|
|
|
Greetings,
We are excited to share this convening opportunity at the The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. The Bellagio Center Convening Program facilitates the conduct of meetings designed to develop and implement breakthrough solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. More information about the program can be found in the synopsis and links below. For a full list of currently open opportunities that have been announced through our office, please visit our new Current Opportunities web page. As a reminder, our Research Development team is available to provide proposal development support to FAS ladder faculty.
- OSP Deadline: Not applicable
- Sponsor Deadline: June 23, 2026 at 5pm ET
- Award Amount: The Rockefeller Foundation provides meeting facilities, meals, accommodations, and ground transportation for all convenings held at the Bellagio Center. Support for convening design services is also provided. Convening host organizations and participants are generally expected to cover international travel costs to reach Milan, Italy. In limited cases, travel support awards may be available to help defray travel expenses for individuals who would not otherwise be able to participate.
Program Overview
For more than 60 years, The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center has supported leaders and organizations to advance novel solutions and develop likely and unlikely partnerships — unlocking breakthroughs that improve lives around the world. The Bellagio Center Convening Program connects innovative, trailblazing, changemaking organizations and leaders to strengthen solutions, build partnerships, and inspire collaboration across sectors, political perspectives, and national borders. Each year, the Bellagio Center hosts approximately 1,000 participants through 60, one-week convenings designed to develop and implement breakthrough solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. By sharing knowledge, approaches, and perspectives, conveners can accelerate progress on the defining challenges of our time.
The Bellagio Center typically hosts convenings from February through early December. The Center is closed in January. Convenings at the Bellagio Center take place over five days: Monday through Friday, or Tuesday through Saturday. The first day should be reserved for participant arrivals, followed by three full working days, with the final day being reserved for departure. While approved convenings may be shortened within the dates offered, convenings cannot exceed five days, and specific start or end dates cannot be adjusted once accepted. The convenings are intentionally designed as small, immersive gatherings, with a maximum of 21 or 22 participants (depending on which Bellagio Center building will serve as the meeting venue). This participant cap is inclusive of everyone involved onsite during the convening, including (but not limited to) organizers, facilitators, speakers, support staff, security personnel, interpreters, and translators. All convening participants must stay onsite at the Bellagio Center for the full duration of the convening.
Priority Areas
This year, the Rockefeller Foundation is particularly interested in supporting convenings aligned with the following themes:
- Universal Energy Abundance
- Food Systems and Nutrition
- Economic Mobility
- Health
- Artificial Intelligence for Good
- Catalytic Finance
- Climate and Development
Eligibility Criteria
- Organizational Sponsorship: The proposed convening must be affiliated with an organization.
- Eligibility: The designated lead organizer must meet the Bellagio Center’s eligibility requirements.
- Strategic Fit: The proposed convening must align with the Bellagio Center’s Elements of a Successful Bellagio Convening, which include having a clear charitable purpose, catalytic timing, and the potential to advance meaningful, real-world impact.
Selection Criteria
Successful proposals will:
- Define a clear and specific purpose, with objectives that go beyond general discussion or information sharing
- Advance a demonstrably charitable goal, aligned with improving outcomes for underserved or vulnerable populations
- Occur at a catalytic moment when a convening can meaningfully accelerate progress or unlock decisions
- Position outcomes for impact beyond the convening itself, with a credible link to real-world change
Additional Information and Resources
Learn more about the Elements of a Successful Convening. Applicants may also review program FAQs before submitting a proposal. Download the application and once complete, submit it through the Center's online application portal.
Applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis, based on the date range requested for the proposed convening. A subset of submissions will be invited to interview with The Rockefeller Foundation staff, following the timeline outlined on the Center's home page. The Foundation aims to communicate final decisions several months in advance of the dates they are able to offer. As a general guideline, decisions are typically made on the following schedule:
- Q1 Convenings: late September or early October
- Q2 Convenings: December or early January
- Q3 Convenings: Late March or early April
- Q4 Convenings: Late May
Questions from FAS or SEAS faculty about this opportunity may be directed to research_development@fas.harvard.edu. |
|
|---|
|
MAILING LISTS
Sign up to join the mailing list for FAS Funding Focus, a resource series tailored to help FAS faculty and staff navigate the ever-evolving landscape of grants and funding. Previous editions of FAS Funding Focus (FFF) are accessible in the FFF archive. To receive additional announcements from FORA, including the monthly On Your RADAR (Research Administration Developments & Announcements Rundown) newsletter and invitations to the FORA Forum, a monthly meeting for Harvard research administrators, please sign up for the FORA listserv here.
RESOURCES
Research Development maintains a Sample Proposal Library of successful proposals from recent award recipients that are available to FAS and SEAS faculty by request; please email Research Development to request to view a proposal. For more information on Research Development's resources—including lists of internal funding programs, early career funding programs, and sabbatical fellowships—please visit the Funding Opportunities web page.
SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES WITH PIVOT
All Harvard affiliates can search for opportunities and set up alerts using Pivot, a searchable database of federal and private funding opportunities. Information on Pivot, including a one-page user guide, and other funding opportunity databases available to the Harvard community can be found on the Funding Databases web page.
PIVOT CURATED SEARCHES
Curated funding opportunity lists are funding search topics of broad interest. The following curated lists can be further refined in Pivot based on your funding needs. To view the results you must be on a Harvard network or logged in to your Pivot account. Information on setting up a Pivot account can be found in our one-page user guide.
Additional curated lists are available on the Funding Databases web page. We continue to add to and refine these lists based on feedback. Please feel free to reach out to us at research_development@fas.harvard.edu with any suggestions you may have. |
|
|---|
|
|
Your Research, Our Mission |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|  |
|
|
|
|
