TPW West

TPW West's mission is to build, educate and activate a peer network of strategic global citizens who through experiential philanthropy create measurable, transformative change to address the pressing issues of our day.

In 2001, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the TOSA Foundation launched The Philanthropy Workshop West in collaboration with The Rockefeller Foundation. The three foundations created TPW West in response to a growing number of requests made by individual donors seeking an educational framework to explore innovative, creative, and strategic approaches to philanthropy. 

The First Year program provides a small group of individuals with the opportunity to work with prominent figures from the fields of philanthropy, policy, and public management to develop a deep understanding of the nonprofit sector and strategies for maximizing effectiveness. The First Year program provides active, hands-on skills building workshops, issues seminars and the opportunity to network and collaborate with notable leaders and other philanthropists across the United States and internationally,  which carries through to life-long membership in the TPW West Alumni Network..

TPW West forms each year's class with a goal of achieving diversity in gender, age, profession, geographic region, and inherited wealth versus newly made wealth. TPW West seeks those who are passionate about making a difference and who demonstrate risk-taking, willingness to collaborate, respect for others vision and ideas, and a good sense of humor. Many participants are relatively early in their philanthropic journey, but some are already well-established philanthropists. The amount of individual annual giving for each participant varies greatly, but the required minimum to participate is an annual commitment of $250,000. Historically most participants annually grant from $500,000 to $1.5 million, some giving significantly more.