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 for making big bets that spur breakthroughs in science and understanding and leverage unlikely partnerships to deliver transformative change. Our list of achievements over the last 110 years is long.
Since 1913, we have worked with grantees and partners in:
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Achieving Health for All
Achieving Health for All
From funding the development of penicillin and the Nobel Prize-winning yellow fever vaccine to cofounding the Children’s Vaccine Initiative and advocating for equitable Covid-19 testing and vaccine policies, The Rockefeller Foundation has shaped principles, practices, and key institutions in the global public health field.
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Nourishing the World
Nourishing the World
To fight food insecurity, The Rockefeller Foundation helped boost crop yields in Asia, Africa, and beyond through modernizing agriculture practices. More recently, it has championed regenerative agriculture, and worked to increase global and institutional access to nutritious, sustainably grown foods.
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Sustainably Ending Energy Poverty
Sustainably Ending Energy Poverty
Committed to clean and equitable energy access, The Rockefeller Foundation supported development of early solar mini-grid prototypes in India, helped create the U.S. Energy Foundation, and spearheaded the launching of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, whose mission is to reach one billion people with reliable, abundant, clean power.
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Spurring Creativity and Education
Spurring Creativity and Education
From its earliest days, The Rockefeller Foundation has fostered artists in every field, and funded historically Black colleges and universities, have gathered artists and leading thinkers at the Bellagio Center in Lake Como, Italy; and sponsored schoolchildren to engage with the stories of America's Founding Era.
A Closer Look Through The Years
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The Rockefeller Foundation, US State Dept, and Bezos Earth Fund Join Forces to Accelerate Transition to Renewable Energy
Announced at COP27 in Sharm El Sheik, the groups announced support to design an Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) with the potential to catalyze private capital for the clean energy transition in emerging and developing economies.

The Rockefeller Foundation Commits USD 105M to Making Healthy and Sustainable Foods More Accessible Around the World
Launches new Good Food Strategy, which will invest USD 105 million over three years to increase access to healthy and sustainable foods for 40 million underserved people around the globe.

Historic Alliance Launches at COP26 to Accelerate a Transition to Renewable Energy, Access to Energy for All, and Jobs
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet aims to unlock USD100 billion in public and private financing in order to reach 1 billion underserved people with reliable, renewable power; avoid and avert 4 billion tons of carbon emissions; and drive economic growth, with 150+ million jobs created, enabled, or improved.

The Rockefeller Foundation Releases New Financing Roadmap to End Pandemic by End of 2022
Calls for $44 billion in SDRs through IMF to achieve 70% vaccination rate in LMICs. Recommends an allocation of $650 billion in SDRs to catalyze a sustainable global recovery.

The Rockefeller Foundation Commits to Divesting from Fossil Fuels

The Rockefeller Foundation Commits USD1 billion to Catalyze a Green Recovery from Pandemic
This was the single largest commitment in the Foundation’s 108-year history, which has distributed more than $22 billion since its inception.
The Rockefeller Foundation to Issue Taxable Bonds to Help End the Covid-19 Pandemic and Invest in Renewable Energy to Lift Millions Out of Poverty
Securing “Aaa/AAA” ratings for its $700 million of Series 2020 Taxable Bonds by Moody’s and S&P.

The Rockefeller Foundation Launches New Covid-19 Testing Strategy to Keep U.S. Economy Open

The Rockefeller Foundation Launches Covid-19 Action Plan to Reopen Workplaces, Protect Lives
The Rockefeller Foundation commits $20 million in Covid-19 assistance to strengthen global pandemic preparedness and support vulnerable communities.
The Rockefeller Foundation launches the $36.5 million U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative to transform economic stability and mobility for nearly 5 million low-wage workers in America and leverage over $1 billion in private capital by 2025.
The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and The Rockefeller Foundation announces data.org as a platform for partnerships that will continue to build the field of data science for social impact.

With Tata Power, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd. is formed to provide clean power to nearly 5 million Indian households, directly impacting the lives of 25 million people over the next decade.
The Food System Vision Prize invites organizations, universities, institutions, companies, cooperatives, and partnerships from around the world to create compelling and progressive visions of the world’s system by 2050. A Prize of $2 million will be distributed among 10 winners.

The Rockefeller Foundation and leading global health partners announce Precision Public Health, a $100 million initiative to empower community health systems and frontline health workers with the latest data science innovations and aims to prevent 6 million deaths in 10 countries by 2030.
The Global Commission to End Energy Poverty (GCEEP) is formed to help drive a new agenda to provide electricity to hundreds of millions in pursuit of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 7.

The Rockefeller Foundation announces the Opportunity Zones Initiative, an effort to help U.S. cities attract responsible private investment in economically-distressed communities and ensure delivery of sustainable benefits for more than 30 million low-income Americans living in designated Opportunity Zones.
MacArthur Foundation commits $150 million to help address critical social challenges, joining The Rockefeller Foundation and Omidyar Network in the new Catalytic Capital Consortium and calls for more flexible impact investments and collaboration.

From Missoula to San Juan, 10 organizations receive $1 million each to expand their community-led approaches to improve economic opportunity in their neighborhoods and beyond.
The Rockefeller Foundation announces the inaugural class of a new Fellowship, designed to support work on a range of projects across the fields of health, power, innovative finance, governance, economic opportunity, and the life sciences.
