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The Rockefeller Foundation: A Legacy of Making Opportunity Universal

From our very first grant—to the American Red Cross more than a century ago—through to today’s vast array of initiatives, The Rockefeller Foundation has built a reputation as a trailblazer that convenes unlikely partnerships and sparks innovations for transformative change. Our list of greatest achievements is long. We founded the modern field of public health, developed a vaccine to help control yellow fever, and worked to combat hookworm in the U.S. and malaria in Italy, funded urban visionary Jane Jacobs, and catalyzed a Green Revolution.

The Foundation is focused on four core commitments: to end energy poverty, achieve health for all, nourish the world, and expand economic opportunity. We are pursuing these goals through innovative partnerships and through impact investments that find new ways to leverage private capital for social good.

The Rockefeller Foundation is among the most respected and deep-rooted of American philanthropies. And yet we have retained our fleet-footedness, as seen by The Foundation’s swift response to the Covid-19 crisis. As from its earliest days more than a century ago, The Rockefeller Foundation is serving as a crucial catalyst, convener, and innovator, helping the private sector and government do more to ease the pain of the pandemic.

All told, the Foundation has given more than $22 billion in current dollars to support thousands of organizations and individuals worldwide.