Rockefeller Foundation Funds More Than US$350 Million to Reach 731 Million People Amid Global Aid Decline
New York, ANTARA/PRNewswire - Today The Rockefeller Foundation released the 2025 Impact Report, Big Bets, Real Results, detailing the strategic investments over a year aimed at lifting some of the world’s most vulnerable populations and solving many of humanity’s persistently recurring challenges. The report outlines The Rockefeller Foundation’s work in 2025, including a big bet on Universal Energy Abundance, Food is Medicine in the United States, and Regenerative School Meals globally, to accelerate the reach of cutting-edge technologies, community-based models, and decision-driving data across its core focus areas.
In the face of a volatile global environment and a historic downturn in global aid, the 113-year-old philanthropic organisation has disbursed more than US$350 million, directly mobilised US$3 billion, and helped mobilise indirect capital of US$29 billion that reaches 731 million people worldwide.
“Disruption is changing how we work, but not who we work for. Last year, the world’s commitment to helping those in need fell sharply, and people dependent on that commitment bore the consequences. Yet it also exposed extraordinary courage among leaders in the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America who chose to raise their ambitions and take bold action. We are proud to stand with them and present this report, which demonstrates that it is possible to deliver large-scale results for vulnerable communities, even amid disruptions that worsen their lives and complicate our work,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. Read the full statement here.
Impact 2025 By the Numbers
In 2025 The Rockefeller Foundation funded more than US$350 million across 235 grants and programme-related investments to 204 partners. The indicators below highlight reach, fundraising, and environmental impact of the 2025 portfolio:
People Outcomes: 731 million people received or used charitable products or services funded by The Rockefeller Foundation. Of those reached, 3 million achieved clearly defined and measurable benefits from direct interventions.
Unlocking Investment Flows: The Rockefeller Foundation directly raised US$3 billion and helped catalyse concepts that indirectly mobilised a further US$29 billion – a total of US$32 billion – for philanthropic interventions through the Global Energy Alliance for People and the Planet and other partners.
Protecting the Earth: These efforts generated 84 million tonnes of CO₂e – the metric that accounts for the total potential warming avoided, reduced, or sequestered by all greenhouse gases – and 23 million hectares of land protected or restored, roughly the size of Utah, the United Kingdom, Ghana, Laos, or Guyana.
Global Funding Reach: Philanthropic investments reached every major region, including more than US$133 million in Africa; US$93 million in Asia and Oceania; US$59 million in Latin America and the Caribbean; and US$49 million in the United States and North America. Details by region are available in the 2025 Full Financial Review.
“When the world faces setbacks, philanthropy must play an active role,” said Elizabeth Yee, Executive Vice President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “From AI-based disease early warning in Latin America to school meals in Kenya and clean energy in Haiti, 2025 shows that targeted investments with the right partners deliver large-scale results, strengthen markets, and create lasting impact for communities.”
Field Story: Real-Life Impacts on People’s Lives
The 2025 report highlights the people at the centre of The Rockefeller Foundation’s work and the ‘Big Bets’ arranged around three strategic pillars:
Cutting-edge Technology: Bridging the gap between the public and private sectors to ensure breakthroughs in technology reach those who stand to benefit most first.
Community-Based Models: Strengthening local systems and infrastructure to ensure sustainable progress led by the communities served.
Data That Matters: Using data and evidence that go beyond conventional sources to enable rapid decision-making needed to save lives and develop ideas that change the world.
To view the full list of stories, click here, and here are some snapshots that illustrate this work directly:
- Universal Energy Abundance (India, Zambia, Haiti): With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance is helping to deploy the first independently owned utility-scale energy storage system in New Delhi, India, and has helped more than 100,000 people access a stable power supply. In Zambia, families can now operate clean and affordable solar-powered oil extraction machines—producing and selling cooking oil to their communities at much lower costs. Thanks to modular solar-powered grid investments in north-west Haiti, 21,000 people have a stable electricity network. Together, all of these innovations provide reliable power needed to stabilise grids and support livelihoods. Globally, the lifetime impact projected for all Alliance projects completed or planned is: 91 million people gaining new or better energy, and improvements in employment and livelihoods for 3.1 million people, and … [Text truncated]