What we know about Prince Harry and Meghan's Archewell Foundation

In the days following a massive Texas storm that made international headlines in February 2021, the Dallas-based Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support received an “unexpected call” from a person with royal ties. The nonprofit’s transitional housing center for women and children had endured significant damage and was unlivable. The caller — a representative of the Archewell Foundation — wanted to know how they could help, said Amy Norton, Genesis’ senior director of fund and community development. The Archewell Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the broader organization called Archewell launched by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, following their departure from their roles as senior working members of the British royal family in 2020. According to its website, Archewell — named after their son Archie Harrison — aims to “unleash the power of compassion to drive systemic cultural change” and is supplemented by “creative activations through the business verticals” of Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions. Archewell is registered as a nonprofit in the U.S. state of Delaware. Its donation to Genesis — the amount of which Norton declined to disclose for confidentiality reasons — allowed for the repair of the housing center’s roof. The remaining funds went toward replacing ruined flooring and furniture. “People like them have the ultimate social network. … Who does not answer if Prince Harry gives you a call?” --— Genevieve Shaker, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy associate professor of philanthropic studies, Indiana University “Quite literally we needed help to put a roof over these women and children’s heads so they could move back in, and the Archewell Foundation stepped up,” Norton said. Genesis is one of around 20 organizations the Archewell Foundation has supported since launching. Some of that support has come via grants or partnerships where Archewell contributes to an event or initiative. For example, the foundation worked with the Center for Humane Technology on “dialogues that create the conditions for safer, more compassionate online communities,” and Harry and Meghan were both campaign chairs of Global Citizen’s Vax Live concert in May 2021. While some of Archewell’s partner organizations are U.S.-based, others — such as Women for Afghan Women, Global Citizen, and World Central Kitchen — focus on offering support further afield. Still, little is known about the Archewell Foundation’s specific remit and strategy. Devex sent several inquiries to Archewell seeking to learn more about its operations. While it answered some of them, the foundation declined to disclose amounts for awarded grants, among other information. “I can't speak for Archewell but certainly I think Meghan is focused on women's empowerment and women's education, and Harry is very much involved with mental health,” said James R. Doty, an adjunct professor and founder and director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University’s school of medicine. Doty consulted on Archewell free of charge prior to its launch, and in 2020, CCARE was among the first groups to receive a grant. Doty was unable to disclose the amount for confidentiality reasons. Other recurring themes around the foundation's work include supporting marginalized voices and communities, COVID-19 vaccine equity, and digital rights and technology. The foundation “will continue to build on its current work in these areas and explore opportunities to partner with organizations that have a shared alignment with its core vision,” an Archewell spokesperson said. No longer working members of the royal family, Harry and Meghan are able to make their own money and said at the time of leaving their roles in 2020 that they’d “work towards” becoming financially independent. Since relocating to the United States in 2020, the couple has relied on an estimated $10 million that Harry inherited from the estate of his late mother, Princess Diana, as well as an estimated $2 million in after-tax earnings Meghan amassed from her previous television and film work, Forbes Magazine reports. The couple has also signed multimillion-dollar content deals with Netflix and Spotify. Archewell’s website does not provide any information on the organization’s finances. According to its most recent filing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Archewell has raised less than $50,000 since its founding in October 2020. It also is listed as a public charity, a designation that can be requested by organizations that expect the bulk of their financial support to come from public funding rather than from a family or small group of individuals, as is the case with private foundations like the Ford Foundation or the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Archewell did not share when asked the amount the foundation has donated since its inception and whether there is a set process for partnering and granting. The majority of grants thus far appear to have been sporadic, relating to “today’s most pressing global conversations,” the foundation said in March 2021. For example, that same month, the foundation announced it would make donations to online racial justice organization Color of Change, which is based in the U.S., and U.K.-mental health charity Mind. The PressPad Charitable Foundation in the U.K. and New York-based URL Media, both of which focus on improving diversity in the media, also received grants. The foundation also has recently provided grants to several groups providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by Russia’s attack on the country. Archewell has also joined the Global Alliance of Foundations, a coalition of some of the world’s largest foundations that is advocating for global vaccine equity. Other coalition members include The Rockefeller Foundation and Open Society Foundations. It’s unclear how existing ventures such as Travalyst — a sustainable tourism firm Prince Harry created in 2019 in partnership with several corporations, including Booking.com, Google, Tripadvisor, Visa, and Sentebale, a charity set up by Prince Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso in 2006 to improve the lives of children in Lesotho and Botswana — may overlap with the foundation’s work. With an “amplified form of celebrity” as former royals, it’s important Harry and Meghan's efforts are seen as authentic, said Genevieve Shaker, associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. “Their activities have to really align with who they are, who the public perceives them to be, their own experiences, the way they have already been involved in the nonprofit,” she said. A good model, Shaker said, is the Born this Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta. “She really has relied on experts to develop her programming and platform and worked to give the foundation meaningful work that’s beyond what she’s able to do in the scope of her daily philanthropic life,” Shaker said of Lady Gaga. The Archewell Foundation's structure and governance will be critical to its success, according to Leslie Lenkowsky, a professor emeritus of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University who is not connected with Archewell but has previously reviewed the finances of royal foundations. One step Harry and Meghan can take is to establish a board of trustees with expertise in their areas of interest, Lenkowsky said: “One of the reasons you have a board is to help supplement your own knowledge in deciding what to do.” The Gates Foundation, for example, only recently added a board of trustees and, according to Lenkowsky, the lack of one was “always a potential problem.” They did, however, manage to balance that out with “substantial” staff and advisory boards prior to formally establishing a board of trustees. It’s unclear if Archewell plans to take any of those steps, he said. The Sussexes are currently the only board members for the Archewell Foundation, though Archewell “will be adding more directors and will have more details to share on its larger vision and operational structure at a later date,” an Archewell spokesperson said. While Archewell’s website doesn’t list details on its staff, Catherine St-Laurent, a well-known figure among high-profile philanthropists and Harry and Meghan's former chief of staff, was named as the foundation’s original executive director. She has since stepped down and transitioned to an outside “advisory role.” St-Laurent previously handled communications at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Melinda French Gates’ philanthropic investment firm Pivotal Ventures. Since leaving Archewell, St-Laurent has launched Acora Partners, a philanthropic consulting firm. She declined an interview request. James Holt is listed as Archewell Foundation’s current executive director and as its “principal officer.” He was previously the Sussexes’ personal head of communications and engagement, and head of communications for The Royal Foundation, a former charitable initiative shared by the Sussexes as well as Prince William and his wife Kate, otherwise known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It is now The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Holt is also a trustee for African Prisons Project and Inspiring Girls International, two London-based nonprofits. The couple will need to show that Archewell is more than a vanity project or a way of furthering their business interests, Lenkowsky said. One of the first things he noticed when looking at the website was that it features the couple’s business ventures — Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions — alongside the foundation. The foundation is “a separate entity and financially independent of the commercial projects,” according to the spokesperson. “Now, I understand that it’s still young, but there’s no information on the website to suggest what kinds of steps have been taken to insulate the charitable activities from their private business activities,” Lenkowsky said. “And that’s going to be a red flag going forward.” Just like Lady Gaga, Shaker said, the Sussexes have convening power and a platform, which can make a big difference in terms of raising awareness and money. “People like them have the ultimate social network,” Shaker said. “Who does not answer if Prince Harry gives you a call?”