How the Environmental Movement is Diversifying and Democratizing

The Golden Rule has been the guideline for the environmental movement. Those with gold make the rules. Foundations are able to choose who gets funding. They will be the best equipped to promote their agendas and don’t always know what their blind spots. This has often led people to criticize the environmental movement for focusing more on polar bears than they do people and leaving frontline organizations behind when it comes funding.

This question is important because there is not enough funding for climate change and other environmental issues. Moreover, disbursed funds often fail to address communities of color. According to a report by a, less than 2 per cent of the $730 billion in U.S.philanthropic giving for 2019, went to climate mitigation. 2020 ClimateWorks Global Intelligence report.A New School Study revealed that of the $1.34 trillion awarded to 12 environmental funders based in the Gulf or Midwest, only $1.349 billion was spent on them.Only 1.3%??-focused groups.

Mosaic is a project that seeks to change this dynamic. It changes who gets funded and how these choices are made. Mosaic, which was established in 2020, supports environmental movement infrastructure. This includes the shared advocacy tools and networks that are essential to the ability, alignment, success, and sustainability of social movements. Director Katie Robinson describes it as a national participatory grant making effort, led and managed by a diverse Governance Council that includes NGO and grassroots representatives, working together with funder participants. She stated that the organization is focused on collaboration and community, not single issues or silos. We want to fund the missing instruments and relationships between activists. It will take all of us to win. We use the shared insights of a diverse range of field leaders to select the most effective projects to help us achieve our goals.

Today Mosaic announces that they will be disbursing more than $6M to support 47 co-applicants’ projects. Importantly, 85% of these grants will be given to people of color-led organisations, with 87% being women-led. These projects are unique because they empower people not normally recognized as climate or environmental leaders to take action, highlighting the real impacts of climate change on us all. You can find the complete list of projects here Here, including:

Building Nursing Capacity for Climate Justice and Health Equity – This grant is designed for the largest group of healthcare professionals in the country, 4.2 million nurses. It enables them to move from being interested to taking action on climate change. This grant is intended to support the creation of a network of networks that can scale impact on equitable climate change action. It is centered around a partnership between the National Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments & the Nursing Collaborative. This alliance includes 14 national nursing organizations & academic institutions, including the American Academy of Nursing.

The Ten Rivers ProjectWaterkeepers Alabama is a coalition made up of ten water advocacy organizations that protect watersheds in Alabama. These rivers run through some of the most vulnerable and poor communities in the country. WAL members act as the guardians of the state waters. They conduct routine patrols and test the water. They also provide a wealth information for the public and local businesses.

Rights of Nature Tribal GovernanceRights of Nature Tribal Governance is an expression of Indigenous worldviews that promote a sustainable and regenerative future. This project has helped to strengthen relationships with partner organizations and tribes that are interested in exploring Rights of Nature. The Working Group Advisory Board, which includes 28 tribal leaders, grassroots organizers and legal experts, was formed. Also, a Rights of Nature Toolkit has been developed for tribal officials and tribal organizers. This project will continue to offer technical support to tribes in the process of adopting Rights of Nature legislation, gathering case studies to help with best practices, revising and expanding the toolkit, and raising awareness through multi-media campaigns.

Unique is not who is being supported, but how the participants were chosen. Mosaic has attempted to change the dynamic in which foundation staff and boards make decisions, especially when it comes to funding. 92% are white foundation presidents). Instead, they spent two decades with more than 100 movement leaders analyzing how to structure decision making. They eventually settled on a 15-member Governance Assembly, which is multi-stakeholder, and has the power of all grant decisions.

The majority of members of the board are women and people from diverse backgrounds. They serve three-year terms, and receive compensation for their time. Many members are part of organizations that range from large organizations, such as the Sierra Club or National Wildlife Federation, to smaller frontline organizations like Alianzas Nacional de Campesinas and The Chisholm Legacy Project. The beauty of a participatory grantmaking system like Mosaic, Jacqueline Patterson, founder and executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, is that they can draw on the expertise from field-leaders in the environmental movement. This expertise is crucial to building the collective power and strength of the environmental movement. Philanthropy requires more of it to help advance a winning environmental strategy.

Mosaic received over 685 projects, which equates to $180M in funding. This suggests that there is ample opportunity for other environmental funders (and others) to support more community-driven and people of color-centered projects. Angela Mahecha is the Director of Tishman Center Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship. She said that if one part of the environmental movement lacks funding, the entire movement suffers. Mosaics focus upon resourcing historically underfunded grassroots efforts and frontline infrastructure is not only the right thing, it is critical to bolstering an already winning movement.