There are many variants on the saying that you don't actually want to see how the sausage is made, and this is often applied to law and policy. We hope that seeing how foundation strategy is made is a little…
The JRS Biodiversity Foundation’s Board of Trustees has approved a policy to exclude securities from its assets issued by companies whose goods, services, or business practices are commonly deemed to negatively impact the earth’s climate or biodiversity, particularly tropical biodiversity.…
A year ago, I wrote that JRS was making its first grants to explore the policies that drive the demand for biodiversity data and information and the supply of biodiversity data and information in "Learning by Doing: New Policy Research…
Posting a request for proposals is the fun part of philanthropy – giving creative people the chance to get funds to accomplish their goals is what we like to do. At JRS, we work hard all year to add value to…
We've all heard the one about the tree falling in the forest, but here's your biodiversity koan for the day: If a biodiversity datum is produced, and no one can find it, does it create change? JRS Biodiversity Foundation contracted an independent study…
The JRS Biodiversity Foundation is considering a grant to publish a guide to biodiversity data capture software and would like your views on its utility. By guide we mean an online and print resource with profiles of each app, comparative…
JRS was certified last week by the Foundation Center's Glass Pockets initiative to promote transparency of private U.S. foundations in an online world. The certification reflects that the JRS Biodiversity Foundation is meeting (or beating) the highest recognized standard for…
It's a sunny Friday afternoon here in Seattle and I'm reflecting on the past week. A highlight was the JRS announcement of our first policy research grants for three projects to research the policies in sub-Saharan Africa that shape the demand…
In the last week, two of our grantees have cancelled workshops due to fears of the current Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone that has claimed over 1,000 lives. One workshop was to be in an unaffected…
This is the question I asked myself last year when I joined JRS. I knew that private U.S. foundations often powerfully serve their missions by advancing policy research and analysis. But what would that mean for JRS? Last Friday, JRS…
