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Famed rock climber Alex Honnold's solar-focused foundation on Tuesday is unveiling dozens of global partners across five continents that will receive a combined $11 million.
Why it matters: It's the largest outlay in the group's history, and the Honnold Foundation's model differs from many grant-makers by avoiding creation of an endowment.
Zoom out: A wide network of locally led efforts helps communities on the front lines of climate change, the group argues.
- "Geopolitical realities may prevent grid-scale renewable energy from ever reaching nearly one billion people on the planet, while centralized infrastructure is often more vulnerable to climate shocks and natural disasters," executive director Emily Teitsworth said via email.
Zoom in: The 75 new or continuing partners in the fall slate will use solar for residences, irrigation, education, health clinics and more.
Here's a small snapshot, via the foundation's materials, of the 48 revealed today...
- Cambodian Center for Human Rights — Solar access to protect the rights and livelihoods of coastal fishing communities.
- Promise for the North — Building solar-powered greenhouses in remote Arctic Indigenous communities to help achieve food sovereignty.
- Hopi Utilities Corp. — Building tribally owned solar infrastructure, workforce training, and microgrids to power homes and water systems across the Hopi Reservation in Arizona.
- Fundación Iguaraya — Installing solar systems to process fruit and irrigate crops, working with 27 Afro-descendant and Indigenous families in La Guajira, Colombia.
State of play: The foundation aims to deploy funds with "speed and urgency," per Teitsworth.
- Honnold devotes a third of his yearly income to offset operating expenses, and the team raises funds for partner projects yearly.
The bottom line: The model is especially important amid U.S. cuts to development finance, Teitsworth said.
- "[The Honnold Foundation] is an example of a new, inspiring wave of philanthropic giving: one that places trust, agency, and ownership in the hands of communities — and catalyzing others to do the same."
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