Protecting the Environment
Environmental Justice is how we think about this area of focus. For this first year of grants, we broke this down into two key sub-areas: climate change and animal protection.
Climate change is one of the most serious issues facing our collective future. Yet, as individuals, it is one of the hardest ones for us to feel like we can have any real agency or impact. We are focusing our donations and investments in organizations that have proven track records in high-leverage efforts to reduce carbon emissions and also looking at organizations that can create breakthrough innovations for clean, sustainable energy. We are at the very early stages of trying to make a positive difference on climate change and hoping to learn more and have a greater impact over time. Time is of the essence and we feel the urgency to make a difference now.
In my last blog post, we discussed several overarching granting principles that guided our non-profit selection process. In this specific issue area, there were some additional considerations that we believed were vital when identifying potential grantees.
Given our commitment to systemic, long-term horizon change, we sought out organizations that attack issues like climate change, air pollution, and animal extinction at their root causes.
We wanted to find organizations that are trying to influence the biggest levers of change that are likely to produce meaningful, scalable solutions.
Knowing we are already seeing the adverse impact of climate change, we also look to support organizations that are focused on helping those most adversely affected by climate change.
We love animals and they are increasingly at risk of elimination and abuse and their inability to fight for their own protection means we have to do it for them. There are many great organizations that work on their behalf and we’ve identified a few of the best in our opinion.
