EXECUTIVE LETTER

As we reflect on 2023, we are excited to share the profound impact of our collective efforts in this year’s annual report. With your invaluable support, the Sierra Club Foundation continues to gain ground toward creating a sustainable, equitable world for all of us.

Last year was a pivotal moment in that fight. From our successful investments in energy justice projects to our efforts in strengthening the bond between people and nature, the Foundation is at the forefront of catalyzing positive change.

Backed by the Foundation’s funding, the Sierra Club and its supporters have been on the ground, mobilizing communities to take full advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime climate investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy.

2023 was also a monumental year for land and water protection, with more than 12.5 million acres of land gaining federal protection. This brought us closer to fulfilling President Biden’s 30x30 pledge to preserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands, freshwaters, and ocean areas by 2030. Sierra Club worked alongside Tribal leaders and local activists to safeguard sacred lands against extractive mining. These achievements and more are a testament to what we can accomplish together.

Our efforts in the next decade will be crucial if we are to avoid climate catastrophe. We urgently need to shift capital from the exploitative fossil fuel economy to a restorative, renewable energy economy. Through the Shifting Trillions initiative, the Sierra Club Foundation is transforming energy finance as an investor, active asset owner, and philanthropic thought leader.

Together, we actively support the flourishing of all communities and wildlife. Thank you for your unwavering partnership.

In Solidarity,

Dan and Robin

Dan Chu, smiling in front of a wall of green plants.

Dan Chu
Executive Director

(he/him)

Robin Mann smiling, outdoors with a blue sky and treetops behind her.

Robin Mann
Board Chair

(she/her)

OUR SIERRA CLUB CONNECTION

The Sierra Club Foundation (“Foundation”) is a 501(c)(3) public charity governed by an independent board of directors and is the fiscal sponsor of the charitable programs of the Sierra Club, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The Foundation uses a pre-approved grant fiscal sponsorship model, which creates a grantor (Foundation) – grantee (Sierra Club) relationship through which the Foundation maintains independent oversight, control, and discretion/variance power over all funds raised and granted for charitable purposes as required by law. The Sierra Club Foundation uses tax deductible contributions to make grants to the Sierra Club and other organizations for scientific, educational, literary, non-partisan research, organizing, advocacy, litigation, and communications programs that further our goals. Sierra Club’s extensive legislative lobbying and political advocacy are funded separately by non-tax deductible contributions made directly to the Sierra Club.

INVESTMENT IMPACT

Awarded over

in Grants

$0m

Supported

Non-Profit Organizations

SEE ALL 2023 GRANTS

Utilized

of Total Expenses for Direct Program Support

SEE OUR FINANCIALS

Energy Transformation

The Sierra Club Foundation actively invests in climate solutions to speed up the shift to a clean energy economy that better serves people and nature. Thanks to our concerted effort, wind and solar energy are projected to surpass energy from coal next year, bringing us even closer to 100 percent clean energy by 2035. From retiring coal plants to powering the green energy revolution in rural America, the Sierra Club Foundation’s investments are moving us all toward a brighter, healthier future.

GAINING GROUND

Empowering Communities

After years of grassroots advocacy by the Sierra Club and allies, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, two historic investments in clean energy, environmental justice, and climate action. Billions of federal dollars are available for good-paying, clean energy jobs and reducing carbon emissions, but only if state and local governments take full advantage.

Through its IRA Community Advocates program, nearly every Sierra Club state chapter is building teams of volunteers trained in supporting the full and equitable implementation of the IRA. In November 2023, the Community Advocates Program launched with more than 500 people attending a virtual kick-off event and hundreds more committing to join the program.

After the launch, from November to January, over 20 chapters organized events with their volunteer leaders to promote advocacy for federal programs. Home Energy Rebate Letter Writing Webinars trained more than 60 participants on how to write effective letters to their State Energy Offices. Additionally, 36 chapters that joined the Community Advocates Program participated in peer learning circles focused on priority funds, hosted Earth Day events highlighting IRA investments, and motivated their states and local communities to apply for available grants.

29 STATES +DC WITH COMMUNITY ADVOCATES

Empowering the next generation of community climate activists to leverage IRA initiatives in communities across the country.

