Funder Spotlight: 6 Things to Know About the JPB Foundation’s Environmental Grantmaking

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Inside Philanthropy periodically publishes quick overviews of the grantmakers that are on our radar, looking at recent developments and key details about how they operate, along with some critiques. Today, we’re taking a look at the environment program of the JPB Foundation, one of the largest green grantmakers in the country. Here’s what you need to know.

JPB is a major backer of grassroots groups fighting for climate and environmental justice

Dating practically back to its 2011 founding, JPB has issued grants that seek to address societal inequities. One of its early pushes was a $6 million effort to bring together one of the largest environmental groups in the country, one of the largest developers of affordable housing, and one of the largest climate funding intermediaries to work on energy efficiency.

JPB’s environment program, which made $100 million in grants in 2020, has increasingly focused on getting money to the front lines. It has funded prominent grassroots intermediaries like NDN Collective, The Solutions Project and the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. It provided early support to the Justice40 Accelerator, which helps front-line groups prepare to receive funds under the federal government initiative that promises that at least 40% of the overall benefits in federal investments in climate and clean energy will go to disadvantaged communities.

The New York City-based foundation also funds four major national networks of front-line groups: Climate Justice Alliance, Partnership for Working Families, People’s Action, and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (coordinated by WE ACT for Environmental Justice). Back in 2017, JPB started working with the consultancy Arabella Advisors to better understand how funders can most effectively move money to grassroots environmental justice movements. That resulted in establishing the Fund to Build Grassroots Power, which is guided by JPB and representatives of the four networks mentioned above and directs grants to their members and affiliates. 

Health and well-being of grantees is a recent focus

As most of us can attest, the past two years have been rough. To respond to the stresses of COVID, climate change, racial uprisings and more on its grantees, JPB made a “considerable number of unanticipated emergency grants” to support health and well-being of staff, according to a statement. The foundation says multi-year support has long been a priority, but that it also has taken new measures to reduce how much paperwork grantees have to process.

JPB also started an organizational health fund last year. Focused on grantees in its environment and poverty portfolios, it supports organizations going through a leadership transition, working to center racial equity or seeking to provide sabbaticals or other resources for their staff. “We anticipate growing this fund over time if it is useful to our partners,” according to the statement.

It’s transparent about the diversity of grantees, less so about its team

JPB was one of the first signers of the Climate Funders Justice Pledge, which asks philanthropies to commit a percentage of their giving to BIPOC-led climate justice groups. It has pledged only to the transparency portion—releasing what percentage of its grants go to such groups—but that number is currently listed at 31%, putting it just above the pledge’s minimum. The foundation decided to track such data across its environmental portfolio, not just for climate, and is using the numbers to guide its decisions, according to a spokesperson. On the other hand, JPB does not report demographic data on its own leadership or staff, which makes it hard to compare its ranks to those of its peers.

JPB’s website has room for improvement

While institutional funders have come a long way in this regard, there’s still a segment of big-dollar philanthropies that remain guarded about the details of their grantmaking. JPB is firmly in this camp. The foundation does maintain a website, but does not list its grants, so the only comprehensive lists for the public to review are dated tax filings—often tricky to decipher—or subscription services like Candid. Nor does the website include any news on grantmaking, staff transitions or other topics. The foundation is known for a lean staff focused on issuing grants rather than publicizing its work, but as one of the largest foundations in the United States, we’d like to see more easily accessible information about its activities. 

The foundation screens investments and has a small commitment to impact investing

JPB does use its assets to advance its mission, but only a tiny portion. Just 2% of the grantmaker’s $4.6 billion endowment (as of 2020) is committed to investments related to its three program areas, according to the foundation. Exclusion, or screening, appears to be a bigger focus. It does not have any holdings in firearms, tobacco, fossil fuels or private-prison-related enterprises, at least within investments that give the foundation direct control over screening out individual stocks and private companies, a spokesperson indicated. 

A stacked team of advisers provides environmental expertise

JPB’s 10-member board of directors includes some top nonprofit leaders: a former president of Planned Parenthood, a high-profile immigration reform advocate and the founder of Harlem Children’s Zone, the NYC-based nonprofit that combats child poverty. There’s also a Manhattan cardiologist, the co-founder of an eyewear company and two partners of a law firm that works with major hedge funds, along with three foundation staffers. In other words, a lot of perspectives are represented, but there are no members with experience focused on environmental issues. 

The foundation does maintain an advisory committee on poverty and the environment—two of JPB’s priorities—whose members have significant environmental experience. Representatives with environmentally focused experience include the CEO of the lauded energy retrofit company BlocPower, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. The committee also includes several well-known figures, including Democracy Alliance president Gara LaMarche, Obama White House advisor Cecilia Muñoz, and CNN host and activist Van Jones—who was an advisor on Green Jobs during the Obama administration.