Program

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Funder only day

8:00am
Breakfast
Ad hocs

9:00 – 10:30am

Featured Conversation

Theories of Change in Changing Times

There are myriad theories about animating social change and the role that foundations play in bringing about such change. In this Featured Conversation, four funders, each very effective in their grantmaking and embodying different grantmaking philosophies, will discuss why and how they do what they do.

SPEAKERS

Harriet Barlow is the advisor to the HKH Foundation and is a consultant to the Langeloth Foundation and several individual donors. She is also the founding director of the Blue Mountain Center. Harriet has been on the Board of Directors of over 50 nonprofit organizations and is the founder or co-founder of 12.

Joan Garner has provided leadership to the philanthropic community for years, having held executive positions with the Fund for Southern Communities and the National Network of Grantmakers. She is currently executive director of the Southern Partners Fund, a public foundation whose mission is to strengthen grassroots social justice organizations in the rural South.

Tim Greyhavens is the executive director of the Wilburforce Foundation in Seattle. Previously, he worked for more than 20 years with a variety of wildlife and animal welfare organizations, including the Humane Society. He is an avid wildlife and nature photographer, and his images are regularly seen in galleries across the US.

Hal Harvey is environment program director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He was founder and president of the Energy Foundation, and served on the energy panel of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and President Bush’s CEQ Energy Task Force. He co-authored Security Without War: A Post Cold War Security Policy.

Josh Reichert is director of the environment program at The Pew Charitable Trusts. A social anthropologist, author, and film producer, Josh joined the Trusts in 1990 with experience in international development, environmental protection, and indigenous affairs. Most recently prior he was interim director of the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C.

FACILITATOR

Michael Lerner is president of the Jenifer Altman Foundation, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, and the Barbara Smith Fund. He is also president of Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute in Bolinas, California, and of the Smith Farm Center for the Healing Arts in Washington, DC. He thinks and writes about philanthropy and social change.

11:00am – 12:30pm

Concurrent Sessions

Australia’s Conservation Paradox

Australia, island continent, is the world’s sixth largest country. The continent is home to a variety of habitats with stunning levels of endemism: 82 percent of its mammals, 45 percent of its birds, 85 percent of its plants, 89 percent of its reptiles and 93 percent of its frogs are found nowhere else. Australia has more than twice the vertebrate diversity of other “megadiverse” countries in the tropics. The goal of this EGA workshop is to assist North American funders in learning about the ecological problems facing Australia. The challenge: if funders are pleased with investments in large-scale conservation in North America, why not try Australia?

SPEAKERS

Andrew Campbell is executive director of Land and Water Australia. He has been involved in natural resource management in Australia for 20 years. Previously a senior executive of Environment Australia, he was responsible for the Bushcare program funded through the Natural Heritage Trust. He was instrumental in the development of Landcare as Australia’s first national landcare facilitator.

David Lindenmayer is an associate professor at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University, and a Bullard Fellow at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts. He has published prolifically and has a doctorate in forest ecology and wildlife conservation. He runs five major large-scale ecological studies in southeastern Australia.

FACILITATOR

Gary Tabor is presently the head of the Wilburforce Foundation’s Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Program, which promotes science and conservation to maintain ecological connectivity between parks and protected areas in the Rocky Mountain region of the US and Canada.

RELATED LINKS

Land & Water Australia
Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Building a Better World: A Funder Discussion about the World Social Forum

The World Social Forum was recently described by the former Portuguese President as "the most important political event on the planet." This session will discuss the WSF’s significance for the promotion of alternative models of globalization, and explore its relevance to environmental and other funders. Following a short documentary film, participants will engage in a fluid and relatively informal conversation, highlighted by observations of funders who attended past forums. The moderator will ensure lively and focused discussions, making use of evaluation results from WSF funder delegations to provide structure, while offering continuous space for comments and questions from all participants.

SPEAKERS

Lisa Jordan is a program officer within the civil society and governance unit at the Ford Foundation. Previously executive director of the Bank Information Center in Washington, she has served as legislative assistant to Congressman James Scheuer of New York, and helped establish the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE).

Kevin Murray, executive director of Grassroots International, has specialized in development education and social reconstruction in post-conflict societies. He has worked with Oxfam America and served in El Salvador for the Center for Global Education and for the Jesuit Refugee Service. Kevin is the author of two books on El Salvador.

FACILITATOR

Mark Rand has worked since 1977 to strengthen social movements and international civil society networks through organizing, program management and grantmaking in Africa, Asia and the US. He has a masters in development studies, and has worked for many nonprofits, including SANE, USA for Africa, OxfamAmerica and JustAct/Youth Action for Global Justice. Mark is the coordinator of the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization.

Elections, Politics, Foundations and the Law

EGA members have expressed an ever-growing interest in the role politics plays in shaping environmental policies. The question is what, if anything, can foundations do to affect elections and politics. This funder-only session will focus on the legal limits and opportunities faced by foundations as they tackle the interplay between elections, politics and policy.

SPEAKERS

Bill Roberts is executive director of the Beldon Fund, which seeks to build a national consensus to achieve and sustain a healthy planet. Prior to joining Beldon, Bill worked for Environmental Defense as director of strategic communications and before that as ED’s legislative director. He serves on the board of the League of Conservation Voters.

Lee Wasserman is director of the Rockefeller Family Fund, a public charity known for influencing national environmental policy through advocacy and citizen engagement. Prior to joining RFF, Lee was advisor to the Pew Charitable Trusts and executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, a statewide advocacy organization. Lee ran for the US House of Representatives in 1996.

