ABOUT THE DAVID LUCILE & PACKARD FOUNDATION

The David & Lucile Packard Foundation is a family foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children, families, and communities—and restoring and protecting our planet. 

We work with people and communities to create enduring solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world. Over our nearly 60-year history, we have worked with thousands of organizations and leaders in the U.S. and worldwide to advance progress in the critical areas of science, ocean and land conservation, climate change, women’s reproductive health and rights, and the well-being of children, families, and communities. 

At a time of multiple, intertwined crises globally and here in the U.S., the Packard Foundation began in 2021 a long-planned review of our grantmaking strategies. The first step of our process was to rearticulate our vision and mission, reexamine our organizational values, and create a strategic framework that builds on and honors the Packard Foundation’s past while advancing justice and equity in all that we do.

Our Vision: A just and equitable world where both people and nature flourish.

Our new vision embraces a future where both people and nature flourish in a more just and equitable world. We explicitly acknowledge that the fate of people and the natural environment are inextricably linked. Solutions to the complex challenges we face must account for this interconnectedness.

Our Mission: We work with people and communities to create enduring solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world.

Our new mission takes on the critical work of addressing root causes of the challenges we face and mobilizing people for collective action. In addition to building on approaches that have guided our philanthropy for decades — working in partnership, committing to issues over the long-term, and grounding our work in science, knowledge, and data – we focus on understanding the systems that either accelerate or impede progress. It is only through just and equitable systems that we can find and sustain solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face today.

Our Values: Equity, Integrity, Belief in Individual Leadership, Thinking Big, Respect, and Effectiveness.

In addition to clarifying our long-held values, we added equity. We will champion equity by treating people with dignity, honoring a range of ideas and perspectives from those closest to the issues, creating inclusive processes, and funding people who have been historically excluded to spur progress for all. For more information, including our definitions of key concepts, please visit our website.

Our Priorities seek to: 

Protect and restore our natural world: We champion bold climate solutions, an ocean that sustains us, and scientific innovation and discovery to secure the health and future of people and the planet. 

Build just societies: We support a strong civil society and inclusive institutions and governance to build just and equitable societies for all people. 

Invest in families and communities: We collaborate with leaders and organizations to promote resilient and vibrant communities where children and families thrive and have the power to shape their lives. 

ABOUT THE POSITION

In June 2020, the Foundation established a five-year $100 million fund to address anti-Black racism and took the immediate step to provide a $20 million grant to the Solidaire Network’s Black Liberation Pooled Fund to support organizers and leaders in Black-led movement efforts. Since then, an additional $20 million have been invested in creative approaches to advance justice and equity, principally across the issues the Foundation supports.

Building on the momentum of this early work, the director will lead the U.S. Racial Justice initiative’s grantmaking -- specifically, developing a strategy for and overseeing an initial $60 million in grantmaking to address anti-Black racism while also collaborating with colleagues to: 

Identify and explore grantmaking opportunities that advance racial justice within the Just Societies goal area 

Advise and participate in opportunities to advance racial justice across the Foundation’s other grantmaking; and 

Lead the Justice and Equity collaborative to support Foundation-wide learning (to be developed).

Reports to:     Ruth Levine, Vice President, Just Societies and Chief Learning Officer

Location: Los Altos, California

HOW TO APPLY

Click here for more information or to apply. Please send a resume and cover letter to: [email protected]