Skip to content

Type: Letters from the President

Letter from the President and CEO

It is not every day that a person gets to join such a thoughtful, talented network of strong leaders working on the country’s most pressing problems. But that is the great fortune I have been afforded, joining the Heising-Simons Foundation as its new President and CEO. 

A Big Thank You

As I emailed earlier this year, after 10 years at the Heising-Simons Foundation, I am now retiring. I wanted to reach out to you once more, to thank you and to wish you well. 

Introducing Our New Director of the Climate and Clean Energy Program

I’m delighted to announce that Roland Hwang will join the Heising-Simons Foundation as the new director of our Climate and Clean Energy program.

An Equity Framework: Our Commitment To Change

Today, I want to share with you the Equity Framework we have been developing at the Foundation over the past year. In this document you’ll find what we mean by equity, and how we seek to translate words into action, including employing a set of questions to guide and learn from our decisions.

Letter From the President: Yesterday, Today, and the Future

I can’t even begin with “On days like this,” because there has been no day like yesterday, no events like this in our Capitol, in our living memory. It is a time that stirs anger, sadness, and deep distress.

Letter from the President

In this holiday week, I wanted to write a note of reflection and thanks to you, our colleagues and friends. We are nearing the end of a tumultuous year. It has been a hard year – a year marked by anger, grief, illness, and loss. It has been a year filled with events that have …

COVID-19 Response: Letter from the President, April 2020

I am thinking of you, your families, your colleagues, and the communities you serve and call home. You and we know that there is more that needs to be done to respond to the COVID-19 crisis than any one of us can do alone. This pandemic has shown all of us the fragility of life and of so many aspects of our society. But I am heartened because, even in the midst of fear, sadness, and want, you, our grantee partners, are making a difference.

Firearm Violence is Not Inevitable

The last few weeks have brought us Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton––more mass shootings, more deaths by firearms. We grieve with the victims, their families, and their communities.

Letter from the President: June 2019

In 2018, the Foundation, for the first time in its history, awarded $100 million in grants in a single year. That we were able to do this is due to a generous Board, a dedicated staff, and, above all, an overwhelmingly thoughtful, creative, and committed set of grantees. We are immensely grateful to you, our …