UPDATE: As of April 14, the Foundation has extended its office closure indefinitely; our staff will continue to work from home during this time.
Like many of you, we have been monitoring the fast-changing developments on coronavirus (COVID-19). We understand that many communities have been affected, and that the economic and emotional hardships of this pandemic are very real.
At the Packard Foundation, the safety and health of our staff, grantees, and partners is of utmost concern. We recognize that COVID-19 may adversely affect your work, your organization, and its operations, and fully support the steps you need to take to protect your staff, partners, and stakeholders, both now and as conditions evolve. If you have any concerns or questions about how this might affect your work with the Foundation, please do not hesitate to reach out to your primary Foundation contact, or email [email protected].
In addition, out of an abundance of caution and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Packard Foundation is temporarily closing our facilities in Los Altos, California. This closure will be in effect from Monday, March 16 through Friday, April 3, 2020. During this time, the Foundation will still conduct business as usual, with all staff working remotely from home. If you have a scheduled meeting at the Packard Foundation in the coming weeks, staff will contact you to reschedule or set up a teleconference.
We have also suspended all staff international travel and will only allow domestic air travel with special permission for essential business. We have asked all staff to use their best judgment about traveling locally, understanding that in the absence of a vaccine or other preventive medication, the most useful public health tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is social distancing (reducing the number of close interactions with others who may be infected).
We have every confidence that the Foundation will continue to operate effectively during this time, and we appreciate your support as we navigate this new way of working. We hope that these actions will positively contribute to our local community’s efforts to slow the spread of the virus and help protect those who are vulnerable.
We thank you for all you do, and wish you good health.
Craig Neyman, Interim President and CEO
