Heising-Simons Foundation Funds Six Scientists Looking for Signatures of Life in the Universe Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 7/14/2023 on 7/14/2023 The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program has made a suite of grants totaling $550,000 to support six exoplanet scientists working on projects that originated in a Scialog program entitled “Signatures of Life in the Universe,” convened by Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
Caitlin Heising Featured in Lifestyles Magazine Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 7/13/2023 on 7/13/2023 Heising-Simons Foundation’s Vice Chair of the Board, Caitlin Heising, was interviewed recently by Lifestyles Magazine about her passion for human rights. Caitlin’s interview was featured on the cover of the magazine’s Summer 2023 edition, entitled “Philanthropy Next.” In the interview, Caitlin talks about her philosophy on philanthropy, the values her parents instilled in her as …
Q&A With Grantee MomsRising: What President Biden’s Executive Order Means for Child Care Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 7/10/2023 on 7/10/2023 In April 2023, the Biden administration signed a historic Care Executive Order to expand access to affordable, high-quality care, and provide support for care workers and family caregivers. Notable provisions include directives to federal agencies to increase compensation for the early childhood workforce, increase subsidy reimbursement rates, strengthen benefits, and reduce family costs. It also …
Grantee Imara Jones Named One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023 Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 7/7/2023 on 7/7/2023 Imara Jones, award-winning journalist and founder of TransLash Media (TransLash), has been named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023. She joins the ranks of Brittney Griner, King Charles III, and Shannon Watts in the Icons category of TIME’s 2023 list. Imara spearheads the TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones, a bi-weekly podcast …
Science Program Director Cyndi Atherton to Moderate Climate Crossroads Summit Panel Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 7/7/2023 on 7/7/2023 Science Program Director Dr. Cyndi Atherton will moderate the Pathways to Climate Action panel session at The National Academies’ Climate Crossroads Summit on July 11. The National Academies’ Climate Crossroads Summit will bring together leaders spanning the breadth of expertise for a vibrant discussion about how to catalyze action among a diverse range of stakeholders …
Heising-Simons Foundation Joins Philanthropic Funders in Response to Supreme Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 6/30/2023 on 6/30/2023 The Heising-Simons Foundation signed the following statement by funders and philanthropic organizations in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Liz Simons: “The Biggest Driver of Mass Incarceration? Maybe Mass Incarceration” Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 6/29/2023 on 6/29/2023 “One of the biggest drivers of mass incarceration, for all genders, is mass incarceration itself,” writes Liz Simons, Heising-Simons Foundation’s Chair of the Board, in her article for the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS).
How Dr. Joy Buolamwini is Working Towards Equitable and Accountable Technology Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 6/28/2023 on 6/28/2023 Several years ago, while still a graduate student at MIT’s Media Lab, Joy Buolamwini began to notice a troubling pattern in facial recognition technology––an inability to detect a wide range of skin tones and facial structures, even in widely available systems employed by Big Tech, government agencies, and law enforcement.
51 Pegasi b Fellow Discovers First Extrasolar Radiation Belt: Q&A with Dr. Melodie Kao Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 6/13/2023 on 6/13/2023 A team of scientists led by Dr. Melodie Kao, a 51 Pegasi b postdoctoral fellow based at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has discovered the first extra-solar radiation belt, a zone of energetic charged particles that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet’s magnetosphere. See below for a Q&A with …