The Resilience Funders Network was initiated in 2016 by a small group of funders who were active in environmental, health, justice, educational, and related issues. Since then, we’ve held gatherings across the United States and Europe, growing to about 50 members in the process.
As we think about these issues and absorb the cumulative challenges we face, people often want to know what to do. Some want to prepare personally for future shocks; others want to build resilient local communities. Some want to change consciousness; others want to help build regional, state, national, or international institutions.
We believe these strands complement each other and aren’t promoting a specific response. Our goal is to draw attention to the global polycrisis. We seek a balanced approach to positive and negative trends. We’re “trigger agnostic” and don’t claim to know what combination of factors will initiate major future shocks—or when they will come. Our structure evolves as needs and interests become evident.
Our values
RFN is committed to core human and environmental values. These include social, racial, and gender equity, and diversity, democracy, human rights, transparency, and biodiversity. The Earth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights address these values. At the same time, we value perspectives from across the political spectrum, age spectrum, and from around the world.
A learning community
RFN is an invitational learning community for funders, former funders, individual donors, and thought partners. There is no fee for joining. Though we welcome contributions, RFN will not try to influence your portfolio. We simply encourage partners to reflect on the global polycrisis and how they choose to respond.
We select thought partners with the goal of ensuring a diversity of informed opinions and perspectives. If you’re interested in joining RFN please reach out via our contact page.
RFN Advisory Board Members
The Resilience Funders Network was among the first initiatives of Omega. Today, RFN functions as an independent project with its own Advisory Board. RFN is distinct from classic funder affinity groups. RFN includes past as well as present foundation staff & board members as well as private donors. RFN also actively participates in direct dialogue with NGO and other partners. It is an experiment in all these regards.
Preeta D. Bansal
Board Member
Lincoln Community Foundation
Ann Blake
Executive Director
Jenifer Altman Foundation
David Bonbright
Past Program Officer
Ford Foundation & Aga Khan Foundation
Jon Cracknell
Past Director
Goldsmith Family Philanthropy
Philanthropic advisor
Scott Cullen
Executive Director
Grace Communications Foundation
Joan Diamond
Executive Director
Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere at Stanford
Private donor
Andrea Frey
Founder
AJF Advisory
Past Senior Staff
Oak Foundation
Howard Frumkin
Senior VP & Director
Land & People Lab at Trust for Public Land Professor Emeritus
University of Washington School of Public Health
Katherine Fulton
Co-chair
Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund
Philanthropic Advisor
Kathryn Gilje
Executive Director
Ceres Trust
Peter Goldmark
Past President
The Rockefeller Foundation
Colin Greer
President
New World Foundation
Judy Hatcher
Executive Director
Biodiversity Funders Group
Jon Jensen
Past Executive Director
Park Foundation
Advisor
Philip Johnson
Director Environment & Health Program
Heinz Endowments
Tom Kruse
Program Director
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Michael Lerner
President
Jenifer Altman Foundation
Janet Maughan
Former Executive Director
Passport Foundation
Maryanne Mott
Co-founder
CS Fund
Pete Myers
Board Member
Jenifer Altman Foundation
Michael Northrop
Program Director
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Angela Oh
Philanthropic advisor
Birju Pandya
Co-founder
Mobius
Tamzin Ractliffe
Executive Director
Impact Trust
Vinit Rishi
Director of Administration
Oak Foundation
Richard Russell
Board Member
The Russell Family Foundation
Hans Schoepflin
Emeritus Director
Panta Rhea Foundation
Chairperson
Schoepflin Foundation
Oren Slozberg
Co-advisor
Barbara Smith Fund
Eleni Sotos
Former Senior Advisor
Garfield Foundation
Consultant
Chet Tchozewski
Board Member
Chino Cienega Foundation
Mark Valentine
Chief Strategy Officer
Omega Resilience Awards
Jeff Wise
Past Director of Strategic Programs
Health and Environmental Funders Network