Environmental Grantmakers Association

Registration is now open for the 2024 EGA Fall Retreat! Environmental grantmakers are invited to join us this September 22-25, in Stevenson, Washington (45 minutes outside of Portland). At the 2024 Fall Retreat, we will gather to assess and respond to threats on #climate, #democracy, and #RacialEquity. We will rise to the demands of this moment and formulate robust strategies with peers for lasting impact. As we gather in the Pacific Northwest, we will honor and understand the work of sovereign nations in the region and consider new ways that philanthropy can support Indigeneity here and across the globe. We will continue efforts to dismantle racist systems and explore philanthropy’s role in empowering community-led environmental efforts with care. Learn more about the #EGAretreat and register today! ega.org/retreat24

As wildfire season gets underway across the West, the lessons of the devastating blazes of 2020 continue to reverberate in rural Oregon. The Community Rebuilding Fund was a collaboration of OCF, The Ford Family Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust and the American Red Crosss. It raised $10.8 million for community-led efforts to make fire-devastated areas stronger over the long term and more resilient to disasters. OCF donors stepped up to give generously. Those dollars have now been fully distributed. Yet, the fund’s impact lives on: In local nonprofits more equipped to help their neighbors. In funders that act faster and work together more effectively to help communities after disasters. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gEvZUY8N

Kelly Born, inaugural Democracy, Rights, and Governance director of EGA member The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, discusses how the Foundation's newest initiative, The Democracy, Rights, and Governance initiative, will help to advance a responsive democracy. The Democracy, Rights, and Governance Initiative will fund efforts to address the root causes of democratic dysfunction, focusing on issues that continue beyond election outcomes. The Initiative aims to support healthy engagement and discourse and foster an inclusive democracy. "America's democracy was originally constructed nearly 250 years ago to meet the needs of a very different time and serve the interests of a small fraction of society – at our founding, only 6% of the population could vote." 💡 Discover more about Packard's latest initiative during this crucial year for democracy: https://lnkd.in/ekdPcxSe #HealthyDemocracyforaHealthyPlanet

📣 Exciting news! ClimateWorks Foundation’s Drive Electric report was featured in a recent Inside Philanthropy article, spotlighting summer must-reads for climate grantmakers and other funders. Michael Kavate highlights the focused direction of funding: "60% of the campaign’s funding went to work on freight trucks, up from just under half of all funding the year before. That is nearly four times what went to the next-largest category, cars, which received 16% in 2023, down by almost half from the year before." 📚 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gfYsfFZf #ClimateAction #SummerReading

In response to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Chevron deference and recent rulings that advance regressive agenda setting, EGA reaffirms the imperative of our member-led association of environmental grantmakers, to practice philanthropy in solidarity with vulnerable communities to forge reparative pathways that benefit all people and species. Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, EGA President and CEO: “We reject efforts to undermine livelihoods, care, and autonomy. We believe that a healthy democracy begets a healthy planet, and that murkiness and gamesmanship jeopardize ecosystems and civil society for mutually assured destruction.”  Read the full statement from EGA President and CEO, Tamara Toles O'Laughlin here: https://bit.ly/45Nu7RS

🏞 A historic ten-year partnership between the federal government with Pacific Northwest Tribes and states will bring more than one billion dollars to restore wild fish populations, expand clean energy production, and bolster resilience in the Columbia River Basin: https://lnkd.in/eerjuzVA Our 2024 Fall Retreat will convene in the Columbia River Gorge. We're excited to share progress from the region, which has been sacred to Indigenous nations for over 15,000 years. We will continue to share these threads in the lead-up to our Retreat, where we will explore philanthropy’s role in supporting Indigenous-led environmental efforts here and across the globe. Learn more and register at ega.org/retreat24 #EGAretreat

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with The Redford Center. They lead incredible work to advance environmental solutions through the power of stories that move. We are collaborating on three open-source short films highlighting the work of nonprofits and communities creating a more equitable outdoors for everyone. We can’t wait to share them with you in 2025! #cooperativeaction #communitypartnerships #trustbasedphilanthropy #socialimpact #partnerships #philanthropy #gratitude

⏰There’s just one week left to #apply for the Strategic Partnership Director position at EGA. Share with your networks and interested candidates! #Hiring

Erin Dysart, Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives at EGA member Meyer Memorial Trust, reflects on the Trust’s learning journey to develop a multifaceted approach to grantmaking rooted in justice. Erin shares three key learnings from the Trust on grantmaking to advance justice: ⚖Justice demands redress and repair: There must be explicit funding strategies to support redress, repair, and thriving in Black and Native communities. As well as integration, belonging, and thriving in immigrant communities. ⚖Justice requires shifting power: Support long-term power building in communities to build capacity for collective action. ⚖Justice requires collaboration: Collaboration amongst funders, communities, and neighbors are crucial to dismantling systems of oppression which thrive on division and isolation. Read more about how Meyer Memorial Trust is implementing justice in its grantmaking initiatives: https://lnkd.in/gfjxdGm5

In addition to San Diego Pride, several other nonprofit organizations in San Diego live out the spirit of Pride Month all year long. 🏳️🌈 SDF and our supporting organizations have funded LGBTQ programs and initiatives through grants to Mama’s Kitchen, PFLAG, the Lambda Archives, San Diego Human Dignity Foundation and the Diversionary Theatre and others. Learn more about LGBTQ Support & Resources in San Diego: https://bit.ly/3RFI7Hx #PrideMonth #LGBTQSupport