Member Spotlight: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation - Media Impact Funders

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# Member Spotlight: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

January 31, 2024—
Nina Sachdev

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The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, established in 1966 by Hewlett-Packard co-founder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson, has a rich history of media funding, one that’s about as old as the foundation itself. Starting with one of its first media grants to the organization now known as KQED, Hewlett has been supporting media, culture and communications in service to its commitment to high-quality, nonpartisan information for more than 50 years. A member and supporter of MIF since 2015, Hewlett is keen to deepen its understanding of effective media grantmaking outside of a dedicated portfolio. Here, the Hewlett communications team shares its thinking around support for media and information ecosystems, the importance of flexible funding, and the foundation’s role in Press Forward, the new $500 million initiative to support local news.

**Nina Sachdev, Director of Communications, Media Impact Funders: Let’s talk about the evolution in Hewlett’s media grantmaking strategy. What are some of the major takeaways and insights from decades of supporting this kind of work?**

**Hewlett Foundation:** Every year, we make millions of dollars in grants to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Making progress on any of these requires people to be both informed and engaged, yet news ecosystems in every issue area are crumbling at the very same time. That’s why each of our grantmaking programs has included some support for media in the past, so people have access to reliable, high-quality information. Two key takeaways are, first, that the foundation’s norm of giving flexible funding is important for media and journalism grantees. It shows trust in our grantees and helps maintain editorial independence. Second, we’ve seen the issues of disinformation, dying trust in experts and deepening polarization become more urgent, which means that all the nonprofits we support—from those working in performing arts to those working in education—are facing communications challenges because of the changing information ecosystem.

**Nina: What does the foundation’s support for media and journalism look like today?**

**HF:** In 2023, the foundation began a [three-year exploration](https://hewlett.org/investing-in-informed-and-engaged-communities/) to see how we can best support efforts to promote healthier information ecosystems. Our goal is to make targeted investments that both complement program-specific grants and serve Hewlett’s overall charitable purpose in supporting inclusive, durable democracies. These new funds are in addition to grants that the foundation’s individual programs have been making. The exploration is being led by our Communications te

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