A young black kid on an orange bicycle with a red helmet grins at the camera in the middle of a crosswalk. A 'slow streets' sign and 'closed for traffic' sign block of the street behind the crosswalk.

Rows of wind turbines sit along brown hills dotted with green plants and a bright blue sky.

Photo by Dennis Schroeder/National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL)

An orange kayak crosses the water towards a rocky shore, with a group of kayakers in the background.

Photo by Gerry Seavo James

The back of a clean energy bus NYC yellow bus that states 'Hybrid Bus' on the back.

Tall trees are in the foreground in front of a city landscape with a light blue sky.

Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Agriculture

A large solar panel crosses the foreground from the bottom right, leading towards a city landscape with skyscrapers in the background.

Photo from National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL)

A wildlife crossing with two roads running under it, with trees and mountains in the background.

A wildlife crossing on the Trans-Canada Highway heading eastbound in Banff National Park.

Photographed by user Coolcaesar on May 26, 2018

Photo by Dennis Schroeder/National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL)

Photo by Gerry Seavo James

Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Agriculture

Photo from National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL)

A wildlife crossing on the Trans-Canada Highway heading eastbound in Banff National Park.

Photographed by user Coolcaesar on May 26, 2018

A state map of the United States in green, with an animation shading states in deeper green to represent dozens of Sierra Club chapters engaged in the Community Advocates program.

“

Since last fall I have been engaged with the Utah Sierra Club in our Community Advocates Program. We have three teams that are working on getting IRA funding for electric school buses, wildlife crossings, and home energy rebates. We have learned so much about how to be effective advocates from the monthly training conducted by the Utah Sierra Club and by the national staff. Our teams have held successful tabling events and meetings with state agencies and local organizations to advocate for these programs.

”

A smiling white woman with shoulder-length grey hair in sunglasses and a green Earth Day tshirt in front of a rocky canyon landscape.

Joan Entwistle
(she/her)
Sierra Club Utah Volunteer

GAINING GROUND

Defeating Polluters

The Sierra Club and its state chapters are leading the fight against harmful pollution.

Thanks to their tireless efforts, one such city with a healthier future is Keasbey, New Jersey. After years of organizing, public hearings, and community protests, the plans to expand a polluting power plant were defeated. When the public comment period opened, the New Jersey Chapter mobilized staff, volunteers, and activists to share testimony at the public hearing, collected over 800 messages opposing the project, and submitted technical comments analyzing the proposal.

“After participating in the public hearings for the proposed expansion, and witnessing hundreds of residents voice how their families have been negatively affected from fossil-fuel pollution, this victory is personal and a powerful example of how we can win when we come together. This is the clean energy transition happening in real time”
Anjuli Ramos Busot
New Jersey Sierra Club Chapter Director

This expansion would have increased New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions by over two percent, significantly contributing to the area’s pollution. More than 70 public schools, with thousands of students and teachers, were within 6 miles of the proposed power plant.

Competitive Power Ventures’ (CPV) proposed new 630-megawatt gas-fired power plant would have potentially generated a total of 2,055,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.

GAINING GROUND

Clean Air

Fighting for clean air is a core tenet of the Sierra Club Foundation's mission. The Foundation supports the Sierra Club in deploying strategic advocacy and legal tactics to improve the health of our environment and local communities.

After years of litigation pressure from the Sierra Club and its allies, in March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Good Neighbor Plan. The Good Neighbor Plan protects residents in dozens of downwind states subjected to smog pollution from power plants and industrial facilities in upwind states. Despite the protections from the rule, multiple states are working with industry polluters to block its implementation.

By 2026, the proposed rule is projected to annually prevent:

1,300 premature deaths

7,100+ cases of onset asthma

2,100+ hospital emergency room visits for breathing problems

Almost 1.3 million asthma attacks

To counteract these efforts, the Sierra Club and a coalition of environmental and health organizations have defended the Good Neighbor Plan in federal courts and the Supreme Court.

Stop Coal Now sign held up above crowd at protest

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels

GAINING GROUND

Equitable Energy Transition

With this program, the IRA represents the largest single investment in rural electrification in the 90 year history of the Rural Utilities Service.

Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels

The Biden administration announced the “Empowering Rural America (New ERA),” a $9.7 billion program designed to spark rural America’s clean energy transformation by helping rural electric cooperatives decarbonize rapidly, create new clean energy jobs, and lower energy costs.

With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Sierra Club helped bring this program to life. Through the New ERA program, the Sierra Club and our partners helped over 150 rural cooperatives apply, representing $93 billion of proposed investments in over 750 clean energy projects.

The submitted proposals would reduce or avoid 127 million tons of greenhouse gas, equivalent to removing 24 million cars off the road for a year.

President Biden’s clean energy policies are driving major changes across the power sector. The Sierra Club Foundation will continue empowering community efforts to take advantage of these programs, advancing an equitable clean energy transition for all.

People & Nature

The Sierra Club and the Sierra Club Foundation are working to safeguard spaces everyone cherishes — forests, rivers, and beautiful landscapes.

From protecting city parks to national forests and partnering with Tribal leaders to preserve Native American cultural sites, the Sierra Club is working relentlessly to fulfill President Biden’s 30x30 pledge.

Motivated by a profound dedication to people and nature, Sierra Club activists, supporters, and partners use creative advocacy, strategic communications, and litigation to fight for a sustainable future.

The world we all deserve is one where our sacred lands, water, and wildlife are protected.

GAINING GROUND

Parks for All

Ensuring everyone has access to and can safely enjoy the transformative power of the outdoors is a pivotal part of the Sierra Club and the Sierra Club Foundation’s missions. Time spent outdoors has profound positive effects on physical and mental health, but not everyone has equal access: surveys show that Black, Indigenous, and people of color visit the National Parks at a lower rate than white people.

The Sierra Club’s “Our Parks Too'' partnership aims to increase Black presence in National Parks and confront the unwelcomeness felt by many when visiting these public lands. Last year, Baltimore natives Kristen Walker and Diamon Clark embarked on a social-media-filmed journey across the country to help fulfill their mission of getting more people who look like them to enjoy the outdoors.

Sierra Club is helping to amplify Diamon and Kristen’s travels by producing and sharing social media content, helping meet and grow the organization’s dedication to inclusivity, and furthering the mission to make America's natural treasures accessible and enjoyable for all.

“

I’ve been nervous at times to visit certain towns and outdoor spaces alone as a Black woman…But I’m thankful to have finally found a community [that] has strengthened my confidence in exploring these landscapes and will help me bridge the adventure gap!

”

Kristen Walker, in a peach hiking tank and patterend shorts, stands in front of a desert landscape with large boulders and blue sky with her hands raised to the landscape behind her.

Kristen Walker
(she/her)
Our Parks Too Founder

Watch as Kristen Walker from Our Parks Too celebrate access to our treasured public lands. (1 min)

GAINING GROUND

National Monuments

In partnership with Tribal leaders, state Sierra Club chapters, and local activists, the Sierra Club has advocated tirelessly for the preservation of lands rich in ancestral heritage and ecological value.

In 2023, the Biden administration established four new national monuments, protecting millions of acres of land and wildlife habitat. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument is now federally protected against extractive mining, ensuring that thousands of Native American cultural sites will be preserved.

1.4 million+ acres of public lands protected via national monument designations in 2023.

In Nevada, Avi Kwa Ame, the Mojave name for "Spirit Mountain," is culturally and historically significant to 12 Tribes. This corner of the Mojave Desert is sacred and home to endemic species like the bighorn sheep. We continued community organizing to build support for inclusive and expansive protections for important historic sites and ecological areas to meet our 30x30 goals.

An animation of a white and grey map of the Grand Canyon region with green coloring to represent the expanded protections over the decades. A dark green date marker in the bottom left lists the year as green protections expand to represent the growing lands protections.

Map Analyst Heather Stricker

FOR OVER A CENTURY, SIERRA CLUB HAS ORGANIZED TO EXPAND PROTECTIONS

In 2023, 917,000 acres were federally protected with the designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

GAINING GROUND

Preserving Mature Forests

A young girl with wavy blond hair and missing front tooth smiles and holds up a colored-in forest coloring page in front of a wall with children's artwork.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer M.

