areas of sustainable development, poverty eradication and international trade and finance, and to a program that fosters dialogue between Muslim and Western nations. Additional money was given for the fund's global-warming summit in New York in the spring of 2007 which brought together the mayors of cities around the world to discuss ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.[5][6]
Criticism[edit]
Ben Cohen writes that the goal of the fund "to promote a 'more just, sustainable, and peaceful world,' has been called in to doubt "for the simple reason that many of the Middle Eastern beneficiaries of its largesse demonize the state of Israel in stridently anti-Zionist terms." RBF responded by saying, "We respectfully disagree with your assessment of the contributions our grantees are making in support of the goal and strategies of our Peacebuilding Program and toward peacebuilding activities in the region."[7]
Current assets[edit]
As of the end of 2009, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund had assets of $729 million.[8]
Special Studies Project[edit]
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From 1956 to 1960 the Fund financed an ambitious study conceived by its then president, Nelson Rockefeller, to 'define the major problems and opportunities facing the U.S. and clarify national purposes and objectives, and to develop principles which could serve as the basis of future national policy'.[citation needed]
Nelson recruited Henry Kissinger, who was then on the faculty of Harvard University, as director of the project; he had first met Kissinger in 1955. He also brought on board such luminaries as Edward Teller, Charles Percy, Dean Rusk, John Gardner (president of the Carnegie Corporation) and Henry Luce, along with his brothers Laurance and John D. III. Seven panels were constituted that looked at sweeping issues ranging from military/security strategy to foreign policy, to international economic strategy and defense department and governmental reorganization.[citation needed]
The military subpanel's report was rush-released much earlier than the others, about two months after the USSR launched Sputnik, in October 1957. It was given prominent treatment on the front page of The New York Times, selling thousands of copies and garnering unprecedented influence. Many of its major recommendations - principal among them a massive arms buildup to counter perceived Soviet military superiority - were adopted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his State of the Union address in January 1958.[9]
The project was finally published in its entirety in 1961 as Prospect for America: The Rockefeller Panel Reports. The archival study papers are stored in the Rockefeller Archive Center at the family estate; portions of the papers are still restricted, over four decades after the report was published.[10]
The Pocantico Conference Center[edit]
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The Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund is located at the "Coach Barn" in the heart of the Rockefeller estate in Westchester County, north of New York City (see Kykuit). The Center was created when the Fund leased the area from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1991.
Since its opening in 1994, the Center has hosted 482 meetings with 13,223 attendees, on subjects directly related to the RBF's program objectives, including dialogues held by outside organizations.
Some recent (2005) Conference subjects have included:
- Ethical Globalization - Chaired by Mary Robinson.
- The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa - Established in 2000 by the presidents of Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, to assist higher education institutions in six African countries —Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
- Climate Dialogue III - Sponsored by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and co-chaired by Pew Center President Eileen Claussen and Ged Davis, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum - supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the United Nations Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, and the RBF.
- Independent Media and the Future of Democracy - In the wake of the November 2004 election, three leading independent magazines - Mother Jones, The Nation, and The American Prospect - convened the leadership of independent media organizations from the worlds of print, radio, television and the internet to assess the political, technological, and demographic changes to come in the next decade. Sponsored by the RBF.
- Foundation Executives Group Meeting - Sponsored by the RBF; The Ford Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation; The Commonwealth Fund; The MacArthur Foundation; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of NY; The Atlantic Philanthropies; W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Pew Charitable Trusts; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; David and Lucille Packard Foundation; and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
- Sixteen foundation presidents gathered for their annual meeting to discuss issues of mutual concern. It was chaired by Paul Brest, president of the Hewlett Foundation. This year’s topics included international and foreign policy issues with remarks by Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations; a panel on climate change led by RBF president Stephen Heintz; and a session on policy advocacy led by Rebecca Rimel, president of the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Patty Stonesifer, president of the Gates Foundation.
- United Nations Security Council Retreat - Sponsored by the RBF and the United Nations.
- The Secretary-General of the United Nations and fifteen representatives of the States members of the Security Council met at the Pocantico Conference Center for the seventh annual “Security Council retreat” convened by the Secretary-General.
(See External Links for a full list of the 2005 Conferences.)
Notable historical grantees[edit]
The list is from the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) which is restricted to past grantees from over twenty years ago and not extending beyond 1986, with most information on grants only up to the early 1980s. As of 2005[update] some of the grantees below may also be recipients.[11]
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research - 1969-1976, 1979-1984.
- Asia Society - 1956-1983.
- Brookings Institution - Various programs, 1953-1982.
- Carnegie Corporation of New York, including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Various programs, 1953-1979.
- Columbia University - 1951-1982.
- Council on Foreign Relations Inc. - 1953-1980.
- Foreign Policy Association - 1947-1982.
- The Foundation Center - 1956-1982.
- Harvard University - Various programs, 1953-1982.
- The Legal Aid Society - 1941-1982.
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. - 1968-1973, 1977-1979.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Various programs, 1949-1982.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art - 1946-1982.
- Museum of Modern Art - Various programs, 1947-1983.
- New York University - Various programs, 1951-1982.
- Rockefeller Family Fund, Inc. - 1970-1976.
- Rockefeller Foundation, including Rockefeller Archive Center - 1952-1984.
- Rockefeller University - 1970-1980.
- Social Science Research Council - Various programs, 1951-1976.
- Trilateral Commission - 1972-1983.
- United Nations - Various programs, 1963-1976.[12]
Presidents and trustees[edit]
- Nelson Rockefeller 1956 - 1958.
- Laurance Rockefeller 1958 - 1968.
- Dana S. Creel 1968 - 1975.
- William M. Deitel 1975 - 1987.
- Colin G. Campbell 1987 - 2000.
- Stephen B. Heintz 2001 -
The list of trustees can be found.[13]
Further reading[edit]
- Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson, The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
- Nielsen, Waldemar, The Big Foundations, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
- Rockefeller, David, Memoirs, New York: Random House, 2002.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Son of David Rockefeller Dies in Small-Plane Crash The New York Times 2014/06/14.
- ^ Rockefeller heir killed in small plane crash near New York City | Reuters
- ^ Richard Rockefeller, great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller, dies in plane crash- CNN, 2014/06/13
- ^ http://www.rbf.org/history/about-us
- ^ [1] Bloomberg.com
- ^ [2] New York Times 2006/11/21
- ^ "Is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund consciously funding delegitimization of Israel?". JNS.org news service (JNS.org). May 21, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
- ^ [3] 2009 Form 990-PF at www.rbf.org
- ^ Rushed release of military subpanel's report - see Cary Reich, The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer, 1908-1958, New York: Doubleday, 1996. (pp.650-667)
- ^ Rockefeller Archive Center
- ^ Rockefeller Brothers Fund - 2005 Grantees
- ^ Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) List of RBF Grantees
- ^ here
External links[edit]
- Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Official Website.
- Pocantico Conference Center: Full list of 2005 Conferences
- Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF): History of the Awards.
- RBF 2004 Annual Report (pdf)
- RBF 2003 Annual Report : Philanthropy for an Interdependent World (pdf)
- Undue Influence website Lists some of the trustees of the RBF (information is not up-to-date) and the positions they hold.
- Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) Outlines the collection of archived papers of the history of the RBF.
- Manhattan: A Rockefeller Plans a Huge Bequest 2006 New York Times report on David Rockefeller's bequest of $225 million to the RBF.