Origin
Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek series, brought to his audiences meaningful and thought-provoking science fiction to “think, question, and challenge the status quo” with the intention of creating “a brighter future”. His work has touched countless lives and continues to entertain and inspire audiences worldwide. In 2010, Gene’s son Rod established the Roddenberry Foundation to build on his father’s legacy and philosophy of inclusion, diversity, and respect for life to drive social change and meaningfully improve the lives of people around the world.
Our Approach
Our work is organized in three primary ways: The Catalyst Fund is a small grants program focused on early-stage, unconventional ideas that have the potential for disruptive change. The Roddenberry Fellowship is an annual program that provides a select group of activists, leaders, advocates, and changemakers the resources to devote an entire year to their ideas. The Roddenberry Prize is a biennial competition to crowd-source innovative solutions to issues that demand an immediate, bold, and global response. Together, these interconnected initiatives offer opportunities for original thinkers and innovators from all walks of life to pursue significant, lasting change.
Philosophy
In the 1960’s, at a time of civil unrest and social change, Gene Roddenberry offered a vision for a future where diversity and tolerance were encouraged and in which inclusivity and equality were the norm. In the future, the human potential to be “remarkable” yielded a better, fairer world – a world with no hunger, poverty, prejudice, or greed. At the foundation, we are committed to advancing Gene’s faith in humanity by finding and supporting remarkable people and organizations who can disrupt existing dynamics, challenge old patterns of thought, and discover new ways to help us move towards a better future.
