2025 Impact Report

Supporting partners in times of uncertainty  
As conditions have become increasingly adverse, our partners need practical support to stay effective and safe.

This past year, in partnership with Nonprofit Secure, we helped more than 450 grantee partners strengthen their digital and physical security, communications, and legal readiness. At a time when many civil society organizations are facing increased threats and risks, these protections are no longer optional. They are essential to continuing the work.

We also supported partners with longer, more flexible funding that enabled them to pivot as policies abruptly changed. Notably, partners mobilized quickly to protect key aspects of Medicaid, which provides affordable health coverage to one in five Americans. Their fast and concerted action helped prevent changes that could have led to millions of families losing access to care.

After Title X family planning funding was paused in spring 2025, grantee partners worked together to secure its restoration and preserve access to essential reproductive health care across the U.S.

Scaling solutions through new forms of collaboration
Across our work, we see that complex challenges require coordinated, cross-sector collaboration.

In our home county of Santa Clara, Destination: Home had a simple idea: stop homelessness before it happens by working with those families most at risk. Doing so requires concerted, collective action. They brought together public agencies and community organizations to do just that, and since 2020, this collaborative has helped more than 33,000 people avoid losing their housing. That success is now being replicated nationally with the newly launched Right at Home, a national effort to prevent homelessness by providing flexible financial assistance and coordinated case management.

New forms of collaborative action are also essential for tackling the urgent challenges of climate change. Our big bet is Forests, People, Climate, a global partnership focused on stopping tropical deforestation in Indonesia, the Amazon and the Congo Basin. Through this effort, we collaborate with regional leaders, civil society, entrepreneurs, and governments to advance efforts that protect forests, strengthen local leadership, and advance local economies. This requires shifting markets to favor standing forests and strengthening public support and policies for tropical forests and the people stewarding them. At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, we joined governments and philanthropic partners to renew the $1.8 billion Forest and Land Tenure Pledge, supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities in protecting forests — one of the most effective ways to address climate change.

Building a more resilient democracy
Five years ago, we added to our programs a focus on democracy in the U.S., with the intent of taking the long view needed to build a more inclusive and healthier democracy. We have funded efforts to reduce polarization and repair civic life as essential building blocks. This includes our support for the Trust for Civic Life, which funds locally led efforts that get people working together across differences. Communities have come together to solve the problems that affect their lives and, in the process, build a stronger civic fabric – whether by uplifting local youth voices, revitalizing mine lands, developing a mobile home cooperative for greater ownership or creating local meeting places, trails, and playgrounds.

Often our policy makers are more polarized than the communities they serve, resulting in policy gridlock that impedes progress. This year, we invested in Future Caucus, which brings together young lawmakers from different parties across the aisle to build skills in negotiation, strategic planning, and conflict management. Early results show these leaders are more likely to advance bipartisan legislation that becomes law.

We also understand the urgent importance of safe and secure elections as necessary for safeguarding our democracy at such a critical moment. We are supporting partners who are pushing back against misinformation and political violence, and supporting election officials, including physical and cybersecurity resources.

Looking Ahead
Midway through 2026, civic life and global cooperation continue to face painful pressure. At the same time, our partners continue to show strength and resolve. We are grateful to stand alongside you and continue investing together in solutions that last.

Sincerely,