December 07, 2022 A Tech Winner Seeks Policy Change to Advance Racial Justice in the Industry December 07, 2022/ Paul Karon The Kapor Foundation has launched a multipronged initiative to allow communities of color access to the employment, economic and other benefits of the $2 trillion technology sector.Read More
August 30, 2022 How Is Philanthropy Backing Science Journalism? August 30, 2022/ Paul Karon The pandemic drove home the need for quality science journalism, but the field has struggled along with the rest of the industry. Here are a few ways key funders are supporting training and coverage.Read More
July 20, 2022 IP Briefing: What's Going on with Philanthropy for STEM Education? July 20, 2022/ IP Staff STEM education is one of the few areas where corporate funders play an outsized role in philanthropy, but there are several institutional funders and major donors involved, as well. Here’s the field in a nutshell.Read More
June 29, 2022 The Country's Oldest Science Philanthropy Plays the Long Game by Supporting Young Scientists June 29, 2022/ Paul Karon The Research Corporation for Science Advancement has been funding science research for more than a century. Here are five takeaways on how the funder works, from an interview with President Daniel Linzer. Read More
April 12, 2022 How This Dedicated Cleveland Funder Is Backing the City’s Cultural Institutions April 12, 2022/ Mike Scutari For close to 70 years, the Mandel Foundation has been a supporter of organizations in Cleveland, Israel and beyond, dropping some big recent grants. The foundation’s president explains how and why it backs local institutions.Read More
March 16, 2022 A Big Gift to Barnard College Highlights Need and Opportunity to Support Women in STEM March 16, 2022/ Paul Karon A $55 million donation to Barnard College, the largest in the school's history, will fund expansion of science facilities at the elite institution. Can Barnard’s success be replicated elsewhere to support women in STEM?Read More
March 14, 2022 For Fundraisers in STEM Education, Both New and Familiar Challenges March 14, 2022/ Katy Harris The past two years have brought new challenges for STEM education fundraisers, and have highlighted existing ones, including the need to reach under-represented groups. Several fundraisers weigh in on the state of the field.Read More
December 23, 2021 Scientists and Laypeople Speak Different Languages. This Funder Wants to Bridge the Gap December 23, 2021/ Paul Karon The Kavli Foundation, a notable funder of scientific research, has announced a new program to bridge the communications divide between scientists and the public. It’ll be a tall order.Read More
November 11, 2021 Philanthropy Has Fallen Short in Its Efforts to Make STEM More Diverse—We Have the Tools to Fix It November 11, 2021/ Lorelle L. Espinosa and Tashera Gale, Guest Contributors While STEM education funders point to diversity, equity and inclusion as priorities, research from Sloan and Higher Ed Insight shows that their efforts have fallen short. In this guest post, the authors outline a path forward.Read More
October 20, 2021 Nursing Gets Relatively Little Philanthropic Attention. Here’s How a Family Foundation Prioritizes the Field October 20, 2021/ Paul Karon Healthcare couldn’t function for a single day without nursing, yet the profession receives relatively little philanthropic support. Jonas Philanthropies has expanded its signature program to support nursing teachers and leaders.Read More
May 20, 2021 Bloomberg’s Latest Racial Equity Move Taps a Familiar Grantee to Diversify STEM May 20, 2021/ Paul Karon Bloomberg seeks to boost diversity in the sciences with a $150 million program to support students from HBCUs pursuing PhDs. It’s an extension of massive giving to Johns Hopkins, and of a more recent commitment to racial equity.Read More
May 13, 2021 How One Funder Is Bringing Greater Diversity to Cancer Research Labs May 13, 2021/ Paul Karon Cancer research, like many academic fields, has a diversity problem. The V Foundation, a cancer grantmaker, is working to increase the number of Black oncology researchers and advance their academic careers.Read More
February 10, 2021 Why a Private Funder is Partnering With a Federal Agency to Improve Science Communication February 10, 2021/ Paul Karon Funding for basic science research relies largely on strong public buy-in. We talked with the Kavli Foundation about its novel partnership with the Department of Energy to help scientists engage more meaningfully with the public.Read More
December 22, 2020 Coding for Kids: 5 Things to Know About Google.org’s Support for a Popular Learning Platform December 22, 2020/ Liz Longley The tech giant’s foundation is betting big on the workforce of the future, helping students that are traditionally shut of the computer sciences. We unpack Google.org’s expanding partnership with the popular learning program Scratch.Read More
August 12, 2020 America's Richest Family Makes Another Big Gift to its Hometown School, This Time for Research August 12, 2020/ Paul Karon The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation (the other Walton foundation) continues its run of mega-grants to the University of Arkansas, funding a new interdisciplinary institute for scientific research and commercial innovation.Read More
August 10, 2020 How a Corporate Funder is Pushing Forward the Frontiers of Remote Learning August 10, 2020/ Ade Adeniji The Amgen Foundation has given millions to the Khan Academy to scale online science education, including the use of virtual experiments that simulate being in a lab. The pandemic has made this work all the more important.Read More
February 12, 2020 In the Latest Big Campus Environmental Gift, a Push to Cross Boundaries February 12, 2020/ Julia Travers Higher ed donors are stepping up support for programs focused on conservation, climate change and other green issues. A donation for a new interdisciplinary center at William & Mary shows how such gifts can play out.Read More
February 12, 2020 Geek Chic: How a Funder Uses Film to Get the Public Jazzed About Science February 12, 2020/ Mike Scutari The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has been backing an initiative at Sundance that supports filmmakers who explore scientific themes. If you go to the movies, you may have already seen the impact of this grantmaking.Read More
January 07, 2020 A “Scientist at Heart,” This Financial Services Billionaire Focuses on Tech and Society January 07, 2020/ Ade Adeniji A growing number of Wall Street quants are tapping their wealth for philanthropy—and, unsurprisingly, focusing on STEM causes. We connect with David Siegel, another math guy turned investment manager, about his growing giving. Read More
October 25, 2019 What the Right Hand is Doing: The Paradoxical Giving of a Billionaire Mega-Donor October 25, 2019/ Julia Travers Most top donors align their political and philanthropic giving so that both advance their values. Then there’s Ken Griffin, a patron of science and the arts who also bankrolls a Trump-dominated GOP that’s attacking those sectors. Read More