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Meet our New Partners

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Meet our New Partners

By Dory Trimble, Executive Director

We’re delighted to announce the eight exceptional organizations that will be joining the Honnold Foundation partner slate this year. We received 712 applications from 91 countries on every continent except Antarctica— and from that group, our Grant Advisory Committee and internal review team selected the following organizations. 

To highlight a few:

  • In Cambodia, we’re supporting the dedicated physicians and midwives of The Lake Clinic as they provide solar-powered health services to remote villages by boat;

  • In the USA, we’re working alongside the team at Coalfield Development to transition Appalachian towns to a solar-powered future;

  • In Indonesia, we’re funding KOPPESDA, who encourage rural farmers to pay for their solar home systems with bamboo poles or coconut oil instead of cash;

  • In Ecuador, we’re supporting Kara Solar and the solar-powered canoes they’re using to transform water transportation on the Amazon River.

And in Brazil, Guatemala, the Solomon Islands, and Mexico, our other new partners are developing their own solar powered community initiatives, providing access to water, food, and power where before there was none.

Each of these organizations works in different ways, but they’re united by a common vision: a world where solar power can improve people’s lives, reduce environmental impact, and increase their community’s ability to weather change.

Now, we’re all experiencing an unprecedented change. In the face of the pandemic, the Honnold Foundation has watched our existing partners rise to the challenge. We’ve been awed by their resilience, creativity, and perseverance. Our commitment to their work has only deepened over time, even as some solar installations are put on hold to protect the communities they serve. 

Our work continues. Our partners are not doing less during this crisis, they’re doing more. Your support matters now more than ever. I encourage you to meet our new partners, consider the essential roles they play in their communities, and join us in supporting their work. Together, we can build a brighter world.

 
 

Meet our Spring 2020 Core Grant Recipients


This year, the Honnold Foundation is committed to giving away US$1M. We can’t do it without your help. If you’re inspired by these partners, and want to join us in advancing their work, we invite you to make a gift today.

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Become a Honnold Foundation Partner

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Become a Honnold Foundation Partner

By Dory Trimble, Executive Director

In 2012, Alex Honnold was living in a van he couldn’t stand up in. He was a sponsored athlete, sure, and to rock climbers he was well known — but to most of the world, Alex was still just another guy who happened to be very good at a sport not many people cared about. And that year, on the drive back from a day of climbing in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon, he decided to start giving away one third of his income to support solar energy access worldwide.

Since then, a lot has changed. The Honnold Foundation continues to fund solar energy access initiatives all over the world, and Alex continues to guide the organization with his now-famous candor, clarity, and commitment to taking action. In the past seven years, we’ve supported frontline solar energy access work in Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Angola; we’ve provided grants to fund residential solar installations in suburban Sacramento and for chapter houses in the Navajo Nation. In 2019, we made our first ever multi-year grant commitment to our partners at GRID Alternatives, and we supported the North End Woodward Community Coalition’s vision for a solar-powered Detroit.

GRID Alternatives volunteers hard at work on a solar install for a homeowner on the Navajo Nation. Photo: Irene Yee

Rev. Joan Ross (Director of NEWCC,) Betty (homeowner and solar install beneficiary,) Alex Honnold, and Dory Trimble look on as the first solar panels are mounted on Betty’s roof. Photo: Mandy Moran

In 2020, we’re taking one more step toward a brighter world. All of us at HF are delighted to announce the launch of our first ever open call for grant proposals. Starting on January 13, 2020, we’re inviting community-based organizations engaging in solar energy access work all over the world to tell us about their impact and their aspirations. Our unrestricted grants will generally range in size from $10,000 to $100,000, and are designed to support precedent-setting solar energy projects that reduce environmental impact and improve human lives.

No matter who you are, or where you live, we believe that energy should be clean, affordable, accessible, and easy to use. We hope you’ll join us in spreading the word about this open call for proposals, and we can’t wait to meet the communities and solar leaders whose work we’ll be supporting this year.

Learn more about our open call for grant proposals here, or join our mailing list to get reminders about the application process. If you have questions about the open call, or would like to make a press inquiry, you can contact the team at grants@honnoldfoundation.org.

 
 
 
 

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