Lamin Ceesay

Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The RBF's grantmaking is organized around three themes: Democratic Practice, Peacebuilding, and Sustainable Development. Though the Fund pursues its three program interests in a variety of geographic contexts, including substantial work in the U.S., it has identified several specific locations on which to concentrate cross-programmatic attention. The Fund refers to these as 'pivotal places'​: subnational areas, nation-states, or cross-border regions that have special importance with regard to the Fund's substantive concerns and whose future will have disproportionate significance for the future of a surrounding region, an ecosystem, or the world. The Fund currently works in two pivotal places: China and the Western Balkans. The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, focused on New York, nurtures a vibrant and inclusive arts community in the Fund's home city. These six programs reflect board and staff assessment of the challenges facing today's increasingly interdependent world on which strategic philanthropy and the Fund's accumulated grantmaking experience can have a meaningful impact. Through its grantmaking, the Fund supports efforts to expand knowledge, clarify values and critical choices, nurture creative expression, and shape public policy. The Fund's programs are intended to develop leaders, strengthen institutions, engage citizens, build community, and foster partnerships that include government, business, and civil society. Respect for cultural diversity and ecological integrity pervades the Fund's activities. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund also manages The Pocantico Center as part of an agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Pocantico Center is a venue for conferences and meetings on critical issues related to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's mission.