Catena Foundation Grants

Catena Foundation Grants is sponsored by Catena Foundation. The Catena Foundation is a private family foundation that supports civic engagement and democracy initiatives, particularly voter registration and civic engagement organizations.

How to get funding from the Catena Foundation | Inside Philanthropy OVERVIEW: The Catena Foundation supports climate change and environmental conservation, youth and community development, and civic engagement in the Southwest. It also supports indigenous causes and Native-led organizations. IP TAKE: The Catena Foundation is one of several Walton family philanthropies that appears to be operating below its full grantmaking potential.

It keeps a low profile and offers limited public detail about its strategy, though it now has a grant portal. In April 2025, Inside Philanthropy reported that Kathy Reich, former Ford Foundation BUILD director and longtime Packard Foundation staffer, was joining Catena as executive director.

Catena is not a fully progressive funder, but its giving often leans left , especially around climate, conservation, civic engagement and community work. It is best understood as a relationship-first, invitation-only foundation. A cold proposal is unlikely to work: its latest tax filing indicates preselected-only grantmaking, and its grant portal requires invitation credentials.

The strongest prospects are organizations already close to Catena’s visible network, especially in western climate and conservation, clean energy, Native-community work, youth biking and trails, and civic or community engagement.

A realistic path runs through aligned grantees, co-funders, intermediaries and western issue coalitions, including networks connected to Trust for Public Land, New Venture Fund, Environmental Defense Fund, Western Resource Advocates and Native or rural partners. Without a warm introduction, treat Catena as a long-game cultivation prospect.

Note the Catena Foundation is an independent funder and should not be confused with the Walton Family Foundation or any of the other foundations affiliated with the Walton family . PROFILE: Established in 2016, the Catena Foundation is a private family foundation created by Sam R. Walton, grandson of Walmart co-founder Sam Walton.

Headquartered in Carbondale, Colorado, the foundation’s mission is “ to heal the land and heal the people . ” Catena has an endowment of around $575 million that was established and maintained through the sale of Walmart stock. Because it does not have a website or make its giving priorities publicly available, it can be difficult to know where the foundation’s current interests lie.

However, the foundation’s previous executive director revealed to IP in 2021 that its “priorities include addressing climate change and promoting clean energy deployment, empowering youth through access to bicycling programs and trails, and civic engagement. ” The foundation also works “closely with Native communities across all [of its] priorities.

” Funding priorities observed from 990s: Grants for Climate Change and the Environment Climate and environment are the clearest observed priorities based on recent 990-PF grant purposes and grantee patterns, but Catena does not publish formal program guidelines.

The foundation has been a steady supporter of the Environmental Defense Fund, and its current Director of State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs previously held a similar position at the Catena Foundation. It has also given a $4 million grant to World Wildlife Fund in 2022 and at least $1. 25 million to Western Resource Advocates annually since 2020.

Recent 2024 grantees the New Venture Fund for “Community Engagement,” Trust for Public Land for “Conservation,” and significant cumulative support to Environmental Defense Fund, Western Resource Advocates and New Venture Fund.

Grants for Youth and Community Development Catena intersects its environmental grantmaking with a focus on youth, youth biking, trails, outdoor access and related infrastructure, especially in places connected to Native and rural communities. Chiloquin Youth Bike Program is the clearest recent public confirmation of this interest area.

Grantees include Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association, Silver Stallion Bicycle and Coffee Works, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Youth Empowerment Services for Dine Bikeyah, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers, and Arizona Trail Association. Grants for Democracy and Civic Engagement The foundation funds organizations working to expand voter access and increase voter turnout in elections.

It also supports policy groups and those seeking to address the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. In 2024, Catena gave $3. 25 million to New Venture Fund and $1. 15 million to State Leadership Project.

Catena has invested millions in The State Leadership Project, which is “dedicated to fostering a sustainable civic ecosystem nationwide. ” It gave over $1 million to the Hopewell Fund in 2022 and $1 million to the Defending Democracy Together Institute in 2023.

Other grantees include Protect Democracy Project, Public Democracy America, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, One America Movement, Arizona Native Vote, Rural Arizona Engagement, Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

Grants for BIPOC, Indigenous Rights and Justice The Catena Foundation’s support for Indigenous organizations is best understood as a cross-cutting priority, not a standalone public program. Across its grantmaking, the foundation says it works closely with Native communities and appears to weave that commitment into its broader areas of support.

Catena appears to work with Native communities across its environmental, youth/trails and community priorities. Indigenous/Native-led or Native-serving work appears to intersect with youth biking, trails, conservation/restoration, community development and western environmental priorities.

Catena partnered with Tahoma Peak Solutions to support the Klamath First Foods Roundtable and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority to bring water to more homes. It supported a project to convert an old military truck into a mobile bicycle repair shop to serve the Navajo Nation and funded bicycle technician training programs in Diné communities.

Other historical grantees include The Lakota Fund, Museum of Northern Arizona, The Hopi Foundation, Partnership With Native Americans, American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, The Klamath Tribes, and To Nizhoni Ani, a a Diné-led climate change and environmental justice nonprofit.

Grants for Immigrants and Refugees While it is not usually mentioned as one of Catena’s priorities, the foundation provides a number of grants to immigrants’ rights groups and immigration law organizations.

Grantees include American Business Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Justice Corps, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, International Refugee Assistance Project, American Immigration Council, and Santa Fe Dreamers Project. Grants typically range between $1,000 and $500,000, but they have reached into the millions.

Catena is a sizable, but still relatively quiet private foundation with FY2024 net assets near $596 million and charitable disbursements of about $30. 6 million. Geography : Catena is headquartered in Carbondale, Colorado, and the strongest geographic signal is the American West/Southwest/Four Corners region, though grants also flow to national intermediaries and organizations based in Washington, D.

C. , New York and California. Types of work funded: The clearest evidence supports conservation, climate/clean energy advocacy, community engagement, youth/outdoor access, biking/trails, Native-community work and intermediary/fiscal-sponsor grantmaking.

Some grants may support advocacy or civic infrastructure, but the available public descriptions are often too broad to confirm tactics like litigation, organizing, narrative change or direct service in each case. Less likely fits: A standard direct-service nonprofit with no western/Southwest relevance, no climate/conservation/civic connection and no warm connection to Catena’s grantee network would be a poor prospect.

The Catena Foundation does not appear to accept unsolicited applications or requests for funding. Contact the foundation at (970) 340-4141. Carbondale, CO 81623-0994 Enable JavaScript to continue This site uses JavaScript to verify your account, display articles, and provide other features.

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