How The Environmental Movement Is Democratizing And Diversifying

Historically, the environmental movement has followed the Golden Rule: the ones with the gold make the rules. Foundations get to decide who gets funding and will be best equipped to advance their agendas, and don’t always know their blindspots. This has often led to the critique that the environmental movement cares more about polar bears than people–and leaves frontline organizations on the sidelines when it comes to funding.

This question is critical because there is so little funding available for climate change and environmental issues, period–and that which is disbursed often fails to center communities of color. Out of the $730 billion in U.S. philanthropic giving in 2019, less than 2 percent went to climate change mitigation, according to a 2020 ClimateWorks Global Intelligence report. And a recent New School Study found that of the $1.34 billion awarded to 12 environmental funders working in the Gulf and Midwest, only 1.3% went to environmental justice-focused groups.

Mosaic is one effort seeking to shift this dynamic, by changing who gets funded and how such choices are made. Launched in 2020, Mosaic supports environmental movement infrastructure, the shared advocacy tools and networks considered fundamental to the capacity, alignment, and success of social movements. Director Katie Robinson describes the organization as “a national participatory grant-making effort, led by a diverse Governance Assembly that includes a super-majority of grassroots and NGO representatives, working together with funder participants.” She added, “We are oriented around community and collaboration, not silos or single issues. And we seek to fund the missing tools and relationships between activists and organizations reflecting the full breadth of the environmental movement, because it will take all to win. Through our participatory funding model, we harness the shared insights of a diverse group of field leaders who select the most impactful projects to build the power to meet the pace and scale of change today.”

Today, Mosaic is announcing that they are disbursing over $6M to support 47 coalition-centered projects proposed by 226 co-applicants. And critically, 85% of these grants are being provided to people of color-led organizations, with 87% of organizations also being women-led. These projects are unique in that they empower actors not traditionally recognized as climate and environmental leaders to take action–highlighting the ways in which climate change truly impacts us all. The full list of projects can be found here, including:

Building Nursing Capacity to Advance Health Equity and Climate Justice – This grant is designed to engage and support the nation’s largest group of healthcare professionals, 4.2 million nurses, in moving from interest to action to address climate change. This grant supports the creation of a “network of networks” to scale impact on equitable climate action, centered in a partnership between the national Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and the Nursing Collaborative, which includes 14 national nursing organizations and academic institutions, including the American Academy of Nursing, Association of Public Health Nurses, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, and the National League for Nursing.

The Ten Rivers Project – Waterkeepers Alabama (WAL) is a coalition of ten water advocacy organizations protecting watersheds across Alabama. These rivers flow through some of the nation’s most impoverished and environmentally vulnerable communities. WAL members are the guardians of the states’ waters, conducting routine patrols and water testing and providing a wealth of information for the public, local businesses, and other decision-makers.

Rights of Nature Tribal Governance – Rights of Nature Tribal Governance is a legal expression of Indigenous worldviews for a sustainable and regenerative future. This project has deepened networks and alliances with partner organizations and tribes interested in exploring Rights of Nature, assembled a Working Group Advisory Board of 28 tribal leaders, grassroots organizers, and legal experts, as well as the development of a Rights of Nature Toolkit for tribal organizers and elected officials. This project aims to continue offering technical support to tribes that are in the process of adopting Rights of Nature laws, gathering case studies for best practices, revising the toolkit, additional outreach to grow the movement, and increasing overall public awareness through a multi- media campaign.

Whats unique is not just who is being funded, but how participants were selected. Mosaic has tried to move away from the dynamic whereby foundation staff and boards are the only ones making decisions (especially when 92% of foundation presidents are white). Instead, they spent two years with over 100 movement leaders thinking about how to structure decision-making, landing on a 15-member Governance Assembly that is multi-stakeholder and has the power to make all grant decisions.

The majority of members are women and people of color. They serve three-year terms and are compensated for their time. Most members are part of movement organizations that range from the very large, like the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation, to frontline organizations like The Chisholm Legacy Project, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), and Alianzas Nacional de Campesinas. “The beauty of a participatory grantmaking model like Mosaic is that we’re able to utilize the expertise of field-leaders from across the environmental movement – not just in an advisory role, but as decision-makers with a direct line to the diverse needs of the movement,” said Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director at The Chisholm Legacy Project. “That expertise is essential to building the collective power of the environmental movement and philanthropy needs much more of it if we’re going to advance a winning environmental strategy.”

Over 685 projects were submitted to Mosaic for consideration totaling $180M–implying that there is plenty of room for other environmental funders to jump in and support more community-driven, people of color centered projects. “If one part of the environmental movement is underfunded, the entire movement suffers,” said Angela Mahecha, Director at Tishman Center Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship. “Mosaic’s focus on resourcing historically underfunded grassroots and frontline infrastructure efforts is not just the right thing to do — it’s critical to bolstering a winning movement.”