Dear Waverley Community,
As we enter 2025, the climate emergency continues to reshape our world, bringing profound challenges to communities everywhere. The devastation we are experiencing underscores the critical need for bold action. In these difficult times, your leadership has stood as a beacon of resilience, determination, and hope.
Through the work of our partners like you, communities are not just enduring but leading the way toward a future that is healthier, more just, and less polluted.
Thank you for your unwavering leadership and for driving the change our world needs. Together, we are building a legacy of impact that will endure for generations.
2024 Highlights
This year, we supported communities in driving solutions to the climate emergency. Guided by our values—imagination, collaboration, inspiration, and joy—we invested in leaders and ideas creating lasting change and transforming challenges into opportunities:
Grants and Investments: We approved over $330 million in grants to nearly 100 organizations in 2024.
Focus Areas: We focused our strategy on building better food systems and expanding access to clean energy.
Bringing People Together: We gathered 225 leaders from 22 countries for a convening in Mexico City. It was an opportunity to connect, learn from each other, and spark new ideas.
Making Our Investments Count
We believe that strategic, well-placed funding can set big things in motion. This year, the partners and communities we supported magnified our collective impact by catalysing an additional $1.7 billion in follow-on funding. It’s a testament to their vision, creativity, and hard work. Here are a few examples:
Community Builders of Color Coalition (via African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs):
Our $5 million grant helped the Coalition secure a $1.5 billion award from the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This funding will make clean energy affordable for low-income communities and help build local wealth.Bullard Center’s Solar for All Program:
In Texas, the Bullard Center turned a $4 million grant from Waverley into $156 million in federal funding. This will bring solar energy to families who need it most, cutting energy bills and creating a cleaner future.Intertribal Agricultural Council:
With our $4 million grant, IAC hired a grant writer, unlocking $42.5 million to create the first Intertribal Food Business Center. This center will support Indigenous communities across the U.S. with tools to grow food sovereignty and sustainability.
What We're Learning
Growth has come with new lessons. As our team has expanded, we’ve worked to improve how we show up for partners—making space to listen, learn, and adapt. We’ve also heard the call for more support around communication, convening, and capacity-strengthening. We’re committed to meeting these needs and continuing to learn alongside our partners.
Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond
Next year, we’re staying focused on what works: supporting communities as they lead the charge for climate solutions. Whether it’s renewable energy, sustainable farming, or stronger local leadership, we’re helping people grow solutions that work for them—and inspire others to join.
With major moments like COP30 in Brazil on the horizon, we’ll continue to back climate justice, Indigenous leadership, and community-led solutions. When people on the ground lead, real change happens.
Our Commitment
As a spend-down foundation, we have a clear goal: to use our resources now to create lasting impact. In 2025, we’ll keep working to build up community scale renewable energy, strengthen food systems, and support the people doing the work that matters most.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we’re showing what’s possible when we come together to tackle the world's big challenges. The solutions are already here—in communities!
With gratitude and hope,
Jared Blumenfeld
President, Waverley Street Foundation