Black Lives Matter

The Honnold Foundation’s energy access work grows from our commitment to justice. We know opportunities are not equal for everyone, but we believe that with sufficient work, a more just and equitable world is possible. We have to start with the fundamentals. Energy access is fundamental. So is the ability to live without fear of being killed by police.

Black lives matter. So, for the month of June, we're asking you to consider making a gift to one of the following Black-led organizations. To support their work is to invest in dismantling systemic racism in America.

Equal Justice Initiative

Black Visions Collective

Movement for Black Lives

Black Youth Project 100

We continue to support our nonprofit solar energy partners worldwide. We continue to seek new partners whose leaders come from the communities they serve, because we know they’re uniquely equipped to address local needs. We are committed to continuing our work within HF— to ensure justice and equity in our grant-making, in our hiring and managing, and in communicating with our stakeholders. And we know that there is still much to be done.

Black lives matter, today and every day. Until our society reflects that fundamental truth, we’ll keep working.

- Dory Trimble, Executive Director

Rebuilding After the Fire: Solar Energy in Paradise, California

In 2018, wildfires swept across Paradise, California and surrounding communities, destroying residents’ homes and the livelihoods of countless more. In response, GRID Alternatives North Valley launched a disaster recovery initiative to help low income homeowners rebuild, using their unique volunteer training model to create economic opportunity for underserved communities in the process.

Photographer Nathan Heleine visited Paradise capturing residents’ loss, recovery efforts, and undeniable resiliency as they rebuild.

Since January 2020, California has required all new homes to have solar panels as part of its mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the law marks a victory in the fight against climate change, it also means that homeowners rebuilding have one more cost to consider.

GRID North Valley’s disaster resiliency program bridges this economic divide by offering free solar energy installations to qualifying homeowners.

Evelyn Thomas (left) made a harrowing escape to survive the 2018 Camp Fire. After losing her house and much of her community to the fire, she’s starting over with a new home. With the help of Honnold Foundation funding, GRID North Valley installed a solar energy system on Evelyn’s new home as one of the first residents to benefit from GRID’s disaster recovery initiative.

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GRID Alternatives also offers skilled trades training, connecting community members with job opportunities.

Sterling Gillmer (left) graduated from GRID’s workforce training and was soon hired by GRID’s North Valley office. In addition to his work in the community with GRID, Sterling volunteers as a youth basketball coach for his kids’ team.

In addition to being a part of the solar installation team, Sterling advocates for anti-recidivism work and helps GRID connect with members of the community who are overcoming a history in the criminal justice system.

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Solar installations bring the entire community together. Volunteers, contractors, GRID staff, and installation trainees work together to mount panels, install electrical wiring, and more.

GRID’s training program prepares students with the solar installation skills needed to secure an entry level job in the industry.

The Honnold Foundation is committed to helping GRID North Valley increase disaster resiliency in Northern California.  Make a gift today to support GRID North Valley, victims of the Paradise wildfire, and future Honnold Foundation partners.

Donate Now

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Become a Honnold Foundation Partner

By Dory Trimble, Executive Director

In 2012, Alex Honnold was living in a van he couldn’t stand up in. He was a sponsored athlete, sure, and to rock climbers he was well known — but to most of the world, Alex was still just another guy who happened to be very good at a sport not many people cared about. And that year, on the drive back from a day of climbing in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon, he decided to start giving away one third of his income to support solar energy access worldwide.

Since then, a lot has changed. The Honnold Foundation continues to fund solar energy access initiatives all over the world, and Alex continues to guide the organization with his now-famous candor, clarity, and commitment to taking action. In the past seven years, we’ve supported frontline solar energy access work in Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Angola; we’ve provided grants to fund residential solar installations in suburban Sacramento and for chapter houses in the Navajo Nation. In 2019, we made our first ever multi-year grant commitment to our partners at GRID Alternatives, and we supported the North End Woodward Community Coalition’s vision for a solar-powered Detroit.

