The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Pew family established The Pew Memorial Foundation with 880,000 Sun Oil shares, then worth approximately $50 million. Its early grants were anonymous; the first, for $30,000, went to the American Red Cross.⁠[1]

The founding donors were the siblings J. Howard Pew, Mary Ethel Pew, Joseph Newton Pew Jr., and Mabel Pew Myrin.⁠[2]

In 1957, the foundation was reorganized and its assets transferred to The Pew Memorial Trust. Six additional charitable trusts followed by 1979.⁠[1]

Pew began funding environmental projects, with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution among the early grantees.⁠[3]

The organization began initiating projects and identifying organizations able to carry them out, adding an institution-led approach to its grantmaking.⁠[3]

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences began supporting early-career scientists exploring new questions in health and medicine. It subsequently grew into a broader biomedical research network.⁠[4]

Pew began its federal policy work with a program addressing economics and national security.⁠[2]

The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services launched, continuing the organization’s support for vulnerable families in Philadelphia.⁠[3]

The Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences welcomed its first cohort, funding scientists from Latin America for two years of postdoctoral research in the United States.⁠[5]

Pew developed a state policy research portfolio covering education, state prisons, and election administration.⁠[2]

Pew became a public charity, enabling it to operate projects directly while continuing to fund other organizations.⁠[1]

The current The Pew Charitable Trusts entity reports 2002 as its formation year and a corporate legal form on Form 990; its philanthropic history reaches back to the 1948 foundation.⁠[6]

The 18-member Pew Oceans Commission brought together government, science, fishing, and conservation perspectives. After hearings and expert consultation, it recommended changes involving science-based fishing limits, marine reserves, coastal habitats, and pollution control. Pew’s ten-year retrospective acknowledged that implementation had been uneven.⁠[7]

Pew brought polling, demographic research, and other social science projects into a separate nonprofit subsidiary, Pew Research Center, which does not take policy positions.⁠[2]

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage was established as a grantmaker and knowledge-sharing institution supporting cultural projects and artistic practice in Greater Philadelphia.⁠[8]

Pew and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust launched the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research to support early-career cancer researchers.⁠[5]

Pew introduced After the Fact, a podcast in which its experts and other guests discuss the social issues behind data, including household finances and environmental protection.⁠[9]

Pew introduced the inaugural Innovation Fund teams: six partnerships among alumni of its biomedical programs received support for interdisciplinary work on cancer, neuroscience, immunology, and other research questions.⁠[10]

Susan K. Urahn succeeded Rebecca W. Rimel as president and CEO. Urahn joined Pew in 1994, worked in planning and evaluation, education, and state policy, and became chief program officer in 2016. Rimel retired after 32 years leading the organization.⁠[11][12]

For the year ended June 30, 2025, consolidated statements covering Pew and its subsidiaries reported revenue of $496.848 million and operating expenses of $367.779 million. Total assets were $7.819557 billion, including $6.352444 billion in beneficial interests in seven supporting charitable trusts.⁠[13]

The Glenmede Trust Company, NA serves as trustee, managing the trusts’ assets and making required distributions to Pew.⁠[13]

Pew’s separate Form 990 for the same fiscal year reported revenue of $467,971,224 and expenses of $392,066,052. Its reporting entity and accounting presentation differ from those of the consolidated financial statements.⁠[6]

Urahn announced that she would retire once a successor was in place. The organization initially expected a January 2027 transition and planned to begin its search in early 2026.⁠[12]

Pew announced that Sarah Senno became senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, and Elaine Bowman became senior vice president, people and workplace, effective that day. It also confirmed Rea Holmes’s January 1 promotion to senior vice president and general counsel, overseeing legal affairs, risk management, and legal advice to the board.⁠[14]

Pew announced $9.145 million in grants to 18 organizations: $8.3 million for seven organizations working on access to benefits, food security, community safety, and children’s health, plus $845,000 for 11 existing grantees. Recipients included Sharing Excess’s food rescue and distribution network and PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.⁠[15]

