A Message from the Honnold Foundation

To our Honnold Foundation community:

As we emerge from the fog of election week, for many of us, the path ahead toward a brighter, more equitable future feels more uncertain than ever. The truth is, we were already living through unprecedented existential threats. Before the election, our collective goal – making this world a brighter, more equitable place – was facing acute challenges across the globe. In spite of this, we maintain our longstanding commitment to our partners and pledge to carry on the Honnold Foundation’s essential work.

As the US reinstates an administration that’s vowed to ignore science, political forces will conspire to extract even more from our natural world, drilling for oil when they should be building renewable energy capacity. Marginalized communities will continue to disproportionately face environmental degradation, energy inequity, climate disasters, and the destruction of the places they call home. 

We think of philanthropy’s role as the system that should serve those left out of policy and market-based solutions – an essential tool that fills gaps. Right now, those cracks are at risk of becoming canyons.

HF’s investments in advancing community self-determination through renewable energy will be needed more than ever in the coming years. We are already using solar power to build social power alongside visionary grassroots leaders and communities, and we’ll continue to help our partners strengthen local economies, combat climate change, and work toward a more sustainable future.

At the Honnold Foundation, we know that climate action and community action are intertwined. Visionary local leaders were already the best hope we have to protect and restore people and the planet, and we see that power in action every day. Solar energy has enabled girls to access education and stand up for their rights for the first time. Indigenous leaders are harnessing the power of the sun to protect the integrity and biodiversity of their homelands. We've witnessed communities on the brink of collapse use solar to build sustainable local economies and safeguard clean water and healthy ecosystems.

That’s why, since 2020, HF has invested $10 million in grassroots solar energy projects around the world. With over $50 million - and counting - in transformational ideas still waiting for the resources to become reality, we will need all of our supporters to stand with HF, and our global network of visionary leaders, today, tomorrow, and for future generations.

At the Honnold Foundation, we think it’s pretty simple: we must listen to their voices and support their solutions.

Now, let’s get back to work. 

- Emily and the HF Team

Our 2024 Fall Cohort

Since 2020, the Honnold Foundation has provided grant funding, capacity building, and storytelling amplification for over 70 grantee Partners across 27 countries, territories, and U.S. Tribal Lands. By the end of 2024, we’ll have invested over $10 million in solar energy projects worldwide, enabling hundreds of thousands of people to access electricity, education, internet, food, water, and opportunity— on their terms.

Our Partners' work builds economic equity, decreases reliance on fossil fuels, catalyzes economic opportunity, strengthens Indigenous self-determination, advances regional conservation efforts, mobilizes healthcare resources, and bolsters climate resilience — all through solar energy.

Meet Our 2024 Fall Cohort

Interested in getting involved? The best way to support our work at the Honnold Foundation is through a donation. After all— it takes all of us, doing whatever we can, however we can, to make this world a brighter place.

Our 2024 Summer Cohort

Since 2020, the Honnold Foundation has provided grant funding, capacity building, and storytelling amplification for over 70 grantee Partners across 27 countries, territories, and U.S. Tribal Lands. By the end of 2024, we’ll have invested $10 million in solar energy projects worldwide, enabling hundreds of thousands of people to access electricity, education, internet, food, water, and opportunity— on their terms.

Today, we’re proud to announce seven new partnerships, alongside three returning multi-year partners.

Our Partners' work builds economic equity, decreases reliance on fossil fuels, catalyzes economic opportunity, strengthens Indigenous self-determination, advances regional conservation efforts, mobilizes healthcare resources, and bolsters climate resilience— all through solar energy.

Meet Our 2024 Summer Cohort

Meet Our New Multi-Year Partners

The Honnold Foundation believes that solar energy is a powerful tool for communities to build equity from the ground up. We also know that this work takes time and sustained resources.

That’s why, alongside this cohort of new partners, we’re excited to announce three continuing partnerships. The Honnold Foundation’s multi-year funding provides ongoing unrestricted support, continued capacity-building, and new storytelling opportunities for Partners whose work has the potential to scale.

Interested in getting involved? The best way to support our work at the Honnold Foundation is through a donation. After all— it takes all of us, doing whatever we can, however we can, to make this world a brighter place.

