OVERVIEW: The 11th Hour Project is a major environmental grantmaker that makes hundreds of grants a year for climate, clean energy, food systems and sustainable agriculture, Indigenous communities, human rights, mining practice reform, climate journalism, and community health.
IP TAKE: The 11th Hour Project is part of the Schmidt Family Foundation and one of the foundation’s core grantmaking vehicles (the other is Schmidt Marine Technology Partners). This major environmental, agriculture, and clean energy grantmaker “interweave[s] inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility” into its climate and energy grantmaking, making this a particularly interesting funder for organizations in the grassroots climate justice space. As IP has reported, 11th Hour previously kept a relatively low profile, but in recent years has become one of the largest funders in the climate space and “has set itself apart in climate philanthropy by backing underfunded local efforts to halt new fossil fuel infrastructure.” Taking a broad approach to solving interconnected environmental crises, 11th Hour has expanded rapidly and approaches its environmental funding with unique strategies, including focus areas devoted to mining practice reform, impact investing, and food systems reform. As with most Schmidt family philanthropy ventures, 11th hour prioritizes intersectionality, innovation, and working strategically with new technologies.
Small organizations are well represented among its hundreds of grantees, but 11th Hour does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding. This is not a particularly transparent funder. While select grantees are highlighted at its website, 11th hour does not host a full grants database. Networking with staff or past grantees will likely be the key to gaining this funder’s attention. The 11th Hour Project is a part of a larger funding whole that occurs under the Schmidt Family Foundation (TSFF) umbrella. The 11th Hour Project’s work, like that of other TSFF initiatives and programs, occurs at the intersection of nature, science, and humanity, and finding an equitable balance between these forces.
PROFILE: The Palo Alto-based 11th Hour Project was established in 2006 by Wendy and Eric Schmidt and is the main grantmaking vehicle of the Schmidt Family Foundation. Eric Schmidt, a software engineer, is a former CEO of Google. Wendy Schmidt, who is 11th Hour’s president, has a background in journalism. In addition to the 11th Hour Project, the Schmidt Family Foundation also runs ReMain Nantucket, an initiative that supports conservation and preservation on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, as well as Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. (Other Schmidt family philanthropy ventures, including the Schmidt Ocean Institute, are not part of the Schmidt Family Foundation.)
The mission of the 11th Hour Project is to “restore a balanced relationship between people and planet.” Its grantmaking and investment programs address Ag Tech, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Human Rights, Indigenous Communities, Minerals and Materials, and N2, which refers to “nature and nurture” and supports youth environmental and recreational programs. 11th Hour also earmarks funds for Impact Investing in its areas of interest and a set of Emerging Strategies for journalism, civic engagement and data science for social good.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
The 11th Hour Project conducts grantmaking for climate change and clean energy via its Energy and Minerals and Materials programs; however, some work related to climate resiliency also occurs via 11th Hour’s Ag Tech and Food and Agriculture programs, outlined in the following section.
- The Energy program focuses on U.S. initiatives to decrease the use of fossil fuels and simultaneously “accelerate[…] transformation towards a clean and equitable energy system.” This giving program prioritizes frontline communities, “especially low-income communities and communities of color [that are] harmed by fossil fuel extraction, transportation and use.”
- Minerals and Materials is a newer giving area that works broadly to “prevent and reduce the harms of transition mineral mining.” Acknowledging the need for “transition minerals” for clean energy generation, this program focuses on mitigation of the environmental and health hazards presented by mineral mining. A significant portion of this giving supports the development of protective policy and initiatives for “demand reduction,” such as recycling measures.
- Climate and energy grantees include California’s East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, the Climate and Community Institute, Earthworks and GRID Alternatives, which works nationally to bring low cost solar electricity to low-income consumers.
Grants for Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Grantmaking for sustainable agriculture and food systems stems from 11th Hour’s Ag Tech and Food and Agriculture programs:
- Ag Tech, the newer of these two programs, partners with “farmers and food systems workers to develop technology that is responsive to the needs of small-holder producers.” Grantmaking is centered on work that supports climate and food justice, moving away from industrial farming models that “exacerbate social, economic, and environmental inequality.”
- Food and Agriculture grantmaking supports overlapping work to “to build resilient agricultural systems that improve soil, air, water, and animal and human health.” Much of this giving works locally and regionally to address specific community and environmental needs and issues.
