Resources that Make Climate Justice Work
We have heard it all before: “well, if we had more funding, we would do x” or “we had a lot of momentum going on this project, but it was only funded for a year, so we have to focus on other priorities.” In the eleven years I’ve spent in the climate justice movement space, I have grown tired of hearing this common refrain.
In the philanthropic space, the conversations amongst progressive funders and funder organizers were similar. These conversations included conference workshops, hours-long sessions and working groups with slightly modified configurations of the same folks jumping between Zoom calls and various retreat centers around the country.
This is not to say that those gatherings were not productive. I did participate in some convenings that were and still are deep, and meaningful. There are funders doing the work of engaging in intentional solidarity with frontline organizers on the ground. They are funding way above the five percent threshold, spending down their endowments and experimenting with creative ways to get work funded –all while living under oppressive conditions upheld by governmental and private sectors.
One cannot help but be inspired by those funders whose praxis is equitable wealth redistribution and who are organizing to create the conditions where philanthropy will no longer be needed in its current form. And still, progress is ultimately a drop in the bucket given what the frontlines are up against. This is not a new revelation. In the past four years, I along with countless others have written about it here, and here, and here.
In the 2023 Challenging the Power of Billionaire Philanthropy in the Climate Funding Space campaign, the NCRP Climate Justice and Just Transition team turned its lens on climate focused funder intermediaries with the purpose of showcasing how the sector can become more frontline accountable. It is more than apparent by now that we need all hands on deck if we are going to have any chance at mitigating the worst of the climate crisis.
Therefore, this piece is not going to focus on the reasons why the frontlines need more and longer-term resourcing. I will not be spending a lot of time detailing the conditions that led us to this moment of predictable funder backlash and retention. There are plenty of pieces lifting up the problems. Here are a few to read if you are interested. Instead, I want to focus on the intermediary funders who are getting it right, with the intention of showcasing some tangible solutions for other funders working to be more accountable to frontline grassroots communities.
True Frontline Accountability
In August 2025, I had the immense pleasure of speaking with Gloria Walton, the President and CEO