Racial Justice

Few systems of power are more pervasive than race, which has shaped human history economically, socially, politically — and left some groups behind as others prosper. Even now, racism prevents people around the globe from fully realizing their own aspirations, as well as their hopes for their families and their communities.

Racism operates in every field in which the Hewlett Foundation works: education, environment, gender equity and governance, performing arts, U.S. democracy, and philanthropy itself. To achieve its mission to promote a better world, the foundation has an obligation to promote shared liberation — meaning equal social and economic rights — for all people by explicitly confronting entrenched systems of racial injustice.

Our work begins internally and is guided by Hewlett’s Culture, Race, and Equity team, which identifies and promotes practices, programming, and grantmaking to advance racial justice. With the team’s support, the entire foundation will seek to combat injustice as part of, not in place of, longstanding goals like addressing climate change, improving the quality of K-12 education, building public trust in our democracy, and ensuring women’s reproductive rights.

In partnership with an advisory council that includes outside leaders from the racial justice field, Hewlett will enlarge the scope of its efforts to advance racial justice across the foundation’s entire grantmaking portfolio.  The foundation’s $150 million in dedicated racial justice funds will serve as a force amplifier, ensuring that every member of the Hewlett team addresses systems of injustice as an essential part of their work.