A year of impact, learning and listening
A world facing multiple upheavals, many of them climate-related, needs bold action and determination to address our most pressing issues. We can find and craft solutions only through fresh thinking and alliances that bring together the necessary capital and skills.
This report chronicles The Rockefeller Foundation’s journey in 2023 to reimagine our work and learn from past successes and shortcomings, all with the goal of improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable and underserved populations. As we have over more than a century, the Foundation sought to identify and construct durable solutions around evidence, alliances and partnerships, and the willingness to grow and adapt as we go.
Explore our results and lessons on these pages, download the full report, or view a snapshot of our achievements.
Select Impact by the Numbers:
What We and Our Partners Achieved
Speeding the Energy Transition
We’re assisting energy-poor countries grow through a mass deployment of renewable energy sources and a transition away from fossil fuels.
Explore the Energy Chapter- 147megatons
of CO2 emissions averted through the provision of renewable energy
- 1.2million
people connected to new or improved energy systems
- 600,000jobs
have been created
- 137million
people with improved nutrition security through our global Good Food Initiative
- 100,000+
produce prescription patients in the U.S. up from 12k in 2013
- $3.3billion
committed to Good Food Purchasing in the United States and $92 million in Africa
Scaling Good Food
We’re working to promote food systems that bring nutrient-rich and regeneratively grown food to vulnerable populations.
Explore the Food ChapterAdvancing Health Solutions
We wrapped up some of our biggest pandemic-related initiatives and turned to disease surveillance during a year of discovery and rededication.
Explore the Health Chapter- 518,000
community health workers across 13 countries supported by stronger national community health ploidies, investment cases and digital tools
- 61+ million
people reached by more precise infectious disease surveillance tools
- $100million
leveraged for community health systems on top of RF's $15M funding from bilateral and multilateral donors
- 300+
U.S. communities reached with clean energy projects
- $1+ Billion
capital mobilized for fully-funded Zero Gap Fund of 12 program-related investments―a 35x total leverage
- $100+ Billion
in new deposit commitments for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs)
Unlocking Finance
We are working to tap new sources of capital for renewable energy while funding partners committed to global ecological restoration.
Explore the Finance ChapterAs this report makes clear, empowering the people we serve will require all our existing capabilities and partnerships—and more. That’s why the Foundation will continue to learn from what’s working today to adapt, plan, and work for impact tomorrow.
Dr. Rajiv J. ShahPresidentThe Rockefeller Foundation
Lessons Learned
Less than a year after launching the Foundation’s five-year climate strategy, this report is not meant to grade our progress but to inform it. As such, this year’s report abounds with lessons learned across the span of the Foundation’s history and over 2023’s twelve months. All of them will help inform our work as we build momentum on our climate strategy, including:
Lean into risk. Amid an unprecedented crisis someone has to go first. One benefit of philanthropic capital is its flexibility, we must remember to try new things and invest early even if it means taking on risk.
Getting as close to community as possible enables impact. When we work closely with regional and local partners, projects are better implemented and have the most transformative and durable impact for the people in those communities. In some cases, we have found ourselves too headquarters focused or detached from the communities we hope to serve.
Use more than grants alone. When RF has real impact, it is often when we look beyond the traditional use of grant capital to other innovative investment structures, and work with partners to promote new ideas, host convenings, build partnerships, and mobilize capital. Thinking bigger must extend to the array of tools we bring to the table.
We have a long way to go when it comes to being part of alliances. Big bets require big alliances of doers, funders, conveners, and more. Sometimes, we made assumptions about how easily collaboration between actors would come, underestimating the hard work it takes.
Speed counts, but impact comes with persistence. Meeting our goals requires patient and consistent focus. At times impatience has hindered impact.
Read the first chapter
Electricity access is the most impactful catalyst for opportunity and development, with income and energy consumption tightly correlated on every continent. And yet, estimates suggest that more than three-quarters of all emissions globally come from the energy sector. For nearly 15 years, the Foundation has worked at the intersection of both challenges—bringing renewable energy to those who lack steady power while also pushing to reduce emissions. Since no one organization will solve this, we have worked alongside diverse partners to test new ideas, learn, and adapt together.