Our 2023 Impact

“There’s something about the Honnold Foundation, where they say, ‘let’s do this together’, and they don’t leave anyone behind. Those opportunities to get our name out there in front of people and tell our story. Even on social media - they are behind us - one of our biggest cheering squads. Not only are they taking us to the game; they’re creating the game for us. “ - HF Grantee Partner

Over the past four years, the Honnold Foundation has funded more than 70 projects through our Core Fund, serving more than 200,000 beneficiaries in approximately 245 communities across 25 countries. By the end of 2024, we’ll have invested over $10 million in grassroots organizations around the world, and facilitated additional millions in supporting services.

But it’s not just about money out the door. It’s about connections, coaches, communications support, storytelling, amplification, and more— all grounded in trust.

Four years into partnering with an ever-growing global community of grassroots Partners, we’re seeing how the Core Fund’s trust-based partnerships generate incredible results beyond the original scope of a funding proposal. This year’s Impact Report shares stories, testimonials, and lessons learned as we’ve built and expanded on trust-based partnerships with communities and their leaders around the world.

“Supporting grassroots leaders & their organizations can’t just be about a shiny story, a press release, and a check. But it’s not about micromanaging either. It’s about supporting the work, and then asking a simple question:

’How else can we be helpful’”? - Alex Honnold, Founder

Rebuttal Letter: In Defense of Trust Based Philanthropy

Originally published in Chronicles of Philanthropy, Honnold Foundation ED Emily Teitsworth wrote a defense of trust-based philanthropy in response to an Op-Ed criticizing the emerging philanthropic practice for “lack of accountability”. As Emily notes, trust-based philanthropy involves investing in “authentic trust, which balances transparency and accountability”.

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To the Editor:

Dan Goldenberg’s recent opinion piece, “My Organization Nixed Trust-Based Philanthropy. Here’s What We Discovered,” displays a startling misunderstanding of the way in which trust-based philanthropy actually works. As the executive director of the Honnold Foundation, a trust-based intermediary funder, I feel compelled to respond in hopes of addressing the article’s misconceptions about trust-based philanthropy, and clarify why I believe this approach is an essential part of our sector’s present and future impact. 

The Honnold Foundation (HF) focuses on expanding renewable energy access in partnership with marginalized communities around the world. In my role, I’m closely acquainted with both the advantages and the challenges of implementing a trust-based grantmaking framework. HF’s strategy shares Call of Duty Endowment’s emphasis on investing in long-term relationships and building the internal capacity of its grantees. 

However, Dan’s op-ed seems to misinterpret trust-based philanthropy as an unserious concept that assumes that the “actual, measurable results of grantee work can be ignored.” As Dan states: “we made large grants without firm guidelines for what should be achieved or regular performance assessments.” This led his team to conclude that “trust-based philanthropy doesn’t work,” a finding which directly contradicts growing evidence that it is more effective than traditional funding, and preferred by the majority of nonprofit organizations. 

Like other trust-based funders, HF takes impact measurement and learning seriously. Rather than blindly trusting our grantees, we invest in authentic trust, which balances transparency and accountability. We view measuring impact as the shared responsibility of grantmakers and grantees, one that, crucially, provides regular opportunities for grantee organizations to offer confidential feedback to us.

Our grantmaking framework balances freedom and accountability throughout the grant lifecycle, integrating extensive up-front due diligence with unrestricted grants, and starting with one-year grants before awarding multi-year funding to partners that have demonstrated strong potential for impact during their first year of HF funding. HF values equity above efficiency, long term impact over short term gains, and authentic relationships over transactional ones. In addition to emphasizing a nuanced understanding of trust, this approach necessitates comfort with strategic risk-taking: in our view, incremental failures and the flexibility to adapt when circumstances change are integral steps on the path to success. 

Implementing this approach means that HF is often one of the first institutional funders for many of our grantee partners. Since 2020, HF has supported the grassroots women’s organization ATAIC’s work in remote communities in northern Brazil. We’ve helped expand their network to over 50 solar home systems while enabling solar-powered açai processing and satellite internet. ATAIC’s impact speaks for itself: for the first time in years, the community has seen its population grow as people return home from Brazil’s cities. And now, neighboring communities are calling for similar solutions. HF’s trust-based approach was a key part of making this partnership successful: our commitment to supporting early-stage innovation and the flexibility of an unrestricted grant structure enabled ATAIC to adapt their plans during COVID, laying the foundation for impact at scale.  

Trust-based philanthropy requires funders and grantee partners to acknowledge that none of us hold the monopoly on expertise, and that financial resources are not more valuable than lived experience. Philanthropy doesn't have to give up rigorous evaluation in order to build strong partnerships with our grantees; we just have to stop trivializing these relationships as an exchange of money for impact. 

