When Global Greengrants Fund’s senior donor relations manager Jennifer Adams Kurr decided to move back to her home state – Minnesota, she proposed the idea of continuing her work on behalf of Global Greengrants Fund in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
“Minnesota is very philanthropically minded and has a great emphasis on protecting the environment, so it only made sense to strengthen our connection to Minnesota,” says Adams Kurr. “And, becoming a member of the Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) is a great way to start connecting.”
So, please welcome Global Greengrants Fund as the newest MCF member.
Global Greengrants Fund describes itself as “bridging the gap between those who can offer financial support and grassroots groups in developing countries that can make effective use of that support.”
Because it is so difficult for grantmakers to identify grassroots groups in remote areas, transfer funds and then monitor grantee progress, international grassroots grantmaking is challenging to say the least. To navigate internationally, Global Greengrants Fund has built a network of 120 volunteer advisors around the world that enable the organization to capitalize on the expertise of the people who know firsthand where the most urgent and promising work is happening and to facilitate collaboration across language and cultural barriers.
Global Greengrants Fund makes grants typically ranging from $500 to $5,000 to grassroots groups in some of the world’s most impoverished places where other sources of support often are not available. Since awarding its first grant in 1993, Global Greengrants Fund has made more than 5,000 grants to groups in 120 countries.
Adams Kurr is looking forward to connecting with the others doing like-minded work here in Minnesota. In particular, she plans to be involved in the programs of MCF’s Global Funders Network and hopes to explore partnerships with Headwaters Foundation for Justice, whose work is similar to Global Greengrants Fund’s’ – just on a local scale.
Global Greengrants already has a well-established partnership with locally based Aveda. Their work together goes back 13 years; most recently, Global Greengrants has served as a global partner for the past three years of Aveda’s Earth Month initiative. “I’m looking forward to strengthening our work with Aveda,” Adams Kurr says. “We’ve had a great partnership for many years.”
Adams Kurr will also work to connect with Minnesota companies that are part of 1% for the Planet, a new partnership for Global Greengrants. 1% for the Planet is an alliance of businesses that donate at least one percent of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.
No stranger to the work of grantmaker member organizations, Global Greengrants Fund is a leader with the national Council on Foundations (COF). Global Greengrants founder and president emeritus Chet Tchozewski currently serves on the COF board of directors and chairs COF’s Global Philanthropy Committee.
– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate
