The Heising-Simons Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to World Resources Institute (WRI) — a global research organization focusing on critical issues at the intersection of environment and development.
As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are forcing hospitals, care centers, and first responders across the country to reuse their limited supply of these critical resources. The lack of new (and sterile) protective devices puts healthcare workers at increased risk of infection.
The Foundation has awarded a $150,000 grant to the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) — a thought leader on consumer protection policies — to help ensure low-income households maintain access to essential utility services like electricity, water, and telecommunications in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
As the COVID-19 pandemic shines light on existing inequities in California, the Heising-Simons Foundation has announced a $200,000 grant to Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation (CDE Foundation) to support the California Bridging the Digital Divide Fund (The CA BDD Fund).
The Heising-Simons Foundation announced support to researchers at the University of Oregon’s Center for Translational Neuroscience with a $300,004 grant to help identify the most critical challenges facing families with young children in the United States during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has released the 2019 State of Preschool Yearbook, a survey on state-funded preschool programs that tracks student enrollment, resource allocation (including staffing and funding levels), and policies that support quality learning. In the midst of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, the Yearbook also provides information on where children are served, operating schedules, and other program features relevant to planning for the 2020-2021 school year and beyond.
We are delighted to announce that Jennifer Shipp has joined the Heising-Simons Foundation as general counsel. Jennifer will oversee the Foundation’s legal affairs and provide expertise and guidance for its strategy development, grant making, contracting, governance, and other areas.
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.
Mark Heising, vice president of the Board of the Heising-Simons Foundation, is optimistic about tackling climate change. In a blog post authored for the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), he describes why: “We have the technologies needed to cut pollution and continue powering modern society — like electric cars, solar panels, batteries, and LED lighting — we just need to deploy them faster. And in many cases, the clean technology is now the cheapest option available. That means it is incumbent industries, outdated policies, and obsolete infrastructure standing in our way, not economics or technology. These are surmountable challenges.”