Behind a Big Boost for a Legacy Institution, Deep-Pocketed Conservationists

Behind a Big Boost for a Legacy Institution, Deep-Pocketed Conservationists

Nature-focused legacy institutions like zoos and gardens are finding creative ways to engage the public and appeal to funders, including the billionaire donor class. A major gift to the Chicago Botanic Garden shows this dynamic in action.

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Supporting Science Teachers and Students: A Look Inside the Amgen Foundation

Supporting Science Teachers and Students: A Look Inside the Amgen Foundation

Amgen Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the hugely profitable biotech company, is laser-focused on nurturing the next generation of scientists. We connect with its leader about the foundation’s core programs and strategies.

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Closing the Digital Divide: How Comcast-NBCUniversal Does Community Impact

Closing the Digital Divide: How Comcast-NBCUniversal Does Community Impact

Comcast-NBC Universal Foundation’s work on the digital divide, as well as its other philanthropic efforts, focuses strongly on communities where the company has a presence. Here’s an inside look at how this media giant does its giving.

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Another Huge Gift Finds Donors Responding to Surging Demand for Engineering Grads

Another Huge Gift Finds Donors Responding to Surging Demand for Engineering Grads

Some commentators have argued that funders over-hype the demand for STEM jobs. A recent $100 million gift to UCLA, however, suggests that donors with decades of experience in the engineering field have a very different take.

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“Awestruck.” Behind a Regional Funder's Historic Gift to a Public University's Engineering School

“Awestruck.” Behind a Regional Funder's Historic Gift to a Public University's Engineering School

Even as critics charge that the STEM skills gap is exaggerated, big gifts keep flowing to schools to bolster their STEM programs. Who are the funders behind this endless gusher of cash? And what’s motivating them to make such large donations?

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"Empower Them To Succeed." An Alumna Looks to Close the Engineering Gender Gap

"Empower Them To Succeed." An Alumna Looks to Close the Engineering Gender Gap

While there’s no shortage of tech, corporate and institutional funders providing support to boost gender equity in STEM across higher ed, we see few gifts flowing from female alumnae engineers. A gift to UCLA is an exception worth looking at more closely.

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A Successful Program to Boost Diversity in STEM Gains a Wealthy Ally and Second Home

A Successful Program to Boost Diversity in STEM Gains a Wealthy Ally and Second Home

The tech sector is growing, but the diversity of its workforce has lagged behind. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has joined the growing ranks of funders taking on this challenge, with a big gift to change who’s in the talent pipeline for Silicon Valley jobs.

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A Force for Good: Why Some Funders are Bullish on Public Interest Technology

A Force for Good: Why Some Funders are Bullish on Public Interest Technology

Warnings about the risks posed by technology have been growing louder and more urgent. But an initiative launched last month imagines a more hopeful future in which technologists advance the public interest. Who’s behind it, and what’s the plan?

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Behind a $25 Million Plan to Elevate Women in STEM and Use their Stories to Inspire Girls

Behind a $25 Million Plan to Elevate Women in STEM and Use their Stories to Inspire Girls

Can role models inspire girls to push into STEM fields that have historically been dominated by men? A successful female entrepreneur who’s now focused on philanthropy is betting big that the answer is “yes.”

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Coding Behind Bars: How Some Funders Want to Prepare Inmates for Life on the Outside

Coding Behind Bars: How Some Funders Want to Prepare Inmates for Life on the Outside

With over 600,000 people released from prison every year, reentry challenges are drawing more attention from philanthropy. One nonprofit in this space that’s teaching coding to inmates has found some powerful allies, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

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Closing the Gap: Behind a Longtime Corporate STEM Funder’s New Work on Women and Girls

Closing the Gap: Behind a Longtime Corporate STEM Funder’s New Work on Women and Girls

The IT company Cognizant launched a foundation last year as part of its efforts to bolster STEM skills in the U.S. It recently started grantmaking and appointed an executive director. A focus on girls and women has figured prominently in its early moves.

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Long Game: Inside the Carnegie Corporation’s Quest to Improve Science Education

Long Game: Inside the Carnegie Corporation’s Quest to Improve Science Education

One of the country’s oldest foundations has been working over the past decade to bolster science education, with a big focus on improving the quality of instructional materials. How’s this effort been going? And what’s been learned along the way?

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“We Need to Open the Doors.” A Campus Gift to Boost Diversity Among Environmental Leaders

“We Need to Open the Doors.” A Campus Gift to Boost Diversity Among Environmental Leaders

A $20 million gift seeks to increase accessibility for underrepresented and first-generation students to Duke’s School of the Environment. It comes at a moment when there’s growing acknowledgement that green groups must do more to diversify their ranks in an era of rapid demographic change.

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A Quick Look at a Corporate Funder's Latest Efforts to Diversify Tech

A Quick Look at a Corporate Funder's Latest Efforts to Diversify Tech

Micron Technology typically isn’t mentioned in the same breath as Google, Microsoft, or Intel, but when it comes to boosting gender parity and diversity in the STEM field, its giving arm punches well above its weight.

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Four Ways Boehringer Ingelheim Funds Health and Science in Connecticut and Beyond

Four Ways Boehringer Ingelheim Funds Health and Science in Connecticut and Beyond

Boehringer Ingelheim and its BI Cares Foundation make a lot of grants in Connecticut, but also to researchers nationwide. What healthcare access, STEM, and research programs does this pharmaceutical giant back?

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"Artistic Expression Meets Scientific Inquiry." Checking in on the Sloan Foundation's Film Grantmaking

"Artistic Expression Meets Scientific Inquiry." Checking in on the Sloan Foundation's Film Grantmaking

Slowly but surely, funders have come around to Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s prescient vision of integrating science with the humanities. We dig into the foundation’s recent moves in the filmmaking space.

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How Did This Public University Off the Beaten Path Score a Huge Gift for STEM?

How Did This Public University Off the Beaten Path Score a Huge Gift for STEM?

The largest gift in Western State Colorado University’s history looks to boost access to STEM education in a fast-growing part of the country where demand for the skill set is inordinately high.

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Hey, Siri: What's the Deal With This Major University Research Gift by an Asian Corporate Giant?

Hey, Siri: What's the Deal With This Major University Research Gift by an Asian Corporate Giant?

Foxconn is giving $100 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison—after landing $4 billion in tax incentives to open a factory in the state. The story offers a window into what’s driving growing ties between campuses and corporations.

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Tomorrow's Workforce: Why the APS Foundation Stays Loyal to STEM Education in Arizona

Tomorrow's Workforce: Why the APS Foundation Stays Loyal to STEM Education in Arizona

The grantmaking arm of the Arizona Public Service Company continues to fund STEM education, with an eye on diversity and a changing jobs landscape. A senior team member offers an inside look at APS’s grantmaking.

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Direct Support: Why a Tech Giver is Helping Fuel the Rapid Growth of a Top K-12 Nonprofit

Direct Support: Why a Tech Giver is Helping Fuel the Rapid Growth of a Top K-12 Nonprofit

DonorsChoose.org is now facilitating more than $100 million a year in gifts to help classroom teachers. One of the group’s top boosters, Craig Newmark, tell us why its model is so appealing.

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