From 2001, when The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands was founded, Walter and Leonore Annenberg directed a portion of their philanthropy toward funding, and in some cases hosting, meetings and retreats at Sunnylands under four banners: Sunnylands Constitution Project, American Institutions of Democracy, Adolescent Mental Health Initiative, and Promoting International Understanding.
In 2012, the Trust began to hold high level retreats at Sunnylands in response to the Document of Trust left by the Annenenbergs that founded The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands.
Envisioning the Future of the
United States-Mexico Relationship
March 29 - April 1, 2012
In 2012, Mexico and the United States each hold presidential elections, a phenomenon that occurs once every 12 years. Taking advantage of this natural opportunity for progress in the U.S. - Mexico relationship, Sunnylands and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars convened an extraordinary group of 22 top opinion and business leaders and policymakers from both countries to craft an agenda for bilateral relations that is at once visionary and pragmatic. After three days of meetings on such topics as security, economic integration, and migration, with additional sessions on cultural exchange and the global political landscape, staff from the two organizations continue to work to transform the ideas generated at the event into a concrete strategic plan able to garner broad support across party lines. We are currently in the planning stages for a public release of a written and video report of the session and the organization of further meetings to advance the ideas generated and to help push the U.S. - Mexico relationship to the front burner for elected officials, policymakers, and the business community, among others.
Homeland Security Committee Retreat
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands sponsored a retreat for the members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security at the Aspen Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown, Maryland, on March 7 - 8, 2005.
Partners: The Public Governance Institute and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Council for Excellence in Government
Communicating About Democracy in the Middle East
Scholars of Middle Eastern studies, Cold War historians, former diplomats, and international broadcasting experts met at Sunnylands in February 2005 to discuss how the lessons learned from American radio broadcasting into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during the Cold War could be used to communicate about democracy in the Middle East.
Partner: Hoover Institution
U.S. Supreme Court Retreat
In January 2004, Supreme Court Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor came to Sunnylands to meet with Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Wallis and Leonore Annenberg. They discussed the state of civic education in America and how best to communicate constitutional concepts and cases to American high school students and to visitors of the National Constitution Center in Washington, D.C.
Partner: The American Law Institute
Bipartisan California Delegation Retreat
California politicians--including 30 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the state's two U.S. senators, and the governor--came to Sunnylands for a bipartisan retreat in December 2003 to discuss a vision for California's future. Participants heard from Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and former President Gerald Ford, among others. Policy experts discussed issues concerning California's future, with a focus on the state's changing demographics, economic challenges, and religious diversity, and its role in homeland security.
Bipartisan Congressional Retreat
More than a third of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives gathered in February 2003 at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, at a weekend retreat planned by a committee of eight House Democrats and eight House Republicans and funded by the Sunnylands Trust. The goal: to address how the House could best serve the nation's interests in a post-9/11 world. In a weekend of workshops and informal gatherings, the retreat helped to foster trust and respect among the members and deepen their understanding of some of the major challenges of the new century.
Partners: The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Council for Excellence in Government, and the Public Governance Institute
A Focus on Civics Education
After it was established in 2001 and prior to Mrs. Annenberg’s death in 2009, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, with guidance from Kathleen Hall Jamieson, developed programs that focused primarily on improving civics education, producing and distributing films, books, and online and curriculum materials. Many of these materials are updated and distributed annually to schools and courthouses for use on Constitution Day.
The Trust also developed and disseminated information on the treatment of adolescent mental disorders, increased communication among and the impact of Annenberg-funded organizations, and held retreats to improve the functioning of democratic institutions. Some of these programs are ongoing under the auspices of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics. Curriculum materials are available through Annenberg Classroom.org.
The Adolescent Mental Health Initiative was created to synthesize and disseminate scientific research on the prevention and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents. The Initiative creates books and Web materials for adolescents on topics including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, and suicide prevention. CopeCareDeal.org, a mental health Web site for teens, was developed by The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and is administered with assistance from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.