The Heising-Simons Foundation is a

private foundation A private foundation is a Tax exemption, tax-exempt organization that does not rely on broad public support and generally claims to serve humanitarian purposes. Unlike a Foundation (nonprofit), charitable foundation, a private foundation does no ...

established by philanthropists Elizabeth (Liz) Simons and Mark Heising in Los Altos, California in 2007. Liz Simons and Mark Heising signed the

Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

in 2016. The Heising-Simons Foundation's main areas of work include early childhood education, science, climate and clean energy, community and opportunity, and human rights. It also funds a science fellowship known as the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, and the

American Mosaic Journalism Prize The American Mosaic Journalism Prize is a journalism prize awarded annually to two freelance journalists "for excellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting on stories about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in the present Amer ...

. It does not accept unsolicited grant proposals. The Heising-Simons Foundation's previous President and CEOs were Sushma Raman, who joined in 2023 from the

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Carr Center for Human Rights Policy is a research center at Harvard Kennedy School founded in 1999. The center's scholars address issues related to human rights, including human security, global governance and civil society, economic justice, and ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and Deanna Gomby, who joined from the

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's dea ...

Areas of Funding

CEO Fund: Technology and Society

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s CEO Fund addresses the impact of technology on society. In 2023, the Heising-Simons Foundation partnered with other philanthropies to contribute more than $200 million in funding toward public interest efforts to mitigate artificial intelligence (AI) harms and promote responsible use and innovation.

Climate and Clean Energy

The Heising-Simons Foundation's Climate and Clean Energy program funds work around energy policy analysis, public utility commissions, energy efficiency standards, and climate communications. The Climate and Clean Energy program was named one of 25 mid-sized environmental grantmakers by

Inside Philanthropy ''Inside Philanthropy'' is a news website about large philanthropic foundations and wealthy donors, created by David Callahan in 2013. The site issues its own set of awards, such as the Philanthropist of the Year award and the Boldest Philant ...

. The Heising-Simons Foundation joined th
Climate Funders Justice Pledge
in 2022. In 2021, the Heising-Simons Foundation was one of the founding members of th
Equitable Building Electrification Fund
a fund that seeks to advance an equitable transition to building electrification for communities most impacted by fossil fuels.

Education

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Education program awards grants in early childhood education, including supporting early math education and dual language learners. In 2019, the Education program co-created th
Early Educator Investment Collaborative
a group of early childhood funders that also includes the

Ballmer Group Ballmer Group is an American investment company based in Bellevue, Washington, that serves as a family office to manage the wealth of Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft. The purpose of Ballmer Group is to help children, especially those ...

, the Bezos Family Foundation, the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the

, the

Foundation for Child Development The Foundation for Child Development is a United States-based non-profit organization which promotes good child development. History and name The organization began as a volunteer community project in 1899, then in 1908 was established as the Ass ...

, and the Stranahan Foundation.

Human Rights

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Human Rights program focuses on

criminal justice reform Criminal justice reform is the reform of criminal justice systems. Stated reasons for criminal justice reform include reducing crime statistics, racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, under-reporting, and ...

, immigration grant rights work, and supporting human rights for all. Caitlin Heising serves on the board of directors of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

(HRW) and is the vice chair of HRW’s U.S. Program Advisory Committee. In 2023, the Heising-Simons Foundation signed the California Black Freedom Fund’s Philanthropic Sign on Letter in response to police violence in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death.

Journalism

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Journalism portfolio recognizes and supports journalism as a critical element of a healthy and multicultural democracy, focusing in underrepresented groups and voices in media and investigative journalism. The Foundation's Journalism portfolio awards the

, which annually awards two freelance journalists with $100,000 each in unrestricted funds for "excellence in long-form, narrative or deep reporting about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in the American landscape". In September 2023, the Foundation’s Journalism portfolio was an investor in the Press Forward initiative.

Science

The Heising-Simons Foundation's Science program awards research grants in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

, fundamental physics,

paleoclimatology Paleoclimatology ( British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the scientific study of climates predating the invention of meteorological instruments, when no direct measurement data were available. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of ...

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

, and the search for axion dark matter. The Heising-Simons Foundation partnered with the

Simons Foundation The Simons Foundation is an American private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and James Harris Simons, Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States with assets of over $5 ...

to fund the $40 million

Simons Observatory The Simons Observatory is located in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile inside the Chajnator Science Preserve, at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 ft). The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the Simons Array were located nearby ...

, an astronomy facility in the Chilean desert. It also awarded $300,000 in funding for a major upgrade to the Kast Spectrograph at

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...

in 2014. In 2017, the Science program launched the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, intended to allow post-doctorate researchers the opportunity to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy. In its inaugural year, the Heising-Simons Foundation awarded four postdoc researchers $375,000 each to support their independent research over three years. In 2022, the Heising-Simons Foundation awarded a three-year grant to the

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara dedicated to theoretical physics. KITP is one of 20 Kavli Foundation (United_States)#The Kavli Institutes, Kavli Institutes ...

(KITP) at

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

for the launch of a fellowship that aims to address the underrepresentation of minorities in physics, including theoretical physics. Funds cover a stipend for fellows, as well as travel and accommodations for six to eight weeks.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Organizations established in 2007 2007 establishments in California Non-profit organizations based in California Educational foundations based in the United States