WestWind Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This small, Virginia-based foundation predominately supports U.S.-based environmental conservation groups and organizations that deliver reproductive services and advocate for reproductive health rights in the developing world. Its environmental grantmaking funds projects to combat climate change, with emphasis on the American South and stopping new coal plants. It focuses its reproductive health grants on promoting, protecting, and advancing reproductive health and rights, and funding sex education programs across the United States. WestWind's focus abroad includes developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
IP TAKE: This funder tends to favor groups with which it has worked in the past, making it difficult for newcomers to gain a foothold. That said, WestWind is on the lookout for organizations that have the capacity to have a significant impact on its target beneficiary populations., which means it likes to fund larger organizations with the capacity to scale with support. Grant seekers should note that WestWind seeks projects that consist of both service delivery and national policy advocacy, not one or the other. Its LOI process appears to be on hold for the foreseeable future, so it is no longer accessible.
PROFILE: Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the WestWind Foundation seeks to "fight climate change and improve access to reproductive health care." It was founded by Edward and Janet Miller with wealth derived from the former’s Caribbean-focused, express shipping company. The foundation evenly invests in Reproductive Health and Rights and the Environment. WestWind also funds through a loosely defined Building Better Communities program.
Grants for Global Health, Public Health, Women and Girls
Its Reproductive Health and Rights program funds groups that promote, protect, and advance reproductive health and rights. The foundation allocates a large portion of this funding to sex education programs, as such, its target beneficiary populations are young and very young adolescents. Most of its grantmaking remains domestic, and funds large U.S. organizations that address abortion and reproductive health rights, such as Planned Parenthood (of America), NARAL, RH Reality Check, and the Feminist Majority Foundation, among others. WestWind also supports reproductive health projects in developing countries, specifically the Caribbean and Latin America. This program prioritizes projects that provide direct, on-the-ground services; advocate for better access to reproductive health services, and promote education and training and other proactive strategies to address reproductive health issues. In the past, WestWind has supported projects that address emergency contraception, adolescent sexuality education and empowerment, maternal mortality, and post-abortion care. To learn more about the types of organizations the foundation supports, explore its Recent Grants webpage.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
WestWind conducts grantmaking for climate change through its Environment program, which exclusively focuses on the climate. The foundation takes a broad approach to its climate change grantmaking, preferring to support non-profit organizations across the Southeast United States in order to "build public support for immediate action on climate change." While it considers a variety of strategies, the foundation prioritizes promoting "state and/or regional collaborative action through creative partnerships with business; launch[ing] grassroots campaigns and educational efforts, particularly to stop the construction of new coal-fired power plants; or enabl[ing] state and/or local government action by working with local leaders."
Past grantees include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Alaska Center for the Environment, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and national groups like Earthjustice and Greenpeace. See more climate change grantees here to understand what kinds of organizations and work the foundation funds.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
While it is not a formal grants program in the way in which the foundation’s reproductive health and environment programs are, WestWind’s Building Better Communities program provides a vehicle for board members to support their personal philanthropic interests. Grants through this program diverge from the foundation’s established funding priorities and include support for WVTF/National Public Radio, Building Goodness Foundation, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation. To learn more about the types of organizations the foundation board supports, explore its Recent Grants webpage.
Important Grant Details:
WestWind grants range from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000. The foundation generally offers operating support but also funds specific projects. WestWind grantees cannot simply be service providers. The foundation prioritizes organizations that not only deliver crucial services, but also engage education, advocacy, or policy work. To get a better idea about the types of organizations the foundation supports, explore its Recent Grants webpage.
Grant seekers should check with the foundation often, as the inquiry process is subject to change.
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