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Funders
Roots of Change unifies the collective effort of multiple donors wishing to impact the movement for healthy food and agriculture by leveraging their resources and contributing to a learning community of funders.
In the report, “What’s Next for Philanthropy?” the Monitor Institute lays out a framework for the future of social investing, stating that “the most successful funders will combine long-standing instincts toward independent initiative and action with an emerging ‘network’ mindset and toolkit that helps them see their work as part of a larger, diverse, and more powerful effort overall.” (p. 9) One recommendation within the report is to combine grant dollars among multiple donors into a larger fund pool.
ROC’s Core Funders collaborated strategically to commit $7.3 million through 2011. Allied foundations, government, businesses and individuals have committed an additional $1.77 million. Matching money for ROC-spawned or collaborating projects that flows directly to partners,totals nearly $5 million. Thus, since its inception, ROC has been instrumental in investing or attracting more than $14 million dollars into the vital work of transforming our food and farms.
ROC has generated short-term results within a long-term investment strategy.
Highlights include:
- Convincing the State to make moving the agriculture industry toward sustainable farming and ranching a central goal
- Development of a broadly supported legislative agenda that will provide incentives and pathways to sustainable production, better farm labor conditions, and improved healthy food access
- Creation, through the granting of 60 Fellowships, of a cohesive community of diverse NGOs working strategically toward a common set of goals
- Spawning of prototype national or statewide partnerships that demonstrate how to scale up transformative change
- Formation of a supportive citizen network approaching 50,000 in number—and growing every day— that continuously communicates and acts through our convening processes and online
- Establishment of a diverse and growing base of funders that includes foundations, government, businesses and individuals all pooling their money to ensure strategic investment in creation of healthy food and agriculture
ROC’s use of face-to-face convening, online communication, contracts, fellowships and grants has given rise to a powerful network. Its participants are diverse. Some are focused on ecology, finance, or health, others on urban or rural food production, farm worker rights, or nutritious food access for schools and low-income communities. All are collaborating with ROC because we offer a strategic pathway that accurately reflects the many aspirations of the movement for healthy food and agriculture and because, so far, we have effectively delivered financial, technical, and political resources to our partners.
We are grateful for the support we have received from the following funders, and encourage you to contribute to the Roots of Change network. To learn more, contact Bobbie Peyton at bobbie@rootsofchange.org.
Our core funders are:
Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation
David & Lucile Packard Foundation