.r—^W ^^ ^ .«»" JT ^d* ar. '" dEiiJ''™' • jf^^'-ry^^t^ j*''-™^>.»-»' ^ 1^ 11^ -•i"*^**' > „.--~^ ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND Annual Report 1998 ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND,INC. 437 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10022-7001 Telephone: 212.812.4200 Facsimile: 212.812.4299 E-mail: [email protected] World Wide Web: www.rbforg Project on World Security World Wide Web: www.rbf.org/pws POCANTICO CONFERENCE CENTER OF THE ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND 200 Lake Road Pocantico Hills, New York 10591-1599 Telephone: 914.524.6500 Facsimile: 914.524.6550 E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 1999, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc. Design: H Plus Incorporated Printing: Finlay Printing Printed on Recycled Paper Contents 5 A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR 9 PRESIDENT'S REPORT ABOUT THE ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND 19 The Rockefeller Brothers Fund 20 Grantmaking Programs 22 Other Programs 22 How to Apply for a Grant 25 Asian Cultural Council ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND PROGRAMS 29 One World: Sustainable Resource Use 45 One World: Global Security 51 Nonprofit Sector 59 Education 65 New York City 73 South Africa 79 Pocantico Programs 87 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation GRANTS PAID IN 1998 91 One World: Sustainable Resource Use 96 One World: Global Security 96 Nonprofit Sector 99 Education 99 New York City 100 South Africa 101 Ramon Magsaysay Awards 103 Reconciliation of Grants Paid or Approved FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 105 Financial Report 122 Endowment Management 123 TRUSTEES, OFFICERS, AND STAFF 127 INDEX A Message from the Chair During the nineties, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) has been committed to promoting at home and abroad democratic values and civil society, environmental protection, equitable sustainable development, education, a healthy nonprofit sector, and peace. In all its grantmaking the RBF is mindful of the principles of global interdependence and the need for integrated problem solving that recognizes the interrelation of humanity's social, economic, and environmental goals. The resources and capacities of the Fund have continued to expand, and during the year 1998 there were a number of significant developments. As a result of careful management by the Finance Committee, the Fund's real assets have grown 21 percent during the period 1990-1998. This has enabled the Fund regularly to increase its grantmaking budget, which was expanded from $10.8 million in 1997 to $12.5 million in 1998. In STEVEN C. ROCKEFELLER, Chair of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. addition to grant payments in 1998, the Fund expended $3.8 million for direct charitable activities. These include in-house administration of a fellowship program for minority students entering the teaching profession, and maintenance of the Pocantico Historic Area for public visitation and philanthropic conferences. Also included are contributions of staff time to activities that increase the capacity and support the work of grantee organizations and other nonprofit entities. During the month of June the RBF moved its offices to more spacious quarters in midtown Manhattan, where it was able to take advantage of lower rental rates. In the Fund's new headquarters, the lighting systems, plumbing fixtures, floor coverings, and wood wall paneling have been designed to conform to environmentally responsible standards of construction. The new space includes a state-of-the-art conference room where, for the first time, the full board and staff can meet in the Fund's offices. This room is also available for use by grantees and other non-profits with programs related to the goals of the RBF. The Asian Cultural Council (which is afifiliated with the RBF), the Environmental Grantmakers Association, and the Rockefeller Family Fund share the new office space with the RBF. In 1996 the RBF brought to an end its existing World Security program and undertook a two-year study of how best to approach the issue of global security in a post-Cold War world. The objective of the RBF study, which was completed in 1998, was both to contribute to the larger public debate about the nature MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR of security and to develop guidelines for a new RBF program in this area. The collaboration between trustees and staff in the course of this review was very productive. The President's Report and the Global Security program section in this annual report discuss more fully the outcome of the world security review and its relationship to the promising Global Interdependence Initiative that was formally launched, with RBF support, in 1998. The goals of the RBF's largest grantmaking program are environmental protection and sustainable development. Special attention is given to global issues such as climate change and biodiversity preservation; in addition, the Fund concentrates on two geographical regions. Central and Eastern Europe and East Asia. Among the RBF initiatives in 1998 were support for a post-Kyoto strategy to educate Americans about global warming and the economic benefits of decreasing use of fossil fuels. Funding also went to international schemes designed to promote certification of sustainably managed forests and to efforts to integrate environmental goals into the mission of the World Trade Organization. The East Asian sustainable development program was reviewed by the trustees in 1998, and new strategies were adopted under which the Fund will focus on integrated watershed planning in the Mekong basin; capacity building in coastal management in Indonesia and the Philippines; sustainable agriculture in Guangdong Province, China; and the social and environmental implications of East Asia's integration into the global economy. A special focus will be maintained on effective management of the environmental and social problems created by unsustainable shrimp aquaculture. With RBF support, the first National Convention on Integrated Coastal Management was held in the Philippines, and the Industrial Shrimp Aquaculture Network was established to promote effective NGO collaboration. In response to growing consumerism and an increasing number of well financed but unsustainable development schemes in Central and Eastern Europe, the RBF has continued its efforts to promote sustainability and democratic values by strengthening the capacity of indigenous citizen groups and NGOs. As foreign funding for NGOs has been shrinking in the region, the RBF has worked to identify and create new sources of funding, helping to establish, for example, a proposed new Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe. For a number of years the RBF has had a special commitment to promote democracy and equity in South Africa by improving the quality and accessibility of basic education for children and adults. This program was evaluated and refined in 1998 with the assistance of South African education experts. The new guidelines reflect new opportunities and challenges in post-apartheid South 7^frica. The Fund will continue to support innovative basic education models, improved teaching in lower primary schools, and capacity building for nonprofits in the basic education field. In addition, there is a fresh focus on program evaluation, cross-sectoral collaboration, and financial self-sufficiency for educational nonprofits. ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND 1998 ANNUAL REPORT Steven C. Rockefeller (left) with RBF president Colin G. Campbell and Abby M. O'Neill, a trustee and former chair of the Fund. The RBF concentrated its education grantmaking in the U.S. on programs designed to promote leadership development. This focus on educational leadership provided the Fund with an opportunity to bring the two main strands of its education program—increasing the numbers and excellence of minority teachers and improving training programs for teachers in early childhood education—into closer alignment. A Program for Educational Leadership was instituted as a new phase of the RBF's fellowship program for minority students entering the teaching profession. In the field of early childhood education, the Fund made a set of grants designed to identify and encourage prospective leaders who are committed to bringing about broad changes in the field and have the ability to advocate persuasively for high-quality services for young children. New York is the only state in the Northeast without a statewide brownfields program that provides clear guidelines and incentives for the private voluntary cleanup of contaminated sites, most of which are in poor communities and old industrial areas. One of the most significant initiatives of the RBF's New York City program in 1998 was the convening of the Pocantico Roundtable for Consensus on Brownfields. The Roundtable brought community leaders together with business, environmental, legal, and local and state government representatives. A consensus has been reached on critical issues, creating an opportunity to initiate hundreds of community-based cleanup projects. 7\lso in 1998, the program focused on building neighborhood constituencies for school improvement and for preservation and reclamation of open space along the city's extensive waterfront and in other areas. In its program to promote the health and vitality of the nonprofit sector, RBF grantmaking supported initiatives designed to clarify and articulate a clear vision of the nature and purpose of the sector and to strengthen its capacity to respond creatively to social and legislative change. The Fund has been particularly concerned to support projects that promote the accountability of foundations and other nonprofit institutions. In this regard it has provided fiinding to improve the quality and accessibility of information about foundations and nonprofits, including efforts to ensure that the information nonprofits make available to the public (for example, on IRS Form 990) is more accurate and complete. The RBF Pocantico Conference Center completed its fifth year of successful operation in 1998. Much has been learned over this period about how to take fiill advantage of the center's unique facilities. The demand for use of the center continues to increase, and the total number of conferences held rose from thirty-two in 1997 to fifty-seven in 1998. Eight of these conferences were organized by the RBF program staff.