The Corporation's Program

Initiatives

Initiatives, although not full program commitments, offers the Corporation maximum flexibility to pursue a series of priorities that enhance its traditions and strategic priorities. At times, these will be opportunities arising from or responding to current issues or problems; at times carefully targeted to focus attention on a specific issue. Usually, these Special Initiatives will involve support for a prescribed and limited period of duration; at times, they are small and targeted interventions with a long-term timeline. They are, however, always Corporation sponsored and outside proposals or nominations are not accepted.

Academic Leadership Awards
The establishment of the Academic Leadership Award in 2005 renews and continues a Carnegie Corporation higher education tradition. In the Carnegie Quarterly of April 1959, published during the presidency of John Gardner, the strength of the Corporation's grants program was described as seeking to be "as responsive as possible to the expressed concerns of college and university leaders" and to "lend itself to the kinds of giving which will strengthen the institution in terms which the president considers necessary." The award recognizes leaders of institutions of higher education who have an abiding commitment to liberal arts and who have initiated and supported curricular innovations, including development of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs that aim to bridge the gulf between the theoretical and the practical. In addition, the award honors leadership that actively supports K-12 school reform, strengthens teacher education and emphasizes community outreach. In 2008, the Academic Leadership Awards, with their $500,000 in support to be used at the discretion of the awardee, became annual recognitions. The selection process for the awards, which reflect the values and priorities of the Corporation's National Program, is initiated by the Corporation and does not depend on external nominators or recommendations. For more information, click here.

Special Initiatives
Unlike grants that are given as special opportunities, there are times when a cluster of grants or a larger investment in an important idea or project can succeed in focusing attention on a particular priority of the Corporation's strategy. Special Initiatives are not every-year commitments but carefully thought out responses to pressing issues or opportunities often outside direct Corporation programs. A recent Special Initiative was the Corporation's 2007 investment into the intellectual infrastructure of New Orleans. The description of this special initiative can be found here.

Journalism Initiative
In 2005, the Corporation announced a partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation focused on improving journalism education. The Carnegie Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education was launched as an educational initiative comprising five major research universities' schools of journalism and stressed curriculum enrichment, news training and experimentation and public leadership opportunities for the journalism school deans. Since it began, four additional university schools of journalism have joined the initiative. Currently there are twelve journalism schools within major U.S. Research Universities that are members of the Carnegie Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalisim Education. This is a 50-50 partnership between Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The relationship with the Knight Foundation supporting all intellectual, scholarly, reform and innovative facets of the initiative. Details on the schools involved, the reports produced, the News 21 Initiative, the Carnegie Knight Task Force at Harvard and other details can be found here.

Dissemination
Revived by Vartan Gregorian when he became president of the Corporation in 1997, the Dissemination Program focuses on a crucial component of Andrew Carnegie's mission for the foundation: the diffusion of knowledge. Though relatively small in size, the Dissemination Program focuses on increasing the impact of grantmaking strategies by investing in communication training and support of grantees as well as using modern media tools to advance the scholarship, research and learnings of Corporation priorities. Recent dissemination investments can be found here.