Mobilizing Resources: Growing Leadership

Supporting Collaborative Leadership

The Brainerd Foundation recognizes that powerful results can be achieved by working collectively toward shared goals. With this philosophy in mind, we provided a three-year capacity building grant to the Washington Environmental Council. Together with Washington Conservation Voters they convened Priorities for a Healthy Washington, a coalition of more than 20 of the state's top conservation groups.

Setting aside organizational differences, the coalition established a focused set of priorities and a solid campaign path to see them through to fruition. The sharpened focus also benefited policymakers, enabling them to concentrate on a few key issues they knew were carefully identified and researched.

These efforts have paid off. Five years later, nearly all of the coalition's priorities have been achieved, and the coalition model has been emulated in other states.

Our support helped Washington's conservation movement become stronger through collaborative leadership, a unified voice and a focused set of priorities. This type of innovative investment continues to be a hallmark of our foundations work.