The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. It applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life.

The Trusts is led by President and CEO Rebecca W. Rimel, who has concentrated the organization’s work on results-oriented, strategic investments. During Rimel’s tenure, the organization has expanded its national programs, while maintaining a significant presence in its home city of Philadelphia.

In fiscal year 2008, The Pew Charitable Trusts has invested about $300 million in initiatives to serve the public interest.

In 2004, The Trusts established the Pew Research Center as a subsidiary to house six separate information projects that The Trusts had launched during the preceding decade. The move was designed to expand the reach of these information projects and to reduce their administrative cost.

The Trusts provides the vast bulk of the Pew Research Center’s financial support and appoints three of the five voting members of the Center’s governing board. However, the Center is solely responsible for its own surveys, reports and findings. In order to preserve the Center’s independence and impartiality, The Trusts maintains a wall of separation between its support for the Center’s information work and its support for projects that seek to advance policy solutions, just as most newspapers separate their news operation from their editorial pages.