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GRID Alternatives volunteers hard at work on a solar install for a homeowner on the Navajo Nation. Photo: Irene Yee

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Rev. Joan Ross (Director of NEWCC,) Betty (homeowner and solar install beneficiary,) Alex Honnold, and Dory Trimble look on as the first solar panels are mounted on Betty’s roof. Photo: Mandy Moran

In 2020, we’re taking one more step toward a brighter world. All of us at HF are delighted to announce the launch of our first ever open call for grant proposals. Starting on January 13, 2020, we’re inviting community-based organizations engaging in solar energy access work all over the world to tell us about their impact and their aspirations. Our unrestricted grants will generally range in size from $10,000 to $100,000, and are designed to support precedent-setting solar energy projects that reduce environmental impact and improve human lives.

No matter who you are, or where you live, we believe that energy should be clean, affordable, accessible, and easy to use. We hope you’ll join us in spreading the word about this open call for proposals, and we can’t wait to meet the communities and solar leaders whose work we’ll be supporting this year.

Learn more about our open call for grant proposals here, or join our mailing list to get reminders about the application process. If you have questions about the open call, or would like to make a press inquiry, you can contact the team at grants@honnoldfoundation.org.

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Solar Energy and Social Justice

By Emily Peterson, Summer Intern 2019

Are you interested in an internship with the Honnold Foundation? We offer remote and office-based internships on a semester schedule. Follow us on social media or join the mailing list to be the first to hear about new opportunities.

At the Honnold Foundation, we believe the people most affected by climate change are those already disadvantaged in some way because of factors like race, income, and gender. Increasing energy access using solar can help change the trajectory of climate change worldwide while increasing resiliency and power on a community level. 

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The community of Adjuntas celebrating a solar-powered future for Puerto Rico. Photo by Ruben Salgado Escudero

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Typically, regions that have boomed economically have done so at a high environmental cost: burning coal to power factories, clearcutting forests and draining wetlands to build homes and shopping centers, and using gasoline to fuel cars. In areas that have not undergone this economic boom, an opportunity exists to change the parallel relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. In Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, the Honnold Foundation is partnering with Casa Pueblo, a community-based organization focused on environmental conservation and sustainable development, to create a community-owned solar microgrid.

Powered by solar energy since 1999, Casa Pueblo understands the power of solar to drive economic and environmental change. In Adjuntas, businesses typically spend about a third of their operational costs on energy. “Energy independence means that people will be able to produce their own energy for their own productive activities… instead of paying someone else” says Arturo Massol-Deyá, Associate Director of Casa Pueblo. “And when they’re doing that, we’re promoting economic activation. Now we can talk about dealing with poverty levels in the area… And the beauty of this is that instead of us generating greenhouse gases and hurting nature that eventually pays back with hurricanes or droughts or other issues related to climate change, now we can reduce our ecological footprint.” 

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A volunteer installer at work on a GRID Alternatives project in the Navajo Nation. Photo by Irene Yee.

For longtime Honnold Foundation partner GRID Alternatives, solar education also has measurable social justice implications. In addition to installing solar on homes to reduce energy costs and dependence on electric utilities, the organization teaches community members how to install and repair solar panels themselves. A similar model is in the works with a new Foundation partner, the North End Woodward Community Coalition (NEWCC) in Detroit. Long after the initial solar panels are installed, members of these communities have technical skills that can continue to make their neighborhoods more self-sufficient and environmentally resilient. 

At the Honnold Foundation, we believe that solar energy can create a more equitable world– by increasing the economic resiliency of marginalized communities, supporting education and health for communities of color, and creating inexpensive power for homes who wouldn’t be able to pay for electricity otherwise. Increasing solar energy access is a powerful tool to address both environmental and social justice issues, and the Honnold Foundation partners with organizations who utilize solar to its full potential.  

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