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It has been my tremendous pleasure to work with the Garfield Foundation trustees during the last eleven years building an innovative and impactful grant making program. Since formally opening our doors in 2001, the Foundation has awarded more than 375 grants exceeding $34 million (currently $3.1 million annually). The Trustees’ spirit of innovation and willingness to take risks infuses the Garfield Foundation’s entire grants allocation approach.
The Foundation awards grants that address some of the most vexing environmental and social justice issues of the 21st century—global warming, biodiversity conservation, sustainable production and consumption, and urban renewal. Across all of our program areas, we favor work that has a few common threads: a clear path to get at root causes of entrenched problems; to support groups that embrace systems thinking and strategic outcomes in their program designs, and are thoughtful and transparent collaborators; and, to support strategies that embolden wide-spread concern for the environment and the role of humans as caretakers of it.
The Garfield Foundation also hopes to inspire greater and different forms of collaboration among funders and practitioners. We understand that the ‘go it alone’ approach is unlikely to lead to a more sustainable future. We also appreciate and value collaborations that contribute to our own thinking and theories of change. Partners are essential and we look forward to continuing to nurture supportive and collegial relationships within the philanthropic and advocate communities.
Jennie Curtis
Executive Director |
