September 2023
A Blog for and about Funders Focused on Health and the Environment
This past May, at the HEFN Annual Meeting in New Orleans, 100 funders and movement partners gathered to learn from each other, strategize, and build relationships. Over the course of those two days, we heard loud and clear the incredible toll that environmental justice work takes on our colleagues and friends who are grassroots leaders in the field, and that environmental health and justice work often arises from the pain, illness, and death caused by pollution and dangerous chemicals. There is a need for foundations to support not just the work of EJ organizations, but organizational staff’s personal needs for rest and healing, in order for them to effectively do their work now and into the future. This call to action reinforced conversations that HEFN member Maya Winkelstein (2030 Fund) was having with HEFN staff about how to leave something behind for movement partners after our gathering, and served as the spark that ignited the idea of the Healing Justice Fund. Between sessions on the second day of the meeting, that idea became a reality, and the fund was launched.
Funder attendees showed up - fast, and in a way that showed passion and a willingness to be nimble. Within a few weeks of the meeting we had raised $26,500 from 11 donors, far exceeding the $10,000 we had initially hoped to raise. We have so much appreciation for the way in which HEFN members responded to this ask!
Who We Are
Steering Committee Member
Leslie is the senior partnership and outreach advisor at GRACE Communications Foundation, where she advises internally and collaborates with like-minded funders and non-government organizations on strategies, movement building, grantmaking and meeting...