Melanie Allen, EGA Board Member & Co-Director of the Hive Fund for Gender & Climate Justice, is featured in the 2021 Grist 50 list! Click here to view Grist's profile of Melanie:
"When Melanie Allen joined a regional foundation in the South, she hoped to use the might of grantmaking to promote energy equity and economic opportunity. But she soon discovered fundamental flaws in traditional philanthropy. In the South, foundation support is roughly half what it is elsewhere, and precious little money flows to women of color, who lead many essential climate change and environmental justice projects. In response, funders and others launched the Hive Fund in 2019. Allen’s role includes counseling and educating others on better grant practices, such as freeing small grassroots orgs from burdensome paperwork. “We were created to shift existing philanthropy,” she says. The fund fosters dialogue between grantmakers concerned with climate and those focused on gender and race. It also encourages collaborative relationships between the people making the grants and the ones receiving them. Allen’s ultimate goal is to create a more equitable and accountable system for the next generation of donors."
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Grist's Profile of Melanie Allen Download