Emily Teitsworth
Executive Director
Honnold Foundation

In Focus: Indigenous Guards of the Amazon Rainforest Featured in Our Documentary Film

This piece was written and published by Honnold Foundation Partner, Amazon Frontlines.

What does it mean to protect a territory? When we talk about defending the land, what does that look like on a day-to-day basis? 

“Our Children’s River”, the latest documentary film co-produced by Amazon Frontlines, Ceibo Alliance and the Honnold Foundation, explores these questions by spotlighting the work of the Sinangoe Indigenous Guard (La Guardia de Sinangoe), who patrol and monitor tens of thousands of hectares of ancestral A’i Cofán territory. 

Combining their in-depth knowledge of their territory with astute uses of diverse high-tech tools, from drones to GPS devices to camouflaged trap cameras, Sinangoe guards have received acclaim across the world for their effectiveness and innovation in land and water protection. 

Founded in 2017, just one year later, the Sinangoe Guard helped their community obtain a momentous legal victory, as Ecuador’s highest court canceled 52 illegal gold mining concessions that had been previously demarcated on A’i Cofán territory, without any consent from the community. The court’s decision immediately nullified the licenses and set a national precedent, reinforcing the rights of Indigenous communities to be consulted and give free, prior and informed consent to any extractive projects planned in their territories. The evidence collected by the Guard, including aerial images and recorded footage, proved crucial in convincing the judges. In 2022, a founding member of the Sinangoe Guard and community leader Alexandra Narvaez, together with A’i Cofán leader Alex Lucitante won the Goldman Prize for their efforts. 

“Our Children’s River” traces the work of the Guard while also offering a window into how extractivism and colonization affect the territory of the A’i Cofán people. Bulldozers flatten the forest, while roads for oil trucks fast-track access to the territory for external threats and invasions including miners to loggers to poachers. Against these forces, the community guard is indispensable, watching the territory from above and below, assiduously monitoring the lands and waters to shield against the contamination of the river and deforestation. 

“As a member of my community's guardia, I know what it takes to fight, day in and day out. The most important thing is to have the heart and the will to protect our territory”, explains Nixon Andy Narvaez, a young land defender and filmmaker who is one of the protagonists of the documentary. “Without us, there would be nothing stopping extractive interests from devouring the world’s largest tropical forest, and all the waters that nourish the forest…Our efforts don’t just help our people, but the world at large. We protect rivers and water systems that benefit humanity as a whole. We protect forests that are fundamental to the global climate, and are home to enormous amounts of biodiversity. Guided by the wisdom of our elders and the forest, we continue to unite and fight.” 

The film also shows how the Sinangoe guard have harnessed technology to enhance their own work. Drones expand the view of the guards, allowing them to watch over unreachable locations. Motion-activated camera traps record invaluable evidence that help the A’i Cofán in their legal struggles. Solar panels, installed at refuges the guards use on their long patrols, enable the teams to recharge their gear.  

A’i Cofan filmmaker and land defender Nixon Andy Narvaez during the production of our documentary film “Our Children’s River” in collaboration with Honnold Foundation & Ceibo Alliance.

Nixon, who supported the production and is already creating documentary films of his own, issues a direct appeal for viewers “to watch the film with a hand on their hearts. Because behind every image, behind every film, is a larger story. A wider collective process that is easy to ignore. We are a small community, doing a crucial labor of protection, even though we are ignored repeatedly by the state and public authorities. We need to fight constantly for our voices to be heard, and for our needs to be recognized. So do watch the film, to value the work that Indigenous communities on the frontlines are doing, that territorial defenders are doing.” 

The film, “Our Children’s River” was funded by the Honnold Foundation, Directed by Dominic Gill of Encompass Films, and Produced in partnership with Amazon Frontlines, Ceibo Alliance, Encompass Films, and the Honnold Foundation. Support for the Honnold Foundation, Ceibo Alliance, and Amazon Frontlines makes this work, and these stories, possible. 

Our 2023 Fall Partner Cohort

Since 2020, the Honnold Foundation has provided integrated grant funding, capacity-building support, and storytelling amplification for over 70 grantee Partners across 27 countries, territories, and U.S. Tribal Lands. Our Partners' work builds economic equity, decreases reliance on fossil fuels, catalyzes economic opportunity, strengthens Indigenous self-determination, advances regional conservation efforts, mobilizes healthcare resources, and bolsters climate resilience— all through solar energy.

Today, we’re ecstatic to share our next slate of grantee Partners!