The board selected William Foster, managing partner of The Bridgespan Group, as the next president and CEO, with a scheduled start of March 1, 2027. Urahn would remain in office through February 2027 and oversee operations during the transition.⁠[16]

Pew announced Partnership Awards for four pairs of researchers in Latin America, each receiving $180,000 over two years. The eight researchers, based in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, would study biofilms, antimicrobial resistance, plant immunity, and gene expression under environmental stress. A Biohub grant supported the awards.⁠[17]

Using state estimates collected by the National Association of State Budget Officers, Pew reported that the median state’s rainy day fund could cover 47.9 days of spending in fiscal 2026, compared with 49.1 days in fiscal 2025. The analysis distinguished reserve balances from spending coverage, showing how expenditure growth can weaken that capacity.⁠[18]

Susan K. Urahn remained president and CEO, and Christopher Jones chaired the board. Other directors included Diana Farrell, Natalie Gochnour, Raynard Kington, Joseph N. Pew V, Mary Catharine Pew, and Clayton Rose.⁠[19]

The headquarters is in Philadelphia at One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, Suite 2800. The Washington office is at 901 E Street NW. The organization also lists an office in Brussels and staff elsewhere in the United States and internationally.⁠[20]

Pew’s mission covers public policy, public information, and civic life, with a particular commitment to Philadelphia. Its stated nonpartisanship emphasizes evidence-based judgments and discussion across differing perspectives.⁠[21]

Project selection considers the need for action, evidence about causes, willingness among key participants, Pew’s distinctive contribution, and prospects for tangible progress. Its work includes research, technical assistance, coalitions, and evaluation, with some initiatives also undertaking fact-based policy advocacy.⁠[22]

Health policy work supplies research and recommendations to state agencies, hospitals, and other health partners, addressing suicide prevention, mental health services, and treatment for substance use disorders.⁠[23]

The biomedical scholars program instead makes grants to selected academic institutions for independent research by scientists in the first years of assistant-professor appointments. This funding mechanism differs from Pew’s own health policy analysis.⁠[24]

Pew’s marine work covers fisheries governance, pollution, habitats, and protected areas, including seagrasses, mangroves, biodiversity, and communities dependent on marine livelihoods. It works with multiple participants on management arrangements and conservation measures.⁠[25]

Pew and Dona Bertarelli began working together in 2011 and formalized Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy in 2017. The partnership supports large marine protected areas and ecological connections between them, working with local and Indigenous communities, scientists, and governments. It now publishes information through a dedicated website.⁠[26]

State governance work addresses housing, health care, court procedures, and infrastructure, supplying data and strategies to state and local policymakers while considering fiscal constraints.⁠[27]

Household economic projects examine student-loan repayment, debt-collection proceedings, homeownership and renting, affordable internet, and retirement saving, linking economic opportunity with the services and systems people encounter in daily life.⁠[28]

Philadelphia Research and Policy publishes reports comparing the city with other major U.S. cities and surveys residents about policy, officials, and urban life. It also brings local participants together with experts from other regions to discuss policy options.⁠[29]

Funded by Pew and operated in partnership with the Barnes Foundation, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage supports performance, exhibitions, and public interpretation. It also funds work on cultural organizations’ business models and provides regional artists with unrestricted fellowships and professional development resources.⁠[8]

Pew publishes a code of ethics and describes conflict-of-interest policies for directors and employees. Its website provides its latest Form 990 and audited financial statements; the three most recently filed annual returns are also available for inspection at its Philadelphia office.⁠[30]

The Pew Charitable Trusts: Official website: https://www.pew.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[20]

Pew Research Center: Official website: https://www.pewresearch.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[21]

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage: Official website: https://www.pewcenterarts.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy: Official website: https://www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[26]

The Pew Charitable Trusts: LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pew-charitable-trusts/ (opens in a new window).⁠[31]

Pew: YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: https://www.youtube.com/@Pew (opens in a new window).⁠[32]

The Pew Charitable Trusts: X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/pewtrusts (opens in a new window).⁠[33]