The David Rockefeller Fund is a left-of-center philanthropic organization that makes grants related to art, climate change, and criminal justice. Founded in 1989 and expanded in 2001, its grants go to independent organizations as well as initiatives affiliated with established groups like the Tides Foundation and the Arabella Advisors-managed New Venture Fund. ¹

Mission

The David Rockefeller Fund’s mission is to create social change through philanthropic donations. Its grants are split among four areas – art for social change, criminal justice reform and reducing mass incarceration, the environment and climate change, and non-specific funding areas which are chosen by the Board as needed. ²

Art for Social Change

The documentary and film group Brave New Films received $25,000 for its left-of-center filmmaking. The group opposes private prisons, supports gun control, and claims that America’s justice system is inherently racist. ³ Brave New Films’ partners include, but are not limited to, the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations, the liberal news outlet HuffPost, and the Center for American Progress-funded Higher Ed, Not Debt. ⁴

$25,000 was given to the YEARS Project, which is part of the Tides Foundation. The project creates short films that focus on the alleged impacts of climate change on various communities. ⁵

The Chicago-based Victory Gardens Theater received $28,000 for its plays. The theater prioritizes racial, gender, and other diversities as part of its mission. ⁶ One of its award-winning plays portrays “rape culture” as an American reality. ⁷  

Criminal Justice Reform

The Campaign for Youth Justice was a campaign against youth imprisonment in adult facilities which took place from 2005 through 2020. ⁸ The campaign was dedicated to the idea that America’s justice system commits racial and ethnic “terror” and is an unresolved leftover from America’s racist past. ⁹ Its mission was to remove minors from the adult justice system, including those children who commit violent crimes. In 2018, it received $35,000 from the David Rockefeller Fund to work with judges to keep violent youths in juvenile prisons instead of adult institutions. ¹⁰

The David Rockefeller Fund gave $30,000 to the Community Justice Reform Coalition, a project of the New Venture Fund, which seeks to end gun violence in part by passing laws that focus on people who are accused of “hate crimes” against people’s sex, race, or other factors. ¹¹

The Tides Foundation-funded Detention Watch Network received $25,000 to help end immigration detention centers.

Environmentalism

Environmental grants are included in several of the Fund’s grant areas, including the environmental category, some of the art grants, and in a five-year climate change-focused grant.

Grants of $100,000 went to the Arabella Advisors-managed Sixteen Thirty Fund’s climate and energy initiatives. A further $100,000 was given to New Venture Fund as part of a series of climate change grants in honor of Richard Rockefeller, a former Fund trustee. ¹²

Non-Specific Funding Areas

A host of grants, all but one of which were under $25,000, were given to diverse organizations under several non-specific funding areas. However, grants such as the $6,500 given to the Power Shift Network focused on the fund’s primary funding goals. Power Shift Network funds climate change activism, and a $4,000 donation to the arts group No Longer Empty funded criminal justice, climate change, and other left-of-center social concerns. ^{13 14}

Leadership

David Rockefeller and his wife Margaret founded the David Rockefeller Fund in 1989. Rockefeller, who died in 2017 at 101 years old, was CEO of Chase National Bank and was involved in a number of the Rockefeller family’s philanthropic endeavors. The fund was one of several philanthropic organizations he founded or co-founded. ¹⁵

Board chair Camilla Rockefeller is David Rockefeller’s granddaughter. ^{16 17}

Lexi Fisher, former chief operating officer for the fund, serves as interim executive director, as of May 2022, following the departure of former executive director Lukas Haynes in February 2022. ^{18 19}

Financials

The David Rockefeller Fund donated nearly two million dollars in 2018 to 89 outside organizations. ² In 2020, the organization’s revenues totaled over $2 million, with expenses including grants made totaling nearly $11 million. Its assets were valued at over $66 million in 2020. ²⁰

According to its 2022 990 form, the organization reported a revenue of $229,899, expenses of $5,215,164, and total assets of $59,951,339 ²¹

1. “Overview.” David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.drfund.org/
2.  Annual Report 2018. David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://drfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-annual-report.pdf
3. “Justice Shorts.” Brave New Films. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.bravenewfilms.org/justice_shorts
4.  “About.” Brave New Films. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.bravenewfilms.org/about
5. “Video: David Gelber and The Years Project Partnership.” Tides Foundation. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.tides.org/accelerating-social-change/david-gelber-years-of-living-dangerously-partnership/
6. “Diversity & Inclusion.” Victory Gardens Theater. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://victorygardens.org/diversity-inclusion/
7. “How to Defend Yourself.” Victory Gardens Theater. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://victorygardens.org/event/how-to-defend-yourself/
8. “Our Story.” Campaign for Youth Justice. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/our-story
9. “Social Justice Brief.” Campaign for Youth Justice. Accessed May 3, 2022.  https://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/images/pdf/Social_Justice_Brief_Youth_Transfers.Revised_copy_09-18-2018.pdf
10. “Criminal Justice.” David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.drfund.org/programs/criminal-justice/
11. “Policy Agenda.” Community Justice Action Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.cjactionfund.org/policy-agenda#item7policyagenda
12. “Richard Rockefeller Climate Change Initiatives.” David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.drfund.org/programs/richard-rockefeller-climate-change-initiatives/
13. Power Shift Network. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.powershift.org/
14.  “No Longer Empty.” InResponse. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.nolongerempty.org/inresponse/
15. “David Rockefeller Bio.” David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.drfund.org/information-contact/david-rockefeller-bio/
16. Shondell. “12 Heirs Who Have Ridiculous Amounts of Cash for Doing Nothing.” The Richest. March 16, 2016. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.therichest.com/the-biggest/12-heirs-who-have-ridiculous-amounts-of-cash-for-doing-nothing/
17. “Board & Staff.” David Rockefeller Fund. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://www.drfund.org/about/board-staff/
18. “Lexi Fisher.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexifisher
19. “Lukas Haynes.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukashaynes
20. The David Rockefeller Fund Inc. Return of a Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2020. Accessed May 3, 2022. http://drfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Updated-2020-DRF-990PF.pdf
21. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). David Rockefeller Fund Inc. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133533359/202303189349105955/full