Our mission, promoting the well-being of humanity throughout the world, remains unchanged since 1913. Today, that mission requires us to find and scale solutions to advance opportunity and reverse the climate crisis.
1. We believe that many of the greatest challenges of our time are solvable.
Rather than shying away from tough problems, we remain optimistic.
Therefore, we set audacious goals to have transformational impact at a global scale. We look for innovations that can be a catalyst or accelerator of progress. We are undeterred by failure; while our approaches may evolve as we take risks and learn, our commitment to the impacts we seek remains unwavering.
2. We believe that connectivity powers change.
Rather than pursuing our goals alone or only with existing allies, we seek out, convene and collaborate with unlikely partners to meet common goals.
Therefore, we develop a strong bench of convening capabilities and offer it to our partners and peers to shape ideas and solutions. We actively work to build alliances across public, private, philanthropic, and community spaces.
3. We believe our history is our greatest resource.
Rather than avoiding the limelight, we use our brand to accelerate progress.
Therefore, we wield the power of our voice to bring the world’s attention to the issues we’re tackling. And we offer our communications expertise, along with our brand recognition, to our partners so they can more easily garner the support they need to succeed.
4. We believe that impact is more achievable when our team engages actively alongside grantees and partners.
Rather than joining the trust-based philanthropy movement, we choose to be an active collaborator.
Therefore, we roll up our sleeves alongside our grantees and partners, co-creating goals and strategies, convening actors, building alliances, mobilizing capital, and using our voice to inspire action.
5. We believe we should leverage all of our assets for good.
Rather than restricting ourselves to a narrow view of philanthropy, we use our full balance sheet to unlock our own and others’ capital.
Therefore, in addition to our grantmaking, we leverage our operations, endowment, and investing capabilities to drive progress toward shared goals. We try to lead by example by making net zero commitments for our operations and endowment. And we use different funding mechanisms — whether a grant, contract, PRI, or even a bond — based on what’s best suited to get the work done.
6. We believe in the power of data and evidence to inform what we do, and how we do it.
Rather than wait for the full picture, we reflect on results early and often.
Therefore, we ask partners to provide both numbers and stories that help us understand their work, and the extent to which the hypotheses we’re testing are holding true. We aim to learn from our and our partners’ successes and challenges along the way, and transparently share our insights and impact, even when the results are not what we hoped. And we are continuing to develop intentional ways to improve the use of data and evidence in strategy development and implementation.
7. We believe that timing is everything.
Rather than remain steadfast to the same priorities for a set amount of time, we recognize that needs and conditions change.
Therefore, when a window of opportunity opens, we mobilize with our partners to seize it. We might go down one road and then circle back. We understand that strategies are roadmaps that we are open to reconsidering in order to achieve our goals.
8. We believe that our work should reduce disparities.
Rather than assuming we have the answers, we are learning how to work in a way that meaningfully improves the lives of those most affected by social injustice.
Therefore, we are exploring what this means for us, and how we can do this more systematically, recognizing that we will always be able to improve.