Photo courtesy of GreenRoots

Our 5-year Vision

From left to right: Sulma Arias, Lauren Jacobs, Peggy Smith, KD Chavez; the four national network leaders that guide the Fund’s strategy and vision.

In five years, the Fund to Build Grassroots Power will be a permanent part of the movement infrastructure, where leaders are supported holistically, organizations can respond strategically to community needs, and philanthropy trusts that it can and should invest in grassroots power-building for lasting social change.

In 2018, The JPB Foundation established the Fund to Build Grassroots Power, a project of the Windward Fund, to help accelerate a just transition from an extractive to a regenerative economy by strengthening, growing, and supporting four national networks of grassroots environmental justice organizations: the Climate Justice Alliance, the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (coordinated by WE ACT for Environmental Justice), the People’s Action Institute, and PowerSwitch Action (formerly Partnership for Working Families). These networks play a critical role in strengthening and connecting grassroots organizations to advance the environmental and climate justice movements. The fund makes grants to the members and affiliates of these networks to help those organizations build their capacity and power.

Sheheryar Kaoosji, Executive Director

Warehouse Worker Resource Center

“We built a committee of workers to hold employers accountable, to get them to change their practices, provide water and extra breaks for those working on the tarmac where it’s over 120 degrees. …Not a lot of funders are okay with organizing, the Fund’s focus on power building is rare.”

The Fund has committed to the following core values to guide its work:

Inclusivity

We seek to shift power away from the funder and closer to communities working on solutions to environmental and climate justice challenges. To do so, we engage representatives of grassroots networks who sit on our advisory board to lead in determining the fund’s priorities, identifying grantees, and directing resources.
Responsiveness

Grantees may use our resources flexibly to address their true needs, and we manage an efficient grantmaking process so communities can access resources in a timely manner to address pressing challenges and opportunities.
Efficiency

We try to minimize the burden the applicant organizations face during the application and reporting processes so community members can spend less time trying to access funding and more time on their important work. We also try to balance the time our advisory board members spend guiding the fund’s strategy and decision-making with the need for authentic input from field leaders.
Transparency

We seek to be accountable to the communities we serve and we solicit frequent input on how our operations affect those communities. We take time to reflect and adapt so those communities truly lead us.

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Meet our Executive Director

Denise Padín Collazo (she/ella)

I'm Denise Collazo, a grassroots organizer with a passion for empowering communities. I grew up inspired by my grandmother who immigrated from Puerto Rico with six kids in tow. Her journey, and the struggles of countless others like her, fueled my own commitment to social justice.

After college at Harvard, where I led student movements for diversity and equity, I dove headfirst into community organizing. For over 25 years, I've been a key player at Faith in Action, a national network empowering faith and spiritual communities. I've had the honor of working alongside thousands of incredible leaders, fighting for racial and economic justice.

Some of my proudest moments include leading the successful "No on 3" campaign in Florida and running Faith in Action's national voter engagement program. These experiences taught me the power of grassroots mobilization and the importance of every vote.

Hurricane Maria hit close to home, devastating Puerto Rico and reigniting my connection to the island. I'm now proud to call Puerto Rico home, where I continue to work with inspiring leaders and advocate for a more just and equitable future.

I'm also the author of "Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines of Change." It's a love letter to Latina leaders, reminding them of their incredible power and the vital role they play in shaping our world.

When I'm not organizing or writing, I love spending time with my partner Julio, my daughter Elisa, and my granddaughter Leyla. Together, we find joy in the simple things, like good food, good company, and the fight for a better world.

Schedule a chat with Denise

Connect with Denise on LinkedIn

Governance

As a fund that practices participatory grantmaking, the Fund to Build Grassroots Power relies on an advisory board and a steering committee, each composed of As a fund that practices participatory grantmaking, the Fund to Build Grassroots Power relies on an advisory council and executive committee comprised of grassroots experts and leaders in the environmental and climate justice field.

The Fund’s executive committee provides strategic guidance on grantmaking priorities and decisions, ensuring the Fund to Build Grassroots Power responds to network members’ needs.

The Fund’s advisory council guides the Fund’s overall grant-making strategy and processes and recommends grant awards to the Fund’s fiscal sponsor, Windward Fund. The advisory council comprises members of the four national networks of grassroots environmental justice organizations the fund supports serve on the advisory board.

Each network represented on the advisory board is advancing environmental justice by approaching environmental and climate justice through an intersectional lens, tackling environmental health, democracy, housing, community development, and other issues. Each network supports a range of grassroots organizations, and the Fund’s grantees are selected from our founding networks.

The Executive Committee includes:

Chair, Domenico Romero, People’s Action Institute
KD Chavez, Climate Justice Alliance
Ryan Strode, Crown Family Philanthropies

The Advisory Council includes:

Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Jumana Vasi, Director, Great Lakes Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program, The Minneapolis Foundation
Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Christina Rosales, Housing and Land Justice Director, PowerSwitch Action
Dana Bourland, Co-Founder, Soils and Vessels
Sophia Cheng, Climate Justice Campaign Director, People’s Action Institute

Fiscal Sponsor

Windward Fund

The Windward Fund is the Fund to Build Grassroots Power’s fiscal sponsor. The Windward Fund provides the Fund to Build Grassroots Power with administrative services, such as financial, legal, and management services. As a 501(c)(3) public charity, Windward supports efforts to address climate change and other environmental issues.