The Conservation Alliance Launches 2022 Confluence Program to Fund Historically Racially Excluded Groups Working to Conserve the Outdoors

September 13, 2022

Groups will be awarded $100,000 to fund community efforts over the next two years

Bend, ORE—September 13, 2022/OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – The Conservation Alliance (TCA), the leading conservation group organizing businesses to protect land and water, is excited to announce the launch of the Confluence Program for 2022. TCA will award four multi-year grants to groups led by Asian, Black, Brown, Hispanic, Indigenous, Latin American, or additional communities who identify as people of color working to protect a natural place. Each grantee will receive $50,000 in 2022 and another $50,000 in 2023 for their efforts to protect or conserve land and/or water to foster a planet where natural places, wildlife and people can thrive together.

“Great things happen when a diverse coalition of voices and perspectives come together to champion solutions that balance the best interests of land and water, wildlife and people,” said Josie Norris, grant program director, TCA. “Our network of partners includes few groups representing historically racially excluded people and it’s critical that we intentionally connect with these groups for the protection of natural places.”

The program name “Confluence” represents the merging of private businesses making up the 270-member network and the diversity of organizations doing conservation work. Under the guidelines of the Confluence Program, a committee of seven advisory members will review proposals and select grantees by the end of 2022. To qualify for funding, groups and projects must meet the following criteria:

1. Applying groups must self-identify as led by historically racially excluded people (Asian, Black, Brown, Hispanic, Indigenous, Latin American, or additional communities who identify as people of color). Applications from organizations working with mixed status immigrant families are welcome.
2. Projects must protect or conserve land and/or water in their efforts to foster a planet where natural places, wildlife, and people can thrive together.
3. Projects must be able to demonstrate how they are centering solutions led by impacted communities.
4. Group should be less likely to receive money from mainstream funders, with a maximum organizational operating budget of $500,000.

“People of color are leading incredible work across the country to protect natural spaces that are often under the radar from mainstream funders,” said Janelle Hillhouse, Confluence Committee co-chair and program officer at REI Cooperative Action Fund. “As a result, this year’s advisory committee is prioritizing conservation groups led by people of color with annual revenues of less than $500,000. We’re excited to be a part of a program helping to create a more vibrant and inclusive conservation movement led by impacted communities.”

New to the program this year, TCA will prioritize projects that include an intersectional approach to conservation that addresses the social and environmental needs of a community; nearby nature initiatives that are accessible by public transportation; projects where communities come together to honor ancestral lands; and groups working in collaboration with others to protect land or water.

“Everyone deserves the right to clean air and water. Our goal for the Confluence Program is to leverage the strengths of this conservation movement and ensure that diverse voices in the communities who are doing the work are not only being heard but are also being included and invested in with everyone else,” said Shoren Brown, interim executive director, TCA.

The application period for the Confluence Programs opens on September 13, 2022. To learn more about the grant program or to apply, please visit: http://www.conservationalliance.com/confluence/

About The Conservation Alliance:

The Conservation Alliance is an organization of 270 like-minded businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots environmental organizations and their efforts to protect wild places where outdoor enthusiasts recreate. Alliance funds have played a key role in protecting rivers, trails, wildlands, and climbing areas throughout North America. Membership in the Alliance is open to all companies who care about protecting our most threatened wild places for habitat and outdoor recreation. Since 1989, we have contributed more than $27,370,000 in grants to conservation organizations whose collective efforts have helped protect 73 million acres of land and 3,580 miles of rivers; stop or remove 37 dams; acquire 21 climbing areas; and designate five marine reserves. For complete information about The Conservation Alliance, visit www.conservationalliance.com.