EGA is pleased to announce an open call for nominations for two member awards. 2025 represents the third annual Donald K. Ross Founders Award and the EGA Risk Taker Award. These awards honor environmental grantmakers whose leadership catalyzes just and innovative philanthropic initiatives for people and planet.
We invite you to submit nominations by September 15, 2025.
Learn more about each award and how to submit a nomination:
Donald K. Ross Founders Award
The Environmental Grantmakers Association Founders Award honors the dedication, commitment, and creativity of EGA founder Donald Ross, whose vision and forethought set in motion EGA as the big tent of environmental philanthropy to challenge government and corporate bureaucracy.
This award honors members of the EGA philanthropic community whose work supports sustainable democratic institutions, demonstrating an extraordinary civic personality of resilient stamina, motivating skills and relentless focus.
The award also honors the spirit of Donald Ross by encouraging nominees who bring a sense of humor to their work and humanize the relational nature of advocacy.
The purpose of the Founders Award is to connect current EGA members to the theory of change that helped birth and inspire our multigenerational work at EGA.
We invite nominations for individuals who have:
Created a impactful new organization, project or philanthropic initiative in the past 1-5 years;
Established an initiative that worked because people or organizations that one might think would not be able to work together were able to do so to accomplish big things; and
Made an innovation in philanthropy that can be replicated to enable funders to be more effective.
In addition to nominating leaders you know, EGA also invites you to celebrate your own efforts through self-nominations.
Eligibility
The award is available to EGA members who
Have maintained an active membership for at least 2 years.
Are currently a member.
Have not received an EGA Founders Award within the past 3 years.
Click here to submit a nomination for the Donald K. Ross Founders Award
EGA Risk Taker Award
The Environmental Grantmakers Association Risk Takers Award honors the vision, courage, creativity, and boldness of a member of the environmental philanthropic community.
The Award has two categories: Individual, to recognize an individual’s contributions to equity-focused environmental grantmaking and Team, to recognize the collective efforts of a team dedicated to advancing equity-focused environmental grantmaking.
The Awards celebrate bold leaders in the philanthropic sector whose leading-edge work on racial equity inspires the future of resourcing or healthy people and planet.
EGA, guided by our Racial Equity Point of View, will administer and oversee the development and annual bestowal of the award.
We invite nominations for environmental grantmakers who have completed groundbreaking work to:
Direct financial resources to projects that address past and current injustice;
Bring in diverse perspectives and voices by embracing non-white centered learning and wisdom; and
Explore/integrate new practices that promote racial equity.
In addition to nominating risk takers you know, EGA also invites you to celebrate your own efforts through self-nominations!
Eligibility
The award is available to environmental grantmakers who have not received an EGA Risk Taker Award in the past. *Nominees do not have to be an EGA member to be eligible for this award.
Click here to submit a nomination for the EGA Risk Taker Award
- Read about the inaugural award recipients here.
- Read about the second annual award recipients here.
Further reading: “Knowing What to Do Will Never Be Enough” by Farhad Ebrahimi, inaugural recipient of the Risk Taker Award.
The Donald K. Ross Founders Award and EGA Risk Taker Award will be presented at the 2025 Fall Retreat in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. We look forward to receiving your nominations!
