The Nathan Cummings Foundation is deeply saddened to report the passing of our colleague and friend, Andrea Kydd. On Monday evening, August 11 around 9:50p.m., Andrea died. Andrea was the first Program Director hired by the Nathan Cummings Foundation in 1989. She directed the Health Program for NCF through August 2004. Many of the grants she made still have a profound impact on our lives today - the beginning and end of life grants; the Mind/Body studies that are used by many health facilities across the country; the Mental Health Law project opening access to health care for
many; the National Black Women's Wellness project; and the establishment of the Center for the Advancement of Health in Washington D.C. The list is long and impressive.

Lance Lindblom, President and CEO of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, reports
on the Foundation's greatest accomplishments in 2007.

The 2007 Annual Report is now accessible through the Foundation's website under the "News and Reports" drop down menu.

In a June 17th editorial, USA Today described the case of Food and Drug Administration veterinarian Victoria Hampshire, a client of NCF grantee the Government Accountability Project. Dr. Hampshire uncovered the deadly effects of a heartworm drug on dogs in 2004. The drug's maker, Wyeth, launched a smear campaign against Dr. Hampshire and used its close connections with FDA officials to lobby (successfully) for her to be removed from the case and criminally investigated for a false conflict of interest. Although Dr. Hampshire was later completely exonerated with GAP's help, this case exposes serious questions about the ability and willingness of the FDA to withstand industry pressure when it comes to important matters of public health.

Centex Corporation recently announced plans to implement its Energy Advantage program in all homes it builds throughout the United States beginning on January 1, 2009. The announcement comes in the wake of several years of shareholder filings, led by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, asking the company to disclose information on its approach to energy efficiency and climate change. Centex Energy Advantage homes are estimated to achieve a 10 to 22% efficiency improvement when compared to a standard efficiency house built to the current code. Taken together, the homes will avoid the production of thousands of tons of GHG emissions over their lifetimes.

In the latest installment of her "Global Diary"series on hope and heroes around the world, Mariane Pearl has profiled Charon Asetoyer, the founder of NCF grantee Native American Community Board. NCF supports NACB's work to improve access to reproductive health services in Indian Health Services facilities, including advocacy around implementation of standardized sexual assault policies.

A new report by the Pushing Prescriptions project of the Center for Public Integrity reveals that the pharmaceutical industry - one of the most powerful lobbying interests in Washington -- spent a record $168 million on Capitol Hill in 2007, representing a 30% increase over 2006. Those dollars appear to have been well spent. Among the industry's successes last year were efforts:

* blocking the importation of inexpensive drugs from other countries;
* protecting pharmaceutical patents both within the United States and abroad; and
* ensuring greater market access for pharmaceutical companies in international free trade agreements.

NCF grantees The National Senior Citizen's Law Center and Center for Medicare Advocacy recently won an important settlement affecting the rights of poor elderly and disabled people across the country. As a result of a national class action litigation brought by these two advocacy groups, the Bush administration has agreed to fix serious coordination problems between government programs that resulted in weeks-long delays for poor elderly and disabled people trying to get essential medications.

The attached New York Times article provides more detail.

As most Americans see their paychecks stretched tighter by rising costs, the huge paychecks and special perks given to the people running publicly traded companies are under closer scrutiny than ever by shareholders. This year, more than 90 "say on pay" resolutions were filed by investors including the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Needmor Fund and the City of New York Pension Fund asking that shareholders be given an opportunity to participate in an advisory vote on executive compensation.

The Nathan Cummings Foundation has joined 18 other institutional investors holding 91 million shares of Exxon Mobil stock to publicly press the oil giant to improve its governance practices and take action to address the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. In keeping with its focus on sustainable profits and active ownership, the Foundation co-filed proposal #15 on the Exxon Mobil proxy which asks the company to establish GHG emission reduction goals. This and other climate change proposals filed at Exxon were coordinated by Ceres, an NCF grantee.

Nathan Cummings Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of Visioning Justice and the American Jewish Community a report on the burgeoning field of Jewish social justice.