RELATED LINKS

Post-Retreat Follow Up

In Tough Times, We Need Leaders: Why Leadership Development is More Important than Ever

Behind every environmental success there is a motivated leader. In this environment of declining funding and increasingly hostile politics, our grantees are being asked to do more with less. How are existing and emerging leaders being identified, cultivated and trained to face these challenges with positive outcomes? What do we now know about the role of leadership development in diversifying the base of the movement, working across sectors and influencing policy and action? How do we balance our grantmaking focus between the issues and the individuals that will advance these issues? This will be a discussion to which everyone can contribute.

SPEAKERS

Hooper Brooks is currently program director for the environment at the Surdna Foundation. He has worked on transportation, energy, biological diversity and urban/suburban land use issues throughout the US. Previously, he worked at the Regional Plan Association, and has served as executive director of the Brookline Conservation Commission and development director for the Boston Natural Areas Fund.

Dick Mark is a former program director with the Nathan Cummings Foundation and is now a consultant with the Beldon Fund. He has had extensive experience in funding and leading grassroots leadership development programs.

FACILITATORS

Cynthia Robinson leads the Pew Fellows program in marine conservation, now in its 13th year. She also directs the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, has worked in higher education with University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, serves on the board of the Sea Education Association, and is a trustee of the Switzer Foundation.

Lissa Widoff is executive director of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation, which founded and supports the Switzer environmental fellows program. She is a member of the Environmental Leadership Collaborative. She is conservation biologist by training and vocation and was involved in major public land acquisition in Maine.

Is It Time for a Brave New World Order?

Whether addressing biodiversity or bioweaponry, we know the world needs better cooperative responses on global issues. But recent patterns in US global engagement–from advancing the preemption doctrine, to going-it-alone in Iraq, to rejecting several globally popular treaties–raise concerns about the prospects for improving collective action. In trying to muster more effective problem solving, should the emphasis be on changing US behavior? On strengthening the capacity of existing multilateral arrangements? On promoting other forms of cross-border governance? Join us at this funders-only session to discuss ongoing domestic and international efforts, as well as to brainstorm new options.

SPEAKERS

Suzanne Ehlers is an independent consultant specializing in international governance, progressive constituencies, and sustainable consumption and production issues for both foundations and nonprofits. Before starting her own practice, Suzanne was with the Wallace Global Fund for five years. She proudly serves on the board of the Biodiversity Project.

P.J. Simmons serves as special advisor to the RBF on US policy & global issues. Before this, he directed Carnegie Endowment’s managing global issues project; founded the Wilson Center’s environmental change and security project; and served as a research assistant to the National Security Council’s global environmental affairs directorate.

RELATED LINKS

Women’s Environment and Development Fact Sheet

Strange but True: Model Collaborations among Funders

Perennially sought but often fraught with difficulty, collaboration among funders becomes ever more essential in today’s era of shrinking resources and growing challenges. This session will feature three funders leading very different efforts to organize collaborative funding: one engaging a wide array of foundations in work on environmental factors affecting health, one a highly ambitious plan to conserve forests while building a sustainable economy in central coastal British Columbia, and one designed to disseminate resources to cutting edge youth organizing efforts. We will also draw upon the experience of other funders who have developed joint initiatives as we look for key lessons and innovative models for future collaboration.

SPEAKERS

Gita Drury is co-director of the Active Element Foundation, which supports youth leadership through grantmaking, networking, technical assistance and philanthropic education. She serves on the boards of the Third Wave Foundation, the Collage Foundation and Justice NOW. She sits on several collaborative grantmaking committees, including the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing.

Michael Lerner, a political scientist by training, is head of the Jenifer Altman Foundation, outgoing chair of the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity and co-founder of the Health and Environmental Funders Network. He won a “genius” award from the MacArthur Foundation for his work on combining conventional and complementary medical treatments.

Scott Rehmus has been at Packard since 1999 and is team leader for the Cascadia program. His past work includes stints with NOAA, the US Geological Survey, the Seattle-based Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, and GreenInfo Network. He is a graduate of Duke University and Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

FACILITATOR

Joel Solomon, a Tennessee transplant to Vancouver, BC, and executive director of the Endswell Foundation, works to utilize early stage investing and charitable grantmaking to promote a sustainable, environmentally beneficial vision for the BC economy. He also serves on the board of the Tides Canada Foundation.

White Water to Blue Water: How Communities are Managing the Commons

This session puts you in the driver’s seat as you help resolve key challenges posed by three Central American case studies about coastal and marine conservation. The most difficult threats to grapple with are often “upstream” threats to reefs and coasts. What can you and other donors do to build initiatives that cross ecosystem, institutional and national borders? How can you help scale up community efforts to have regional impacts? Bring your own experience and come learn from your colleagues about approaches that worked elsewhere on the globe.

SPEAKERS

Shaun Paul co-founded and is executive director of EcoLogic Development Fund. He has extensive experience in rural Latin American economic development and natural resource management, working with social service organizations in Central America, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Inter-American Foundation. He is fluent in Spanish and is a Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Fellow.

Dwight Neal, Belize program coordinator for the Oak Foundation, has extensive experience working on the sustainable management of tropical aquatic systems, primarily mangrove-coral reef ecosystems. He worked for the Belize Fisheries Department for 20 years in various capacities but primarily as extension and education officer, collaborating extensively with Belizean environmental organizations.

FACILITATOR

Leslie Harroun is program officer for the Environment at the Oak Foundation, managing the foundation’s marine conservation and clean energy portfolios. Leslie has over a decade of experience on a range of environmental issues, including coastal zone and marine fisheries management. She has worked for World Wildlife Fund, the US Agency for International Development, and several small law firms.

1:00 – 2:00pm
Lunch and closing