The new leadership comes at a time of considerable change for the 40-year-old trusts. The first of the seven trusts was founded in 1948 by the descendants of Joseph N. Pew, founder of Sun Oil Co. During the last decade, the fund has been transformed from a wealthy but parochial organization with a reputation for giving away large grants to conservative groups, into a professionally managed foundation with a growing interest in national and international issues. Eight years ago it started a new pattern of giving: While in the past it was primarily a reactive body, passing judgment on proposals submitted to it, its board now aggressively earmarks multimillion-dollar allocations for specific purposes and then puts out calls for proposals in those areas.
Last year, the seven individual trusts that constitute the $2.3 billion Pew Charitable Trusts awarded 473 grants totaling $130.4 million. Twenty-nine percent of that money-109 grants totaling ...
