Network Innovation grants

As an engaged community of environmental leaders working across sectors and disciplines, the Switzer Network offers many possibilities for collaborative problem-solving. 

To support collaborative projects by Switzer Fellows working to solve today’s complex environmental issues, the Switzer Foundation awarded $411,000 through eighteen Network Innovation and Collaborative Initiative Grants. This program supported teams of fellows working together to advance positive environmental change through convenings, shared learning, pilot projects, and policy applications. It involved an iterative process of idea generation and feedback within the Switzer Network to catalyze collaborations within the network and encourage breakthrough interdisciplinary approaches to environmental improvement. 

This program ran from 2009-2023, and has now sunsetted, with resources being redirected into Leadership Grants, the Professional Development Fund, Switzer Network Events, and other network resources. We are proud of the work supported throughout the duration of this program, and encourage you to explore the impact of these projects. 

If you are a Switzer Fellow looking to collaborate with others in the network, please reach out to Cora, or email the listserv.

Examples of Network Innovation grants include:

• Become a JEDI Master. Three fellows developed an open-source accessible toolkit, Become a JEDI Master, for Switzer Fellows and other environmental practitioners seeking to further individual and organizational understanding of the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. 
• International Pharalope Working Group. Switzer Fellows planned and hosted a working group meeting to discuss phalarope (tiny migratory shorebirds) biology and threats and identify steps forward for conservation. The meeting brought together 30 stakeholders from 5 countries to share their passion and knowledge, identify major data gaps, and formalize an ongoing International Pharalope Working Group. 
• Disadvantaged Communities Visioning Workshop. Switzer Fellows led a convening among leaders of disadvantaged communities seeking to improve California state policy providing equitable access and funding for water infrastructure projects. The convening resulted in policy recommendations presented to the California Department of Water Resources.
• Understanding the Life Cycle and Regional Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Marcellus Shale Basin. Switzer Fellows collaborated with the nongovernmental organization Earthworks to write a report on the handling of fracking wastewater in areas of the Marcellus Shale. The research was shared with policymakers in those states and among activists working to regulate fracking across the country