Environmental Impact in Action
Quick Links
- Read the Venable Foundation 2024 Annual Report
- The Venable Foundation is now accepting applications from Denver organizations
- Venable is celebrating its 125th birthday
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The Venable Foundation supports a wide range of organizations working to face environmental challenges across the country. We are passionate about protecting the natural spaces that make our communities beautiful and healthy places to live and work. In this issue, we’re highlighting a few of the organizations we support that are making meaningful environmental impacts.
Spotlight: Northern Virginia Conservation Trust
In 2024, the Venable Foundation provided $10,000 toward general operating support of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. NVCT is committed to preserving green spaces and natural resources in the rapidly urbanizing Northern Virginia region. Since their founding in 1992, they have protected over 9,000 acres of land.
NVCT’s work spans urban, suburban, and rural communities, protecting critical lands for wildlife habitats, clean water, and public enjoyment. The organization also leads outreach programs to help residents connect with local lands and advocates for climate resilience through thoughtful land use and conservation planning.
“Our partnership with the Venable Foundation helps us be the community partner we want to be,” said Alan Rowsome, executive director of NVCT. “This funding ensures we are able to do community-based environmental work that makes Northern Virginia a place where people want to live, raise a family, and be active and healthy.”
One of NVCT’s recent projects is the Terborgh Terrace Garden, an emerging urban garden and pocket park in North Arlington. NVCT is turning this garden into a food source for local pantries and a learning space for land stewardship. “Venable funding helped us directly build out the garden and buy the materials we needed to make it a reality,” Rowsome said. “Not only are we protecting the beauty of Northern Virginia and making it more sustainable, but we are ensuring people in our community have fresh, healthy food available to them.”
Grantee Profiles
Friends of the Chicago River protects and restores the Chicago-Calumet River system for people and wildlife. As the only organization dedicated solely to the Chicago River, Friends has spent over four decades committed to this mission. With support from the Venable Foundation, Friends leads restoration projects, advocates for river-friendly policy, and runs community outreach and education programs.
The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust creates urban parks and community gardens in underserved LA neighborhoods, focusing especially on low-income communities of color. Their work provides safe, accessible green spaces for outdoor recreation and connection to nature. Funding from the Venable Foundation has contributed to LANLT’s successful development of 30 neighborhood parks and gardens.
Christodora connects children in New York City with nature through their hands-on environmental education initiatives. Through Christodora, students in under resourced communities engage in classroom science programs, urban ecology projects, and wilderness experiences. With support from the Venable Foundation, they reach over 2,000 students in the city annually, fostering environmental understanding and personal growth.
Baltimore Tree Trust grows a healthier, greener city by planting and maintaining trees in neighborhoods lacking tree cover. The Tree Trust also provides residents with green job training, creating career pathways in urban forestry. Venable Foundation funding helps them expand their tree planting efforts, improving air quality and building cooler, more livable neighborhoods.
Visit Venable.com/Foundation to learn more about our funding priorities and application process.