Funding Areas
ADDRESSING LOCAL ISSUES WITH GLOBAL IMPACT
How do we preserve and restore a healthy ecosystem that embraces bears and bobcats, eagles and condors, people and domestic animals, whales and shellfish? What additional efforts will lead to a healthy, sustainable balance within our urban and rural environments and with nature?
The recognition that human activities touch every inch of the Earth requires us to carefully rethink our relationship with our environment. We are interested in funding efforts that address critical environmental issues in the Santa Barbara area – particularly when those issues are related to global environmental concerns and when local solutions can inform efforts elsewhere.
Starting in 2020, we anticipate increasing our investment in two critical areas, climate change and the conservation of the Gaviota Coast.
Climate Change
Our region has made some meaningful initial steps in addressing climate change. Still, locally and globally, the road ahead is long and the time for change is short. We will follow a funding strategy that looks to support thoughtful, comprehensive efforts that:
- Reduce our carbon footprint through, among other things, facilitating the transition toward a carbon free energy system.
- Support carbon capture, particularly through regenerative agriculture.
- Acknowledge the link between climate change and social justice and work to make progress in both.
- Promote climate change resilience.
While our focus remains the Santa Barbara South Coast, we recognize that this issue in particular is difficult to address in a narrow geographic area. We are open to funding projects that are regional in nature and those that have a demonstrated link between State and Federal policy and our community.
The Gaviota Coast
The Gaviota Coast is a unique and important place for land conservation. We believe there is a window of opportunity over the next decade to make meaningful investments to preserve essential elements of this special coastline and we recognize that there are opportunities to do that in a way that also supports progress in addressing climate change. We will look to support conservation projects and policies that:
- Preserve and improve important wildlife habitat and ecological function.
- Promote viable agricultural models that support both families and conservation.
- Improve recreational access in alignment with conservation goals.
While we hope that our funding levels can be meaningful, we recognize that actual land acquisition, the purchase of conservation easements, and the execution of major renovation projects may be beyond our grant making capacity. While we may certainly play a part in specific campaigns, we will also look to make investments in other ways where more limited funds in the earlier phases of these efforts can make a difference in the outcome. We may also be willing to use mission related investing as a means to support projects that have the capacity to generate revenue and return capital to the Foundation.