Grantee partner Andrea Ghez, UCLA’s Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Astrophysics, was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics today. Ghez shares the prize with Reinhard Genzel of University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
In collaboration with The Bridgespan Group and The Education Trust, we are pleased to share a report to inform conversations, decisions, and actions that early childhood funders might take in 2021 from the perspective of what parents, providers, and field leaders have named as most critical in working towards a more equitable early childhood system.
The Heising-Simons Foundation is a family foundation based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a three-person Board—all members of the same family—and a 47-person staff. The Foundation has a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and to transparency. We believe it is important to collect, understand, and post the demographics of our staff on our… Continue Reading
The Heising-Simons Foundation is proud to regularly see its grantee partners featured in media outlets across the country, providing an expert voice on a timely issue or being highlighted for their accomplishments and hard work. Here are some news items that have featured our grantees in August 2020.
Scientists at MIT, Cardiff University, and elsewhere have observed what may be signs of life in the clouds of Venus. The astronomers, led by Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, detected in Venus’ atmosphere a spectral fingerprint, or light-based signature of phosphine using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observatory in Chile. Their discovery and analysis is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
From a purely mathematical perspective, face masks are more effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 than we may think. This happens for two reasons: masks protect in both directions (when we breathe in and when we breathe out), and the number of interactions involving people wearing masks is higher than the number of people wearing masks in public.
The Heising-Simons Foundation recognizes that structural racism pervades our society and manifests through systems of punishment including mass incarceration. The result is the over criminalization of Black people and the under resourcing of Black people in economic, political, and social justice sectors. To address these issues, the Human Rights program invests in grassroots organizing led by Black people and other communities of color directly impacted by mass criminalization, while advancing reimagined approaches to safety, justice, and accountability.
Let’s face it, when we think about supporting the healthy development of our youngest learners, leveraging technology––and, specifically, mobile apps––may not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and teachers are looking for technology solutions to help maintain connections and encourage learning when being at school may not be possible.
The Heising-Simons Foundation is proud to regularly see its grantee partners featured in media outlets across the country, providing an expert voice on a timely issue or being highlighted for their accomplishments and hard work. Here are some news items that have featured our grantees in July 2020.