There are five key elements of a successful Bellagio convening:
- Strategic Alignment & Charitability: The Rockefeller Foundation was established to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world and strives to make opportunity universal and sustainable. We prioritize convenings that complement The Rockefeller Foundation’s priorities. All convenings must demonstrate charitability.
- Engaged & Diverse Participants: Bellagio Center convenings bring together a diverse group of participants that represent the stakeholders ultimately necessary to achieve the long-term goals of the work. Participants should have a role in the outcome the team expects to accomplish and engage in post-convening action. Note: Bellagio Center convenings are capped at 21 or 22 participants, depending on the facility. Read more about our facilities and accommodations.
- Clear & Timely Purpose: Bellagio Center convenings have a clear purpose to advance a timely and in-demand solution. Bellagio convenings are typically part of a broader arc of work, where the convening is held at a definitive point in time to align on and deepen commitment to a solution, build partnerships, influence policy, or mobilize resources.
- Path to Impact: Bellagio Center convenings should have a clearly defined path to ensure convening outputs lead to measurable impact towards the convening’s long-term goals. There should be clear signals the convening outputs are “in demand” by the stakeholders who will need to adopt them to achieve the intended impact of the work.
- Execution Capacity: Bellagio Center convenings take work! Teams must be able to support the effort to plan and execute the convening. The application should explain how the team is positioned to support convening planning, execution, and follow-through. Please note that The Rockefeller Foundation supports convening teams with modest travel support for eligible participants, ground transportation from Milan to the Bellagio Center, a dedicated convening lead on-site, and strategic convening design advisory services and resources.
Following the application deadline of Friday, June 14th, 2024, by 5:00 pm EDT, all submissions received through the open call will go through multiple stages of review. During Administrative Review, we’ll screen all submissions for eligibility and completeness. Submissions that pass Administrative Review will proceed to a panel of The Rockefeller Foundation staff, where each application will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria above. Based on the panel results, we’ll invite a subset of applicants to an interview with The Rockefeller Foundation staff for consideration as a finalist applicant. We review applications quarterly, aiming to make decisions around four to six months before the date you have applied to convene.
The 2025 Bellagio Center Convening Program applications are now closed.