Work in Exploration

The Rockefeller Foundation continually seeks innovative projects that build more resilient communities and foster more equitable growth around the world. As new areas of research are identified, we enter into an exploratory phase in which we analyze the landscape, potential impact, and effectiveness of potential interventions. The projects and interventions that have been assessed to have the greatest impact will move from Work In Exploration to full Foundation Initiatives.

New Exploration  Previous Exploration

Work in Exploration: Ongoing

Smart Power for Environmentally-Sound Economic Development (SPEED)

Publications:

• SPEED Brochure (PDF 36MB)
• SPEED Report (PDF 3MB)

SPEED Grantees

Poverty Reduction through Information and Digital Employment (PRIDE)

The current Business Process Outsourcing industry in the developing world has largely been successful at creating job opportunities for well educated segments of the population in Asia and Africa. PRIDE is fostering a critical new arm of the industry called Impact sourcing, which employs people at the base of the pyramid as principal workers in business process outsourcing centers, located in low-income areas of cities and rural towns. Through scaling up Impact Sourcing, poor or marginalized populations in Africa will be better positioned to lift themselves out of poverty.

• Digital Divide Data Receives $895,000 Grant from Rockefeller Foundation to Foster Impact Sourcing Industry in Africa, Creating Jobs for Kenyan Youth
• The Rockefeller Foundation to Foster Impact Sourcing in Africa: Poverty Reduction through ICT Jobs

Sustainable Employment in a Green US Economy (SEGUE)

In response to the disproportionate effect of the current recession on the economic security of low-income workers, the Foundation is focusing on the green employment sector. This effort aims to maximize the “green” growth areas of the economy, such as opportunities presented by the demand for home-energy retrofits, while benefiting low- and moderate-income workers.