Archewell

As of April 2021, Archewell Inc was preparing to launch its Archewell Audio program, a podcast series with Spotify. ¹

Founding and History

Archewell Inc. was announced in April 2020, following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from active Royal duties in the British Royal Family. ²

Archewell Inc. was a continuation of the couple’s attempt at charitable efforts under the planned Sussex Royal Foundation. ³ When Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down from Royal duties in March 2020, the Sussex Royal Foundation was renamed to the MWX Foundation and subsequently dissolved. ⁴

In April 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the launch of Archewell Inc after the foundation’s trademark application was reported by The Telegraph. A statement prepared by the couple explained that they named the Foundation, in part, after their son Archie, a combination of an “ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon.” ²

Christine Schirmer, former head of communications at Pinterest and former corporate communications manager at Apple; New York City Department of Education communications lead Toya Holness; and the couple’s personal communication lead James Holt were tapped to head Archewell’s public relations team. ²

Harry and Meghan Markle delayed Archewell’s launch following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. The couple decided instead to focus their giving on Black Lives Matter and international COVID-19 relief efforts. ²

In September 2020, Archewell began its Archewell Productions program with a Netflix partnership to produce documentaries, feature films, scripted TV series, and children’s shows. ⁵

In December 2020, Archewell announced its first public philanthropic partnership under the Archewell Foundation banner. The Foundation began providing grants to celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals to people impacted by natural disasters. ⁶ The Foundation also disclosed other early partnerships with Stanford Medicine, the Loveland Foundation, the Center for Humane Technology, and the University California, Los Angeles (UCLA). ⁷

Through its partnership with UCLA, the Archewell Foundation established the Archewell Foundation Fund for the UCLA Center for Critical Inquiry, which studies perceived racial, gender, and income-based bias in algorithms, information, and data sciences. The Center’s 2021 grantees include the Oracle for Transfeminist Technologies and the “Future is Intersectional” series.” ⁸

In March 2021, the Archewell Foundation announced partnerships with the U.K.-based mental health charity Mind, PressPad Charitable Foundation, URL Media, and the left-of-center organizing group Color of Change. ⁹ Archewell Productions also appointed Oscar-nominee Ben Browning to lead its production program. ¹⁰

Present Activities

Archewell Inc., under the Archewell Foundation, funds organizations that align with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s charitable and political aims. Their grants center around mental health charities and left-of-center organizations.

Archewell Productions is currently producing a documentary series titled Heart of Invictus, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara, featuring Prince Harry’s Invictus Games. Prince Harry will appear in the documentary and is the executive producer of the series. ⁵

Archewell Audio, Archewell Inc’s podcast with Spotify, is slated to debut in 2021. ¹

Finances

In January 2023, Archwell released their impact report detailing financial records and statistics from between 2020 and 2022. According to the report, the Foundation raised $13 million in 2021 whilst donating roughly $3 million in grants that same year. The report details that these grants went towards several charitable efforts including paying for over 12 million Covid vaccines through partnering with nonprofit group Global Citizen, serving over 50,000 meals by collaborating with center-left organization World Central Kitchen, and assisting over 7,000 refugees in leaving Afghanistan through human rights group Human First Coalition. ¹¹ The grants also went towards funding resource guides for positive masculinity advocacy group Equimundo as well as sponsoring 13 fellows from Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society to speak about “society’s most urgent concerns surrounding social media.” ^{12 11}

Leadership

Founded by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Archewell is led by executive director James Holt, formerly the organization’s public relations chief. Director Ben Browning heads Archewell Productions, and Genevieve Roth, founder of the New York-based Invisible Hand, also collaborates with the organization. ¹⁰