Funder Stories

Every grant is like a story.  There's usually a problem, often an opportunity, always actors ready to get to work.  The stories may yield an outcome, lessons learned, or ideas for the next chapter.  Learn more about this field by exploring HEFN members' stories. 

How the New York Community Trust's investment in research of mothers' exposures to toxic chemicals and their effects on children's health helped to improve health outcomes and strengthen the public health case for regulation of chemicals.
How the Park Foundation's focus on protecting water led to building relationship and capacity building for a collaborative effort to shield New York's watersheds from fracking.
When several funders noticed chemical hazards affecting people and wildlife, with little public awareness, regulation, or philanthropic investment, they took action. They formed a HEFN "Catalysts Collaborative" that has worked for nearly a decade to...
Heinz Clairton
Pittsburgh's air quality ranks as one of the unhealthiest in the country, yet area residents routinely rank improving it as a low priority. Seeking to raise awareness of the issue and empower the community to reduce air pollution, the Heinz...
The Kendeda Fund, together with other environmental health funders, support a project to foster collaboration and innovation between biologist and chemists to create new principles and testing protocols to design endocrine disrupting-free chemicals.
The California Wellness Foundation shares their story about working with a project that successfully tracks and resolves environmental health hazards in California communities.
The Kresge Foundation shares their story of improving children's health locally and nationally through healthier housing conditions.
The Liberty Hill Foundation talks about how their foundation has employed a multi-phased project to tackle environmental health concerns in six Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Featured Resource

Sacramento River Bend Outstanding Natural Area, Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management.
June, 2020
The Water Foundation, in partnership with the US Water Alliance, water leaders across the country, and support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation released the new report, 

From Our Blog

Blog posted on September 12, 2023
This past May, at the HEFN Annual Meeting in New Orleans, 100 funders and movement partners...

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