How did the Ford Foundation Help Create Environmental Philanthropy?

Rob Gioielli is following the money trail as he researches funding for environmental reform in the U.S.

The assistant professor of history at UC Blue Ash College specializes in environmental history and was one of 41 scholars nationally to earn a 2014 Rockefeller Archive Center Grant. This allowed him to spend a portion of this past summer at the Rockefeller Archive Center in Sleepy Hollow, New York, the premier location for research on the history of philanthropy and foundations in the United States.

“I want to tell the story of how the large private foundations have shaped the way Americans view environmental groups as legitimate and respectable entities,” said Gioielli. “These are not just small fringe groups focused on a particular cause, but large organizations with the support to make a real impact,”

Gioielli notes that the Ford Foundation was a leader in environmental philanthropy when it started to take hold in the 1960s. “Through funding and management expertise, Ford helped found or professionalize a number of America’s most respected environmental organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Nature Conservancy,” he said.

Gioielli published the book, "Environmental Activism and the Urban Crisis: Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago," earlier this year after conducting research on how environmental causes gained momentum in different cities across the U.S. He felt a focus on environmental philanthropy was a logical next step.

“It’s interesting to learn more about what motivates people to support environmental activism, how the organizations operate, and why some of them are successful,” added Gioielli.

Gioielli is developing his research on the Ford Foundation into an article, and it will be used as background for a long-term project on philanthropy and international wildlife conservation. He also recently traveled to Berlin, Germany, to present his paper on environmental philanthropy at the international “Transformations of the Ecology Movement” conference.

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