In these disruptive times, it’s not always easy to know where the right balance is between staying a course and responding to changing realities, or between focusing on “our issues” and forging alliances across issues when there are so many challenges around us.
The question I ask daily is, of these good people with kindness in their hearts, are there more outspoken than silent ones? Are there more activated people than passive ones? Are there more brave ones than cowards?
HEFN and this funder community are deeply grateful for Ruth Hennig’s many contributions to the environmental health movement. Here are Ruth’s reflections and advice as she prepares to move on after almost 30 years with the John Merck Foundation and step down as its executive director on Sept. 29.
In these politically disruptive times, are philanthropies doing enough to defend the civility, inclusivity, transparency, and accountability that informs their nonprofit work? Gary D. Bass, executive director of Bauman Foundation (a HEFN member) and an affiliated professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and Mark Rosenman, professor emeritus at Union Institute & University, discuss what's at stake.
The story of last year’s passage of the first major piece of new environmental legislation in 20 years, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, is much like the story of almost any new legislation. Among advocates, we saw courageous risk taking, smart strategizing, and deep solidarity as well as strained relationships, crossed signals, and institutional infighting. Yes, the sausage making is always messy, and no one escapes the process without at least some gunk on their shoes.