Meet Our New 2023 Partners

Interested in getting involved? The best way to support our work at the Honnold Foundation is through a donation. After all— it takes all of us, doing whatever we can, however we can, to make this world a brighter place.

New York City Climate Week 2023

"Trust-based philanthropic grantmaking needs to be an essential component of the investment strategy for any institution serious about advancing a just and equitable transition to renewable energy. This isn't only an opportunity to mitigate climate change; it’s a vital opportunity to reinvest resources and power into communities that have historically borne the brunt of economically and environmentally extractive industry." - Suzanne Singer, ED of Native Renewables & Emily Teitsworth, ED of the Honnold Foundation

In September 2023, the Honnold Foundation traveled to New York City Climate Week with a clear message: trust-based philanthropy is essential.

Joined by HF partners Native Renewables Inc, Ceibo Alliance, Amazon Frontlines, and BK ROT INC, Alex and HF Partners took the stage at Clinton Global Initiative, Concordia, Salesforce, and the Explorer's Club of New York to advocate for solar investments in frontline communities worldwide.

Every year, we comb through hundreds of inspiring applications from grassroots communities, small nonprofits, and leaders who have an idea to use solar energy to alter the trajectory of their community for the better. In 2023, we reviewed over 300 applications and identified $28 million in fundable projects. HF has grown dramatically in the past few years, and we're prepared to once again fund $2 million in solar energy projects around the world. However, the global demand for this work still dramatically outpaces our funding capacity, underscoring the urgency of the work ahead.

Remember, Alex Honnold's annual commitment covers the Honnold Foundation's operating expenses. That means that a donation to HF directly supports our Partners' work— no admin, no overhead, just impact. Interested in sponsoring a project, or group of projects? Reach out!

Announcing Our Summer 2023 Partners

Over the past four years, the Honnold Foundation has supported 58 grantee Partners in 27 countries, territories, and U.S. Tribal Lands through integrated grant funding, capacity building, and storytelling strategies. Our Partners' work is increasing access to reliable and affordable electricity, building economic equity, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, strengthening Indigenous self-determination, advancing regional conservation efforts, mobilizing healthcare resources, and bolstering climate resilience— all through solar energy.

Today, we’re ecstatic to share our first round of 2023 grantee Partners, featuring five new organizations and six returning multi-year Partners. 

Meet Our New 2023 Partners

The Honnold Foundation invests in innovative, community-centered solar energy projects around the world. In addition to unrestricted grant funding, each of the Honnold Foundation’s Partners benefits from capacity-building support, storytelling spotlights, and regional networking opportunities.

Meet Our New Multi-Year Partners

The Honnold Foundation believes that solar energy is a powerful tool for communities to build equity from the ground up. We also know that this work takes time and sustained resources, which is why, in 2023, we’re proud to announce multi-year funding for existing HF grantees.

Multi-year funding provides ongoing unrestricted support, continued capacity-building, and new storytelling opportunities for Partners whose work has the potential to scale.

Interested in getting involved? The best way to support our work at the Honnold Foundation is through a donation. After all— it takes all of us, doing whatever we can, however we can, to make this world a brighter place.

Small Steps, Big Change: Our Journey to $50,000

The Honnold Foundation's journey began when Alex Honnold and a close-knit group of friends and family made it their mission to fund grassroots nonprofits at the intersection of community-centered solar energy and workforce development. In those early days, Alex spent hours hunched over his laptop, strategically selecting a handful of ambitious projects to support each year.

Photo by Jimmy Chin

Under Alex’s example, rooted in a radical commitment to giving away a third of his income each year in support of this work, our community has grown, and our impact with it.

In 2018, the Honnold Foundation "came of age" and became a 501c(3) nonprofit. Since then, we’ve facilitated the empowerment of nearly 60 global solar energy partners to harness solar energy to bolster their communities, with 25 more on the way in 2023. Our work has been varied and widespread - from introducing electricity to a remote fishing village in Mexico, to funding the future of solar-powered, indigenous-designed transportation in the Amazon, workforce development in the Navajo Nation, and even enabling youth-led solar-powered compost processing in Brooklyn, New York.

Today, we stand on the threshold of yet another challenge. We have $28 million in unfunded projects, nearly 300 total, in need of support this year. In the spirit of our founder, we're starting with one small step, together. We’re reaching out to our community of supporters to raise an additional $50,000 by July 15th, which will fund a new Honnold Foundation grantee Partner for the coming year.

Together, we can empower communities globally to alter their trajectories towards a brighter, more equitable future.

Our 2022 Solar Impact

2022 was the year we dreamed bigger.

“As adoption of renewable energy has accelerated around the world, our team is continually reminded that this work is about more than just  being a part of that transition. It’s becoming clear that the transition is an inevitability. The big remaining question is if we’ll use this moment to truly change the world  for the better.” - Alex Honnold, Founder

In 2022, the Honnold Foundation’s impact expanded dramatically. We nearly doubled our grant-making support to $2 million, announced a precedent setting capacity-building program, and ultimately, supported 24 grantee Partners use solar energy to transform their communities, on their terms.  

There’s no longer a question of if we transition to renewable energy, it’s when and how.

At the Honnold Foundation, our how is simple: Historically marginalized and disenfranchised communities who are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change and pollution worldwide should be the first to benefit; a just transition isn’t just an idea— it’s a moral prerogative.

Join us.

Meet Our Fall 2022 Partners

In the past three years, the Honnold Foundation has supported 48 Partners in over 20 different countries and territories, each of which uses creative solar energy solutions to build equity, increase climate resilience, and support communities’ right to self-determination.

Earlier this year, we committed to doubling our grantmaking to fund $2 million in solar energy projects. Now, we’re ecstatic to share that we’ve met our goal and are welcoming a new cohort of Honnold Foundation Partners!

We’re excited to share the Honnold Foundation’s Fall Partner cohort: 10 precedent-setting, community-led organizations from around the world. 

“For centuries our people have had to break our bodies and our mountains mining coal. Now we can begin to heal both by mining the sun.”

— Jacob Hannah, Director of Conservation at Coalfield Development

Billions of dollars are being poured into climate tech, but marginalized communities battling generations of inequity are often left out of the vast majority of these investments. At the Honnold Foundation, our goal is simple:

Power People, and the Planet

Nearly 90% of HF’s funding goes directly to our partners, and 100% of our funding comes from our donor community—people like you, who know that it takes all of us to make the world a brighter place.

Join us: donate today and support a brighter world for years to come.

La Guardia of Sinangoe: Honnold Foundation Team in Ecuador

In September 2022, Honnold Foundation team members Peter Walle and Kate Trujillo spent two weeks in Sinangoe, Ecuador, to see how community members are using solar to protect the ancestral lands of the Cofán— over 60,000 hectares of untouched rainforest bordering Ecuador and Columbia.

Each week, Sinangoe's La Guardia, an elected group of 20 community members, depart on multi-night trips into the Amazon to patrol and guard their lands from illegal extractive industry. Using drones, camera traps, and their unique knowledge of the river and their expansive territory, the guards track and log any illegal activity, submitting all evidence to the government to ensure that illegal miners are held accountable for their actions.

While recent coverage has stated otherwise, the Guardia do not arm themselves as a paramilitary group. Cameras, charged in the field via solar installations, are their tools of choice, and, accompanied with an always useful machete, spears are their ceremonial point of pride.

All ages and genders can join La Guardia— and they do. Town elders take part to help guide and mentor, while young people join to protect their land for both themselves and future generations.

During their time in Sinangoe and out with La Guardia on a forest defense patrol, Peter and Kate saw a glimpse of daily life in Amazon.

The Cofán’s clear love for their land and ways of life were abundantly clear. They navigate the river seemlessly, whether by boat or foot. When cliffs block safe passage, they scramble over wet rocks and rapids without a second thought. Meanwhile, they’re constantly on the lookout for fish, casting nets and hunting by spear to gather food for the community, including the film crew, almost constantly. Every utilization of their land is rooted in a deep sense of respect, sustainability, and partnership.

Solar panels installed at strategically placed patrol stations ensure that La Guardia can always work their way back to the safety of shelter, and the assurance of freshly charged batteries that are vital to their territory’s defense.

Peter and Kate were joined by Encompass Films to help tell the story of La Guardia's territorial defense efforts. The Honnold Foundation’s next short film will be released in Winter 2023.

The Honnold Foundation is committed to telling stories by and for the communities we serve. We Partner with communities to ensure that their stories are told collaboratively and equitably. All members of our productions, including the main subjects of our films, are compensated for their time, energy, and talent.

Help us bring this story, and others like it, to life.

Photography by Peter Walle, Development and Communications Manager at the Honnold Foundation

Launching the Levine Impact Lab

Today, the Honnold Foundation is proud to announce the Levine Impact Lab— a new capacity-building and grantmaking program of the Honnold Foundation. The Levine Impact Lab will power equitable impact by investing in grassroots leaders and organizations, building their capacity to accelerate positive change. Funded through a multi-million dollar, multi-year gift from long-time Honnold Foundation supporter, Peter Levine of a16z, the Lab will offer long-term support to organizations and individual leaders who otherwise might lack access to the best-in-class resources typically reserved for for-profit startups.

Our first cohort will include current Honnold Foundation Partner organizations and their leadership teams: Southside Blooms, Feed the Second Line, Native Renewables, and BK Rot.

“Communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis are receiving the least amount of support to address it, despite the best efforts of grassroots organizations and leaders," says Alex. “Peter and I have a shared vision to change this."

“In my work, I’ve seen that money plus time equals the best outcome,” says Peter. "So, it's not just the dollar donation, it's the fact that our team is willing to bring the concepts of best-in-class venture capital and company-building to nonprofits, striving to get the best outcomes for the organizations we serve.”

Announcing Our 2022-25 Strategic Plan

Since January, the Honnold Foundation’s staff and Board have been grappling with big picture questions to inform the next 3-5 years of our work. 

Inspired by feedback from our growing community of supporters and 40+ grantee Partners around the world, we've emerged from this period of growth with a new (but familiar) mission to guide our work, vision for the world we're striving to create, and plan to help us get there. Our 2022-25 Strategic Plan includes:

• A revised mission and vision centering our work to advance equitable solar energy access in partnership with marginalized communities

• A new Theory of Change focused on three key strategies: investing in energy resilience, empowering strong organizations and networks, and amplifying grassroots voices

• Objectives to guide our operations and programs through 2025: ensuring expanded solar energy access for marginalized communities, equipping our operations for sustainability and scale, and advancing community-centered systems change

Meet Our Spring 2022 Partners

In the past three years, the Honnold Foundation has supported 34 Partners in 20 different countries and territories, each of whom uses creative solar energy solutions to build equity, increase climate resilience, and support communities’ right to self-determination.

Now, we’re excited to share the Honnold Foundation’s Spring Partner cohort—  14 precedent-setting, community-led organizations from around the world. 

“Seeing an elder turn on the lights in their home for the first time is a powerful feeling.”

— Deb Tewa, Native Renewables Workforce & Education Manager

As you learn about our newest Partners, you may notice some familiar names. For the first time, the Honnold Foundation has made multi-year commitments to Partners who have expanded their initial projects and are working to scale regionally. This Fall, the Honnold Foundation will announce 12 additional Partners, raising our 2022 grant commitment to $2 million.

Billions of dollars are being poured into climate tech, but marginalized communities battling generations of inequity are often left out of the vast majority of these investments. At the Honnold Foundation, our goal is simple:

Power People, and the Planet

Nearly 90% of HF’s funding goes directly to our partners, and 100% of our funding comes from our donor community—people like you, who know that it takes all of us to make the world a brighter place.

An anonymous donor has stepped up with a generous matching gift: between today and Thursday, June 30th, 2022, all contributions up to $55,000 will be doubled! Every dollar you donate will go straight towards our work, and, if we meet our match, the full $110,000 will power two new grantees.

Join us: donate today and support a brighter world for years to come.

Investing in People and the Planet

By Charlotte Parker
Honnold Foundation Spring ‘22 Programs Intern

While conducting research on climate policy and impact investments, Honnold Foundation’s 2022 Spring Programs Intern, Charlotte Parker, quickly realized that while billions of dollars are being poured into research and “big bet” technological innovation, there’s a proportionately tiny amount of funding being invested in communities. In this guest blog, Charlotte summarizes a portion of her findings.

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In the Ecuadorian Amazon, a boat glides through the muddy waters of the Amazon River next to two small canoes. The boat leaves a wake as it travels at a steady clip of 14 mph; yet, save for the gentle hum of the rainforest, the river is nearly silent; there’s no roar of an engine, nor the pungent odor of diesel fuel. Instead, this boat is powered by a roof of solar panels feeding an electric motor. The photovoltaic technology in these panels has been around since the 1950s, but this application is new.

The boats, rapidly expanding into a network, are creating new transportation and trade opportunities across the Amazon. They’re also restoring something harder to find — agency, self-determination, and support that the Achuar, a community of about 6,000 people, need to sustain in order to protect the rainforest they’ve called home for thousands of years.

Kara Solar, a Honnold Foundation grantee Partner, uses the best of existing clean energy technologies to create opportunities that enable Amazonian communities to adapt and thrive. Their methods illustrate the common thread between the 34 organizations across 20 countries that we have supported since 2019: community-owned and community-centered climate solutions. 

While organizations like Kara Solar have deep and expansive impact, they often struggle to access the funding that they need to serve their communities. They aren’t alone. In spite of growing public awareness, nonprofits in the climate space are perpetually underfunded. According to a ClimateWorks 2021 report on foundation and individual philanthropic giving, less than 2% of all global philanthropic funding goes to climate-related causes. That 2% is still billions of dollars - between $6 and $10 billion in 2021, by ClimateWorks’ estimation. But it’s certainly nowhere near enough to tackle this enormous global problem, and that’s before taking into account where exactly those donations are going.

At the outset of the Honnold Foundation’s strategic planning process earlier this year, we took a close look at the climate change philanthropy landscape. We wanted to understand which focus areas are getting the funding that they need and where there are gaps that we could help to close. Soon, a clear call to action for funders of all budgets emerged: use your donations to advance the adoption of clean energy while helping communities improve the quality of their lives at the same time.

Current climate giving trends, analyzed by ClimateWorks and a follow-on report by Founders Pledge, show that the bulk of pledges focus on funding “big bet technologies.” These innovations address future climate change mitigation, often at national or global scales, and are less relevant for low-income communities that are trying to deal with the effects of climate change today. Clean electricity, mainly off-grid solar, has also emerged as a priority among philanthropic funders focused on climate change adaptation. Similar to big bet pledges, the majority of these dollars are not financing off-grid solutions for energy-poor communities, leaving the communities most vulnerable to climate change paying for fossil-fuel powered energy that causes health problems and eats up a significant portion of their monthly income. 

Meanwhile, private sector funding for climate solutions is booming. Climate tech startups raised $39.2 billion across 605 venture deals in 2021, with funding increasing about 20% each quarter of the year, according to Climate Tech VC. Let that sink in for a moment: That’s more than three times the amount of philanthropic capital invested in climate solutions each year. And an increasing amount of this funding is going towards the same types of innovation that philanthropy has been placing bets on: carbon capture, removal, and offsets. 

Photo Credit: Love for Life, Mike Kollöffel

If we’re serious about reversing climate change, someone needs to be making those bets. The private sector is well-positioned to make informed investments in innovation, especially if it drives down the cost of new technologies. But why not encourage philanthropy to do what it does best: reaching those communities that governments and the private sector have left behind? We need cleantech development, but we also need the organizations that can implement that cleantech in the right places, with community buy-in, so that these solutions actually work. Recent multibillion dollar pledges for forest conservation and indigenous sovereignty are promising, but still leave opportunities for targeted grants to enable communities to create clean, reliable energy access, increase climate resilience in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters, innovate transportation solutions like the solar boats developed by Kara Solar, and lead advocacy for pro-solar government policies and legal action against fossil fuel companies.

In 2022, the Honnold Foundation is committing $2 million in grant funding, doubling the previous year’s commitment. Three years into offering an annual open call for applications, the Honnold Foundation is enabling solutions like Kara Solar’s solar-powered boats to scale regionally. HF’s 2022 Core Partners will include an award for an indigenous-led team working with Kara Solar to adopt and expand on their vision for solar-powered river transit across the Amazon.

“What I think the Honnold Foundation does well is the human side [of climate-focused work]. So much climate funding is going towards technology projects [...] and while there’s space for developing the technologies of the future, that’s not helping the quality of human lives,” Founder Alex Honnold said in an interview last month.

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Juxtaposed against the climate funding landscape, the need to expand the Honnold Foundation’s work is more clear than ever. Whether you’re a well-established private foundation, a corporate sustainability lead, or an individual who invests in a cause that you care about personally, we invite you to join us in using philanthropy to power marginalized communities’ well-being and resilience. 

Our 2021 Solar Impact

In 2021, we supported 26 organizations across 17 countries, working with 44 communities. The common thread? Community-centered innovation catalyzed by solar energy.

A Letter from the Director of Programs

An Open Letter to the Honnold Foundation Community
by Kate Trujillo, Director of Programs

Two years ago, in January 2020, I was sitting in the Honnold Foundation office waiting for the launch of our Core Fund. For the first time, we were opening our grants to organizations around the world– any nonprofit, anywhere in the world, could apply for funding. Our plan was simple: we were looking for grassroots organizations that were using solar energy to fundamentally alter their community’s trajectory for the better. 

We were nervous. Do organizations even know who we are? Will people apply? Is there really a need for what we are doing? And, most importantly, will we reach the communities that need this support the most?

After a week, we had over 100 applications from 10 different countries. After two weeks, we had 300 and counting. By the end of the month, we received over 700 applications from over 40 countries, across every continent except Antarctica. 

We stopped being nervous and got to work.

We read every single application, knowing that, despite the overwhelming number of amazing projects, only a fraction could move forward due to our limited budget.

A few weeks later, Covid was officially declared a global pandemic, and as the world churned in turmoil, time felt like it was moving too slow and too fast all at once. But amidst the uncertainty, our Partners’ lights shined bright. Just as they had always done, each organization rose to meet the challenges facing their communities. Some took to the streets to deliver hygiene kits and basic necessities like food and clear water. Others sewed masks and built hospital beds for local clinics. Ultimately, in addition to responding to the crisis at hand, almost all of our partners were able to complete their solar projects as planned.

In 2021, we narrowed our Core Fund application’s focus to better reflect the communities we serve, and the types of projects we’re seeking to fund. Still open to communities around the world, we were hoping for 100 applications and received over 400. 

Over the past two years, we’ve supported 26 organizations across 17 countries and each one of our partners has used solar technology in a different way. The common thread? Community-owned and community-centered solutions. 

Kara Solar reimagined transportation and prevented thousands of acres of deforestation in the Amazon with a network of solar-powered canoes. Tusobola Women Initiative Network brought energy to rural health clinics in Uganda, installing solar at 7 clinics with lightning speed, dramatically improving healthcare for over 20,000 people. Coalfield Development unveiled West Virginia’s largest solar array on a nonprofit building, and provided solar industry job training to former coal miners and their families, demonstrating how renewable energy can revitalize communities struggling with extractive industrial practices. And in Indonesia, KOPPESDA installed 300 solar home systems whose solar panels and battery packs are made of up-cycled e-waste. 

Since our inaugural Core Fund launch, we’ve received over 2000 applications, and, truthfully, a huge number of these met our funding criteria. While we’ve grown dramatically, there’s still a $90 million funding gap for the solutions we could and should be funding. Communities around the world are developing their own unique solutions to address the impacts of climate change while ensuring they have access to clean energy. Now, they need our support, and your support, to make those solutions a reality.

That’s why we launched the Innovation Fund— a new fundraising campaign dedicated to helping our current and future Grantee Partners scale and expand their vital work. Over the next 12 months, we’ll raise at least $1 million in additional funding— money that will go directly towards moving the needle on energy access around the world.

Give whatever you can, however you can, so long as your gift challenges you. Meanwhile, we'll work to find values-aligned corporations and foundations that can match your gifts, dollar for dollar. It takes all of us to make this world a brighter place, and we’re excited to have you along for the ride.

Updates from Memphis Rox

Last fall, Alex Honnold and members of the Honnold Foundation team visited Memphis, TN to see the solar installation at Memphis Rox Climbing and Community Center in action.

Solar installations for community centers like this one have the power to act as beacons for their entire community. They help vital community hubs save money on their electricity bills so that they can focus on what matters— their work. They provide an important proof of concept for solar adoption regionally, showing their neighbors the versatility and sustainability of using the sun for energy. And, in a time when our climate is changing rapidly and aging energy infrastructure is failing our communities, solar energy has the power to keep the lights on.

Last week, in the wake of an ice storm, 140,000 Memphians were left without power over the weekend, and, as of February 7th, 70,000 still don’t have access to electricity. Between nightly temperatures dropping below 20 degrees, and daily temperatures rising high enough to ensure that groceries spoil, Memphians are struggling. . Meanwhile, Memphis Rox’s solar install could have and should have been able to help Rox respond to their community’s needs. But, thanks to antiquated policies enforced by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the size of the installation isn’t large enough to power the entire building off-grid. Currently, the installation offsets just a portion of Rox’s energy needs. . Memphians deserve what everyone deserves: Access to reliable refrigeration, shelter, internet, home healthcare, and the basic ability to keep their lights on.

In collaboration with Duct Tape Then Beer, we’re nearing the finish line of a project that will tell the story of energy justice in Memphis. Inevitably, the lights will come back, sooner than later. But the energy burden for residents remains, along with the dread of yet another multi-day outage.

We’ll share the full story of Memphis’s energy burden, and what you can do to help, later this Spring.