The Hewlett Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that is about 55 years old. Hewlett has roughly $13 billion in assets that are put towards solving issues such as, gender equity, cybersecurity, democracy, education, and more.

The lovely William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

They utilize programs and initiatives as a means of addressing these larger issues. Programs are long term commitments (25-30 years) to a large issue whereas an initiative focuses on a specific issue for a certain period of time (~10 years). For example, a program could be something like college education access with an initiative then addressing the issues of expensive textbooks being required for courses.

In terms of policy, the foundation can and does provide information and funding to grassroots organizations and policymakers. Hewlett generates ideas that they hope public institutions will take and develop. The foundation does not focus on implementation of such ideas as they work to move onto the next issues they feel they can address.

Kent McGuire, Hewlett’s Program Director of Education, describes how philanthropic entities shape policy and influence change.

The Hewlett Foundation’s physical space made it very clear that they had money. They offered each of us espresso coffees, sparkling waters, and plenty of snacks. This presentation led me to assume that our conversation would not be as transparent or direct as I may have wanted. Despite this physical presentation and my assumption, Kent McGuire, Program Director of Education, spoke with us in a very real way. When asked about Hewlett’s public dissemination efforts he answered honestly. He discussed how Hewlett and many others in the education sector specifically have to approach issues, like public dissemination, in a new way. Those of us in education are at a point where we must rethink what we are doing, as well as how we are doing it, to meet the needs of the students and the institutions that serve students. There may be staff and faculty at a university that want to implement change within an institution, but there will either be institutional resistance to the change, limitations to enacting that change (i.e., lack of funding, state policy, etc.), or both. Unfortunately, this means we must push and pull certain strings that are available to us in order to change something institutionally.

Our host carefully listening to each student’s area of interest.

This push and pull are also not specific to only students, or only staff/faculty, or only the policymakers themselves. We are all a part of this larger system and we all have the collective power to make a change. This is why as a young professional I am not as interested in only generating these great ideas as I feel I have done so within academia already. Rather than continue to aid in idea generation I would prefer to aid in execution. However, that personal preference does not detract from the importance and impact of the ideas and funding that Hewlett provides their various partners that will then implement the ideas. Although philanthropy may not be as involved in on the ground efforts, it is still an important and helpful role in progressing particular agendas. Funding can provide resources to grassroots organizations or researchers to generate pressure on policymakers and decision makers to make informed decisions that will serve the public well. From this entire trip it is clear that policy is a part of every role related to education. It is also clear that not only can policy be influenced in various ways, but that it should and has to be influenced in various ways to reach the end goal of passing, implementing, and refining a policy.

–Meghan Krawczyk, master’s student