What started as a bold idea to address rising birth control costs in the early 2000s quickly expanded into a new kind of pharmaceutical company—one that prioritizes the needs of health clinics and their patients.

🔗 https://ow.ly/xC7o50YCU82

New Emergency Relief Fund Helps Packard Fellows Continue Research • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the Packard Fellows Emergency Relief Fund, a $3.3 million rapid-response initiative created to support Packard Fellows affected by recent shifts in federal research funding.  Administered by the Science Philanthropy Alliance, the fund was created to preserve the postdoctoral workforce by providing short-term … Continued

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Packard Fellows Emergency Relief Fund, a $3.3M rapid-response initiative created to preserve the postdoctoral workforce by providing short-term support for Fellows that faced federal funding disruptions or cancellations.
https://ow.ly/O1Iv50YBZvC

New Partnership Connects Health Care and Child Care for Oakland’s Expecting Families • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation The weeks before a baby arrives can be filled with one long checklist of questions for mothers and caregivers.  What doctors do I need to meet with?  When do those appointments need to be scheduled?   How do I find child care once the baby arrives? And how will I afford it?  What will I do if my housing becomes an issue? Or if my baby … Continued

Roots Community Health and BANANAS are combining health care and child care services into a single, coordinated home-visiting program for families.

🔗 https://ow.ly/PNmN50YznOJ

How One Bold Idea for Birth Control Became a National Lifeline • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation In the late 1990s and early 2000s, leaders across local Planned Parenthood health clinics saw a crisis coming and needed a solution if they were to continue providing birth control to their patients. Contraceptives were getting more expensive every year, and they saw a future when Planned Parenthood clinics wouldn’t be able to afford to purchase them at a reasonable cost so they could provide them … Continued

When birth control prices became inaccessible, a group of leaders founded their own new kind of pharma company — that prioritized the needs of public health clinics and their patients.

➡️ www.packard.org/insights/grantee-story/h...

This MBARI Expedition Reveals Impacts of Climate Change on the Antarctic Seafloor • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation MBARI scientists recently returned from a seven-day expedition in Antarctica exploring how groundwater and gases like methane are moving under the seafloor are impacted by a rapidly warming polar environment. Working aboard the Spanish polar research vessel Hespérides, the team focused on the Bransfield Basin in the northern Western Antarctic Peninsula, a region that is experiencing some of the fastest warming in the Southern Hemisphere. Their work was … Continued

MBARI scientists have set out to map how warming temperatures are affecting the groundwater and gases moving beneath the seafloor. These hidden systems help shape the sea floor and support the stability of marine life.

🔗Learn more: https://ow.ly/fQEa50YxMq8

eDNA is changing the way we see the ocean by allowing scientist to track species without ever needing to see or catch them. 🐠

The Packard Foundation Names Courtney Chandler as Chief Operating Officer • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Courtney Chandler joins the Packard Foundation as Chief Operating Officer, bringing deep operational expertise and a collaborative leadership style to advance the Foundation’s mission.

Join us in welcoming Courtney Chandler as our new Chief Operating Officer! 🎉

Courtney's leadership will be instrumental as we work together to build a just and equitable world where people and nature flourish.

🔗 Learn more: https://ow.ly/bg8f50YsoOc

eDNA is Changing the Way We See the Ocean • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation When Dr. Ryan Kelly says he can see whales in a bottle of water, he means it. At least, he can tell which whales and other species have passed through that water sample by sequencing the DNA inside. All living things shed tiny traces of DNA in their environments. Water, soil, and even air hold clues about which species have been present. Over the past decade, Kelly and his colleagues have helped bring these genetic traces … Continued

eDNA allows scientist to track what lives in our oceans faster and more comprehensively than ever before. 🌊 🐠

🔗 Learn more: www.packard.org/insights/grantee-story/e...

eDNA is Changing the Way We See the Ocean YouTube video by The Packard Foundation

Whales in a bottle of water? Yes… through eDNA. 🌊🐋

Nice feature on our research and the UW eDNA Collaborative by the Packard Foundation. @ednacollab.bsky.social

Learn more here:
www.packard.org/insights/gra...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0H8...
#eDNA #scicom #science #outreach

eDNA is changing the way we see the ocean 🌊 🐳

Learn more about Dr. Ryan Kelly and the eDNA Collaborative's research: www.packard.org/insights/grantee-story/e...

Making Way for Much-Needed Housing in the Monterey Bay Region • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Stable, affordable housing helps families put down roots in their communities. It also supports a strong local economy across Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. To help California families find high-quality homes they can afford, the Packard Foundation is supporting the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) with a $450,000 grant to expand housing options … Continued

We’re partnering with Monterey Bay Economic Partnership as they work to expand housing options, reduce barriers that slow development, and help move thousands of affordable homes through local approvals so families can put down roots in the communities they call home.

➡️ https://ow.ly/BcCx50YcrRu

To help families across Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties find high-quality homes they can afford, we are supporting the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership with a grant to expand housing options and remove barriers that slow development of new homes.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/imKS50Y7LV6

Our President & CEO Nancy Lindborg reflects on recent events in Minnesota and why protecting civic space matters.

➡️ Read her full reflections: www.packard.org/insights/perspective/why...

The dreaded strep throat test could soon be a thing of past thanks to Packard Fellow Ashleigh Theberge and her team at University of Washington. 🍭

Stay connected with us! Our newsletter brings you closer to the leaders, communities, and bold ideas creating enduring solutions for people and nature. Delivered straight to your inbox, it’s a window into the change we can make—together.

💌 Sign up today: https://www.packard.org/stay-connected/

Children and Families Program Officer Katie Harkin reflects on what we’re learning from parents and why listening to families and collaborating across child care, health services, and community programs is essential to creating care that works in real life.
➡️ Learn more: https://ow.ly/295L50XWh1z

As we start off 2026, we’re inspired by the leaders and organizations around the world who are committed to advancing a future where people and nature thrive.

Together we can create a just and equitable world where both people and nature flourish 🌟

As we close out the year, we’re grateful for our community who comes together to build a more just and equitable world where people and nature flourish.

From all of us at the Packard Foundation, we wish you a holiday season and New Year filled with light and peace. 💛

Can we say goodbye to the dreaded strep throat swab? Packard Fellow Ashleigh Theberge and her team at the University of Washington are developing an alternative that includes a lollipop designed with tiny channels that collect saliva for at-home testing.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/tZko50XIASI

Thank you for everything you bring to our shared vision. 💛

Packard Fellow and Johns Hopkins University scientist Dr. Jasmina Wiemann is working to understand how living organisms respond to planetary change by developing innovative ways to read molecular “memories” preserved in ancient organisms—helping fill some of the blank pages in the history of life.

How a Simple Candy Could Transform At-Home Testing • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation For a scratchy throat, feeling unwell is bad enough. The dreaded strep throat swab that follows is no fun either, especially for kids. Dr. Ashleigh Theberge’s lab at the University of Washington has invented a gentler alternative: a strawberry flavored lollipop with tiny spiral channels that siphon off saliva for testing. The idea is that … Continued

2019 Packard Fellow Ashleigh Theberge and her team at the University of Washington are creating gentler, at-home diagnostic tools — from a saliva-collecting lollipop to painless mail-in blood kits that make testing more accessible for families everywhere.

➡️ Learn more: https://ow.ly/Oquu50XAW7b

Children and Families Program Officer Katie Harkin shares what we learned from listening to parents about the kinds of support that truly make a difference in their daily lives.

➡️ https://ow.ly/1zSr50XApY1

We’re thankful for the leaders, organizations, and communities who work every day to create a more just and equitable world — and for our dedicated staff who partner with them to make meaningful change possible.

Together, we’re building a future where people and nature can thrive. 🧡

We are thrilled to welcome Christopher Burnett and Sarah Stephens to our Board of Trustees!
➡️ Learn more about them: https://ow.ly/W26I50XpFt6

Thirty years into global climate talks, progress is possible—but only with long-term commitment. Our President and CEO Nancy Lindborg reflects on what it will take to turn climate commitments into lasting progress.

➡️ https://ow.ly/aFE150XnsHb

Packard Foundation Announces 20 Science & Engineering Fellows For 2025 The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has named the 2025 Packard Fellows for Science & Engineering. Fellows each receive $875,000 over five years for their research.

We believe science is a public good that strengthens our society—and we're excited to see that vision reflected in Forbes’ feature on our 2025 #PackardFellows for Science and Engineering.

Check out the full article to learn more.  ⬇️
https://ow.ly/NMIa50XgCFf

ICYMI: We announced our 2025 #PackardFellows for Science and Engineering last week! This year’s class features 20 innovative early-career scientists and engineers, who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research.

Meet the 2025 Packard Fellows ⬇ 
www.packard.org/2025fellows

Congratulations to @jameststroud.bsky.social on being named a 2025 #PackardFellow by @packardfdn.bsky.social.

Stroud will receive $875,000 over 5 years to fund his pioneering research in evolutionary biology — studying 1,000 backpack-wearing lizards in South Florida.

Read more: bit.ly/3KNrVU5