When the Hewletts embarked upon their program of philanthropy, population issues were among the first they considered, with two grants in 1967 to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Association of San Francisco.
Since that time, the Population Program at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has awarded more than $470 million worldwide. But the mission remains essentially unchanged: to promote voluntary family planning and good reproductive health for all because of the benefits to individuals, societies, and the entire global community.
The Program pursues two complementary goals:
- to enhance and protect the reproductive health and rights of
individuals and
- to stabilize global populations at levels that promote social and
economic well-being and sustain the environment.
Our work includes helping women and their families choose the number and spacing of their children, preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and eliminating unsafe abortion. Over the past fifty years, better family planning and reproductive health have improved countless lives in many places, but much work remains to extend their benefits to all. In collaboration with other Foundation programs, the Population Program also supports related work to improve quality education in developing countries.
Today, the Hewlett Foundation’s Population Program focuses its grantmaking in four broad areas:
The Population Program does not accept unsolicited proposals.
Links to Population newsletter stories: