A Message from the Founder and Board Chair
To the Honnold Foundation community:
We’re writing to inform you that, after an impressive tenure, Dory Trimble will be stepping down from her role as Executive Director in the summer of 2021. We are grateful for Dory giving the Honnold Foundation team ample time to launch a thorough search for our new Executive; it’s yet another demonstration of her commitment to HF’s impact and vision for a brighter world.
Dory has been with the Honnold Foundation for four years, three of them as the Executive Director, and in that time has transformed the organization immeasurably. Under her leadership, we’ve grown from little more than a fledging passion project to a stable non-profit distributing more than $1 million in grants in 2020. Dory lived and breathed HF’s mission of promoting solar energy to create a more equitable world. She put the needs of our grant partners first. She pushed all of us to center social justice and the needs of communities in all of our work.
After the initial impact of Dory’s news and the emotions that followed, we’ve emerged from our grieving process resolute and hopeful for the future. We have a strong and talented staff team who are dedicated to carrying on HF’s work and seeing us through this transition. We have the unique opportunity to find a new Executive who can help HF thrive in new and interesting ways.
Due to Dory’s determined and successful fundraising and the dedication of our Board of Directors, the Honnold Foundation is in a strong financial position—in fact, its strongest financial position ever—and the leadership transition process is already underway. Our transition committee, composed of both board and staff representatives, has begun working directly with the talented team at Schaffer&Combs, who will be leading the search for HF’s next visionary leader.
In the coming months, we’ll take time to reflect on the growth HF experienced under Dory’s leadership and how we might want to evolve in the years ahead. Some of that is going to depend on the next Executive’s background and vision. But, no doubt, we will remain true to our original purpose: to advance solar energy to improve real people’s lives in underserved and under-resourced communities worldwide.
We also know that our work is just getting started, and we’re determined as ever to accelerate our growth and impact, building on the incredible foundation Dory has created.
With optimism,
Alex Honnold & Peter Martin
A Message from the Executive Director
Hi all,
I’m writing today to share some big news: in the summer of 2021, I’ll be transitioning out of my role as Executive Director of the Honnold Foundation. It’s been an adventure and a privilege to lead HF to its current success, and I can’t wait to see where we go next.
I’m grateful to the Honnold Foundation staff, whose curiosity, competence, and daily dedication to the greater good have made leading this team such a pleasure. I’m grateful to our founder Alex, for his unwavering commitment to making the Honnold Foundation the best organization it can possibly be, and for his trust in my leadership. And I’m grateful to you, our broader community, for believing in HF’s vision for energy access and social equity, and for your steady commitment to powering our global impact.
But most of all, I’m grateful to our partners — the organizations and community leaders whose values, priorities, and lived experiences are at the core of HF’s work. Without our partners’ deep knowledge of their own communities, and their commitment to building a brighter world, none of this would be possible. To the grassroots visionaries who have shown me what it means to truly do good, for the people who need it most: thank you.
Along with this gratitude, I am wildly optimistic for the global impact that the Honnold Foundation will have in the years to come, with a new Executive Director at the helm. In the meantime, I will manage this leadership transition with the same energy I've always brought to HF: with a deep dedication to our partners, empowerment for our team, and accountability to our community.
Thank you for your time, your support, and your commitment to building a brighter, more equitable world for all of us. It has been an honor.
Onward,
Dory Trimble
