Tess Beem's Contact Details

Tess Beem's Company Details

New England Grassroots Environment Fund

Newmarket, NH, US • 5 - 9 Employees
Non-Profit

Founded over 21 years ago by the philanthropic community to support deeper grassroots organizing and tangible local projects, the Grassroots Fund plays an integral role in both supporting local action and connecting and sharing trends between grassroots groups, ‘grasstop' non profit colleagues and funding partners. Our participatory grantmaking and capacity building serve as a multiplier effect for our partners, helping to diffuse dollars/resources to and across vetted, impactful local projects, not easily supported (or even discovered) by traditional funding models while leveraging the process to deepen network connections. The Fund is a unique organization directly supporting unincorporated, community volunteer-driven projects across New England. Around 70% of the Grassroots Fund's annual giving is to groups that are ad hoc (i.e. no formal 501(c)3 status or established fiscal sponsor). These frontline groups often have ‘budgets' under $20,000, rely heavily on volunteer input and serve as a hub for local ideas and commitment. Our grantee network has over 2,200 unique groups, which work across the spectrum of environmental and social justice issues in close to 65% of New England's cities and towns. Grassroots groups' flexible structures - often not set in detailed strategic plans or ‘limiting' budgets - allow for experimenting and innovation, with direct feedback from neighbors. With the introduction of guiding values in 2016, the Grassroots Fund has (re-)committed to equity as a core value and is co-creating with on-the-ground groups as we pilot approaches and processes that allow for the participation of a broad range of ‘lived experiences' (based on race, socio-economic status, gender, etc.). We are introducing participatory decision-making models both in our grantmaking programs, as well as in our peer-to-peer resource sharing through the RootSkills Training Series.