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Pulte Family Partnership
Nancy Pulte Rickard
President, 
Pulte Family Charitable Foundation
Promoting tolerance, inclusivity, and respect for diversity, Master 
Builder and entrepreneur William J. (Bill) Pulte’s global philanthropy 
was shaped by his vision of a world living in peace, where the needs 
of the most vulnerable would be met with compassion. He believed 
this future was possible through a shared commitment by the greater 
human family, its members constant in their love for one another.
In 2019, the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation embarked on a 
large-scale, philanthropic relationship with the University of Notre 
Dame through a partnership gift. A portion of this was directed 
toward the endowment and directorship of the Pulte Institute for 
Global Development. Today, we see each of the Foundation’s four 
areas of focus—care for others, education, hunger and thirst, and 
shelter—supported by the Pulte Institute’s research and program 
development in more than 70 countries.
The Pulte Platform for Policy in the Keough School of Global Affairs 
expanded the reach of this work. Established by a 2022 Foundation 
gift, the Pulte Platform for Policy supports three senior faculty 
to advance the school’s international impact in the academic 
and policymaking spaces on issues related to integral human 
development, poverty alleviation, and peacebuilding. Through their 
work to support student formation, these faculty are building a new 
understanding of age-old problems with emerging leaders, future 
generations essential to making the peace Bill sought a reality for 
marginalized populations.
During his life, Bill convened eight leaders across faith traditions  
to discuss peacebuilding techniques; together, they created  
“A Prayer for World Peace.” Through a gift to honor his legacy, the 
prayer now lives at the heart of Our Lady of the Lake World Peace 
Plaza on Notre Dame’s campus, engraved in six languages and 
shining through waters that flow over a fountain just west of 
the Grotto.
The creation of this shared space for reflection is the most recent 
manifestation of the Foundation’s partnership with Notre Dame: 
a refuge and sanctuary, open to all. But it is our work together 
perceived as an integrated whole—with students on campus, in 
meetings with policymakers, and in partnership with those most 
vulnerable among us—that most fully lives into Bill’s vision of a 
more caring and compassionate world.
On behalf of the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, I welcome you 
to join us in continuing Bill’s work for the least of these wherever 
you are, in whatever way you are able. 
“...help me, and all the people of the world, 
learn how to replace hate, war, oppression, 
and division with love, peace, freedom, and 
reconciliation.” — from “A Prayer for World Peace”
Making Peace Possible Through Transformational Partnership
“The Pulte Institute is building 
peace in the world by dismantling 
the problems of poverty: hunger, 
shelter, and access to opportunity only 
possible through education.”
The Pulte Institute for Global Development
03 | 2023-24 Annual Review

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