Captain Planet Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Captain Planet Foundation is dedicated to the environmental education of children in all aspects of their lives—schools, communities, and at home.
IP TAKE: The Captain Planet Foundation unquestionably has an environmental education focus, but it also supports environmental education programs that rigorously engage in science. Its grant amounts are not large, but can go far at smaller schools.
This foundation likes to partner and work collaboratively with its grantees. So, projects that are seeking extended support in the form of collaboration should take note of this funder. The Captain Planet Foundation also seeks projects that are particularly innovative in their science teaching approach, so don’t hesitate to apply if your work is more out of the box, especially if it’s hands on, since the foundation believes the best research is through play. However, your education work needs to be backed by the latest in pedagogical methodologies to secure funding.
The Captain Planet Foundation has been reevaluating and reimagining its grants program and invites grantseekers to check back “for new opportunities to support your youth-led environmental solutions.”
PROFILE: The Captain Planet Foundation seeks "to give the next generation of environmental stewards an active understanding and love for the natural world in which they live." Co-created by CNN founder Ted Turner, Captain Planet and the Planeteers was a 1990-1993 cartoon series portraying five superheroes out to save the Earth. A sequel series ran until 1996. Inspired by the vision of the series, Turner founded the Captain Planet Foundation (CPF) in 1991. It is still going strong today, now chaired by his daughter Laura Turner Seydel. The Atlanta-based foundation funds hands-on, local environmental improvement projects for youth and K-12 students. Its grants support environmental and STEM education.
Grants for STEM Education
Captain Planet funds science education through three programs. Its Project Learning Garden program "provides schools with outdoor learning laboratories" and focuses on innovative project-based learning. Its Project Hero program is a "web-based learning system that guides young people on a series of “Quests”" that help students learn how to become active solution seekers to various environmental problems. Ultimately, the Captain Planet Foundation seeks to foster the growth of environmentally-minded citizens and leaders, and in its history of giving shows substantial support of programs rigorously and actively using science and technology.
Grants range from $1,000 to $2,500. Recent Captain Planet Foundation grants have supported a wide range of innovative initiatives that rigorously integrate science education and STEM learning, all with an eye toward experiential, project-based, and place-based environmental education (those that include leadership building are also valued). A small sampling of recent awards includes support for projects focused on science in the Ozarks; investigation of urban ponds; construction of an aquaponics system; and a wetlands' renewable energy expansion project.
Grants for Environmental Conservation
ecoSolution grants “are intended to support solution-oriented, youth-led projects that result in real environmental outcomes.” Grant amounts range from $500-$2,500. Past grantees include the Junior Naturalist program at Paul Banks Elementary School in Homer, Alaska to “support the production of a local field guide”; the High School for Environmental Studies in New York City “to develop and use hand-held air quality sensors and refurbished cell phones to aircast data to monitor building emissions in their community”; and the Balboa Magnet School in Northridge, California to make its “campus a suitable pollinator habitat for native bees.” View more past ecoSolution grantees here.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation occasionally awards non-program specific grants, and these tend to reach higher dollar amounts than those channeled through a dedicated program. Past grantees include $25,000 for New York Academy of Sciences to support its mathematics program, and $10,893 for Cool the Earth to address climate change.
Captain Planet Foundation grants are awarded twice annually. Grant seekers can begin the process on the foundation's application page; grant seekers should also periodically checking the foundation's calls for proposals. It accepts international proposals by invitation only.
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