The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation played a major role in developing and supporting the conflict resolution field for nearly two decades. During that time, the field grew and matured and achieved considerable acceptance and self-sufficiency across various areas of practice. While recognizing the continuing value of conflict resolution and peacemaking in the United States and internationally, the Foundation decided to wind down its support for this area and to deploy its resources to other pressing social issues. The Conflict Resolution Program made its final grants in 2004.
Click here to read "The Hewlett Foundation's Conflict Resolution Program: Twenty Years of Field-Building," a report that chronicles the work and the impact of the Hewlett Foundation's Conflict Resolution Program.
The Hewlett Foundation also released a series of three guides for funders in the field of Conflict Resolution. The guides focus on Environmental Conflict Resolution, Community Development and Collaborative Governance:
Environmental Conflict Resolution: Strategies for Environmental Grantmakers (PDF)
Environmental grantees face challenges that involve multiple parties, multiple issues, technical complexity, scientific uncertainty, and asymmetry in power and resources. This guide shows environmental grantmakers how they can help grantees meet these challenges with the tools of environmental conflict resolution. It covers the types of environmental disputes and the advantages of environmental conflict resolution over other more traditional processes.
Community Development: A Guide for Grantmakers on Fostering Better Outcomes Through Good Process (PDF)
This guide describes the tools grantmakers can use to make community development work better. It includes a description of the elements of good collaborative community development processes, examples of the challenges to collaboration and strategies to overcome those challenges, and provides guidance and additional resources for funders to inform their grantmaking.
Collaborative Governance: A Guide for Grantmakers (PDF)
From improving environmental quality to providing a quality education and strengthening disadvantaged neighborhoods, solving difficult problems requires the collaboration and resources of many different players, including government, the private sector, community leaders and others. This guide focuses on collaborative governance, an emerging set of concepts and practices that offer prescriptions for inclusive, deliberative, and often consensus-oriented approaches to planning, problem solving, and policymaking.