A smiling woman with long dark hair holds up a colored-in forest coloring book page in front of a red curtain.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer M.

Two dogs with paws outstreched look up at the camera in the grass. A colored-in forest coloring book page lays on the ground by their paws and a pink chew toy.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer M.

A smiling woman with dark hair holds a colored-in forest coloring book page in front of her with both hands, in front a wall with children's artwork.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer M.

FOREST COLORING PAGES

To build public pressure for a strong old-growth forest rule, Sierra Club supporters filled out forest coloring pages to share on social media and mail to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Mature old-growth forests are among the most effective natural tools for absorbing carbon dioxide and mitigating the worst effects of climate change. However, they are constantly threatened with destruction.

For the past two years, the Sierra Club led conservation efforts to protect mature forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. More than 40,000 Sierra Club advocates submitted comments to the US Forest Service asking them to preserve these carbon-rich forests. That effort culminated in President Biden announcing a comprehensive plan to protect old-growth trees from commercial logging.

40,000+ Sierra Club advocates submitted comments to the US Forest Service asking them to preserve these carbon-rich forests.

The Sierra Club and Foundation celebrated this meaningful step to a more permanent promise of protecting old-growth forests indefinitely and will continue to creatively advocate, communicate, and litigate to turn that goal into a reality.

GAINING GROUND

Conserving Wildlife

In 2023, the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the landmark Endangered Species Act. Sierra Club and its allies successfully campaigned for additional protections for three wildlife species – Florida Bonneted Bats, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, and Piping Plover – adding to the list of conservation success stories. The Sierra Club and Foundation safeguarded additional vulnerable species, including the Northern long-eared bat, the prairie chicken, and the Rice’s whale.

Three wildlife species – Florida Bonneted Bats, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, and Piping Plover were added to the Endangered Species Act in 2023.

For years, the Sierra Club has worked with Pacific Northwest Tribes and allies to dismantle dams on the Snake River that have pushed Chinook Salmon to the brink of extinction. In 2022, the White House took an essential step to protect these salmon, allowing them to flow more freely throughout hundreds of miles of river and provide food to the endangered Orcas in the Salish Sea.

Grasshopper Sparrow.

Photo by Dominic Sherony (CC BY 2.0)

Shifting Capital

The banking system’s financing of fossil fuel projects is accelerating the climate catastrophe. Wall Street must rapidly shift trillions of dollars into developing clean energy, restoring ecosystems, and other climate innovations to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The Sierra Club Foundation is on the frontlines of this massive financial transformation as an investor and active asset owner, as well as through its “Shifting Trillions” initiative and financial support for the Sierra Club’s Fossil Free Finance Campaign. The Foundation actively invests in equitable and just climate solutions, advocates for investments in clean energy, and uses its platform to shine a light on the communities most impacted by climate change and the extractive fossil fuel economy.

GAINING GROUND

Transforming Finance

The Foundation is gaining ground in transforming the energy finance system through its Shifting Trillions program. Pedro Henriques da Silva was appointed as the Sierra Club Foundation’s first Director for Shifting Trillions, supercharging the Foundation’s efforts to shift capital toward environmental justice.

As an active and engaged shareholder, the Sierra Club Foundation is uniquely positioned to influence capital managers in the private and public sectors. The Foundation actively engages with investors about how climate change and social inequity create material risks to their assets and why financing community-driven environmental solutions is essential.

In 2023 and 2024, the Shifting Trillions program achieved significant milestones toward its ambitious goal to shift at least $2 trillion worth of private capital toward green investments by 2028. The program’s strategic engagement with several financial institutions resulted in a series of commitments from those institutions to publish formal, company-wide guidelines regarding environmental justice in 2024, covering more than $5 trillion in capital and illustrating the profound impact of our program.

These achievements reflect the Foundation’s growing influence and commitment to transforming the financial landscape. By shifting trillions, the Sierra Club Foundation is paving the way for a greener and more just economy.

Pedro Henriques da Silva
Director for Shifting Trillions shares the program vision - leveraging capital to create the regenerative and just world we all deserve.

GAINING GROUND

Climate Solutions

The Sierra Club Foundation intentionally invests in organizations, projects, funds, and companies in communities historically excluded from the clean energy transition – including low-income households, communities of color, rural and Native communities, and small businesses.

The primary objective of the Foundation’s Catalytic Capital Portfolio, an impact investment capital pool, is to provide catalytic capital for projects, funds, and companies that advance climate solutions, social equity, and justice.

Through its Movement Forward Fund, a strategic partnership grantmaking fund, the Sierra Club Foundation supports partner organizations whose work advances our shared program goals. The Fund prioritizes program grants that center racial justice and build movement infrastructure, recognizing that building and sustaining a powerful climate justice movement requires steadfast support for communities most impacted by a fossil fuel economy.

The Movement Forward Fund awarded 9 grants in 2023 totaling $1,370,000 to a range of local and national partner organizations.

For example, the Movement Forward Fund provided a $130,000 grant to Firelands Workers United and its fiscal sponsor, the Latino Community Fund of Washington State. The Firelands’ Roadmap to Healthy, Green & Affordable Housing in Washington State project encourages a multiracial base of working-class tenants, mobile home park residents, and low-income homeowners to build statewide momentum for affordable, green, energy-efficient housing for all.

This is just one example of the Sierra Club Foundation’s investments in just, equitable, and inclusive environmental solutions.

A group of women smile in front of a building with pillars, holding up a turquoise sign with a red border that reads "Rebuild Timber Country / Reconstruyamos Nuestro Pueblo'

FIRELANDS WORKERS UNITED

Firelands Workers United is working to reimagine a statewide program for energy efficiency, weatherization, and healthy housing accessible to poor and working-class families of all races and immigration statuses.

Photo by Firelands

The Foundation for a Healthy Planet

The Sierra Club Foundation promotes efforts to educate and empower people to protect and improve the natural and human environment.

OUR GOALS

SOLVE the climate crisis primarily through a successful transition to a resource-efficient, clean energy economy that better serves people and nature.

SECURE protections for public lands and waters, promote healthy ecosystems and communities, and fight for clean air and water.

EXPAND opportunities for more people to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet by supporting programs and policies that reach across economic, cultural, and community lines to get people outdoors.

BUILD an equitable and inclusive environmental movement that reflects and represents today’s American public and prioritizes important connections between environmental health and social justice.

JEMEZ PRINCIPLES

The Sierra Club Foundation uses the Jemez Principles to guide its work as a grantmaker, investor, and fiscal sponsor. The principles were created during an environmental justice summit in 1996, with the goal of helping mainstream environmental organizations to be more just and equitable.

BE INCLUSIVE

EMPHASIS ON BOTTOM-UP ORGANIZING

LET PEOPLE SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

WORK TOGETHER IN SOLIDARITY
AND MUTUALITY

BUILD JUST RELATIONSHIPS
AMONG OURSELVES

COMMITMENT TO
SELF-TRANSFORMATION

Thanks to our Donors

HEARTFELT THANK YOU

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our generous individual, corporate, and foundation donors. Your support builds upon our momentum to accelerate environmental solutions that are just, equitable, and inclusive. Thank you for joining with us and making a difference together.

CREATING LEGACY

We offer deep gratitude to our Rachel Carson Society members, who have made an extraordinary pledge to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations. Thank you for making the Sierra Club Foundation part of your legacy and for ensuring that our vibrant natural world lives on.

Who We Are

An independent, volunteer Board of Directors, supported by a professional staff, governs the Sierra Club Foundation. Outstanding programmatic, financial, and administrative management expertise are the pillars of our efficiency and effectiveness.

STAFF & BOARD

Gaining Ground

EXECUTIVE LETTER

OUR SIERRA CLUB CONNECTION

INVESTMENT IMPACT

Energy Transformation

Empowering Communities

Defeating Polluters

Clean Air

Equitable Energy Transition

People & Nature

Parks for All

National Monuments

Preserving Mature Forests

Conserving Wildlife

Shifting Capital

Transforming Finance

Climate Solutions

The Foundation for a Healthy Planet

Thanks to our Donors

Who We Are