- Related Impact Investments have supported Potlikker Capital, California Farmlink and COMACO, which supports food security and sustainable farming in Zambia.
- Past food and agriculture grantees include Kitchen Table Advisors, the online news and information platform Civil Eats, the Southeaster African-American Farmers’ Organic Network and the Common Market, which works regionally to bring sustainably-grown local produce to consumers in urban areas.
Grants for Human Rights
The 11th Hour Project’s Human Rights program supports “movements for just and ecologically sound development that promotes human rights, vibrant local economies, and dignified livelihoods for all.”
- The 11th Hour Project believes “that the climate crisis is deeply rooted in a global extractivist economy, structural inequality and systemic racism” and views its human rights work through a climate lens.
- While the project does not have stated geographic priorities, it channels the majority of its human rights grantmaking toward less-developed countries in Africa. Haiti is another area of focus.
- Human rights grantees include Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Groundswell International, Human Rights Watch, the New Media Advocacy Project, and Virunga Foundation.
Grants for Indigenous Rights
The 11th Hour Project names human rights as a priority that runs through all of its grantmaking programs, but it also runs a grantmaking program focused specifically on Human Rights, as well as a program that specifically advances the rights and self-determination of Indigenous Communities.
- The Human Rights program is global in scope but emphasizes issues facing people in Africa and Haiti, as well as human rights movements that intersect with 11th Hour’s environmental, climate, agricultural and other interest areas. Giving centers the rights of communities to “determine the goals and means of achieving their own economic, social and cultural well-being.” Grantees include the WOMIN Africa Alliance, Groundswell International and Advocates for Community Alternatives, which works with communities in West Africa that are “threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects.”
- The Indigenous Communities program limits its work to the Indigenous communities of North America and aims to “revitalize” communities through the rematriation of lands and waters, the restoration of languages and culture, and through “accurate representation and visibility in society.” Grantees include the Muchia Te’ Indigenous Land Trust, Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, the Institute for Native Knowledge and the Wiyot Tribe of California.
Grants for Environmental Education and Community Development
N2 is shorthand for nature and nurture. Through this program, 11th Hour supports outdoor educational, cultural and recreational programs for young people.
- Grantmaking prioritizes BIPOC and other communities with limited access to outdoor spaces and exposure to the natural world. “initiatives and movements that enable access and support for youth to thrive through nature + nurture.
- Giving also targets programs that aim to spark “self growth, connection to community, and broader social change leadership” in the youth they serve.
- Past grants have gone to the Cheyenne River Youth Project, Justice Outside, Fresh Tracks and the NACA Inspired School Network.
Grants for Journalism, Civic Engagement and Democracy
The 11th Hour’s Emerging Strategies focus area currently names journalism, civic engagement and data science for social good as its priorities. While these are newer areas of giving at 11th hour, the foundation indicates that this grantmaking will be “cross programmatic,” complimenting is climate, agriculture and human rights work.
- Journalism grants focus on BIPOC communities in the U.S. and abroad, enabling communities to “tell their own stories.
- The Civic Engagement subprogram focuses mainly on the U.S., where the right to protest and participate in the democratic process is threatened.
- Data Science for Social Good refers to support for efforts to leverage “ethical and responsible applications of powerful data science tools” and the democratization of the data science field.
- Grantees of the Emerging Strategies Program include the Texas Organizing Project, the University of Chicago Data Science Institute, North Dakota Native Voice and the BlackOUT Collective, among others.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
The 11th Hour Project’s Impact Investing program supports for-profit enterprises with the potential to have positive impact in areas of interest. Investments mainly support early-stage projects but provide both equity and debt financing. Impact Investing recipients include Potlikker Capital, which invests in BIPOC farming and agricultural enterprises, and Kelvin Systems, a Brooklyn, New York company that helps decarbonize older buildings.
Important Grant Details:
Grants typically range from $300 to $5 million, although most grants stay in the $100,000 to $500,000 range.
- This funder awards over 500 grants a year to organizations of every size.
- Grantmaking is mainly focused on U.S. organizations, but support has gone to international organizations and groups in select countries.
- This funder does not accept unsolicited applications for funding.
- For additional information about past giving, see 11th Hour’s In Frame page or the Schmidt Family Foundation’s tax filings
Submit questions to the 11th Hour Project via email at info@tsffoundation.org. The Schmidt Family Foundation’s phone number is listed as (650) 376-7100.
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