Our Work

What We Do

Our overarching goal is to reduce political polarization through grants that support ladders of opportunity and a more peaceful world. Our funding provides individuals with the knowledge and tools needed to improve their lives, participate fully in society, and advance peace.

Ladders of Opportunity
National Program

Ladders of Opportunity

Our National Program helps individuals achieve upward mobility and greater civic participation, and seeks to increase trust in public institutions, elections, and government.
A More Peaceful World
International Program

A More Peaceful World

Our International Program works to advance peace by eliminating armed conflict and supporting the conditions needed for understanding and resolving global security challenges.
Libraries

Libraries

Andrew Carnegie established more than 2,500 library buildings around the world. Explore how we continue his commitment to knowledge and understanding today.

Special Initiatives

Great Immigrants, Great Americans

Great Immigrants, Great Americans

Every Fourth of July since 2006, the foundation has celebrated the exemplary contributions of immigrants to American life, in honor of our founder Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who established our foundation in 1911.

Andrew Carnegie Fellows

Andrew Carnegie Fellows

Since 2015, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has supported high-caliber scholarship and research into issues confronting our society. Beginning in 2024, the program has funded research to understand and mitigate political polarization.

$4.9B

Endowment as of March 2026

$221M

Grantmaking budget for fiscal year 2026

$6M

Annual commitment to fund scholarly research through the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program

31.3K

Grants and gifts awarded through March 2026

Andrew Carnegie dedicated our philanthropic foundation to the goal of doing “real and permanent good in this world” and deemed that its efforts should create “ladders on which the aspiring can rise.” Today, our overarching goal is to reduce political polarization through grants that support ladders of opportunity and a more peaceful world.

Our grants