Climate & Environment Grant

Climate & Environment Grant is sponsored by Laughing Gull Foundation. Supports community-led power building, advocacy, and sustainable solutions in the U. S.

South amid climate and environmental justice challenges.

Laughing Gull Foundation | Inside Philanthropy OVERVIEW: The Laughing Gull Foundation supports progressive work in the U.S. South through three grantmaking programs: LGBTQ+ equality, higher education in prison, and climate and environmental justice.

Across its portfolios, the foundation prioritizes grassroots organizations that are led by, accountable to and building the power of BIPOC communities and other people harmed by unjust systems. It supports strategies including direct service, organizing, advocacy, capacity building, policy change and culture change.

IP TAKE: Laughing Gull is a progressive and responsive funder with a staff that is committed to learning about new groups in its fields of interest. Grassroots outfits should note that this funder likes to invest in smaller organizations and is not averse to taking modest risks.

While the foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, it is approachable and invites prospective grantees to introduce themselves and their work via email. Southern groups aligned with one of its programs may submit a brief introduction through the foundation’s website. As well, friendly connections are especially valuable.

Participation in relevant Southern networks, coalitions, fiscal sponsors, or regranting funds can help an organization become known and trusted. Laughing Gull supports grassroots groups as well as universities, established nonprofits, and intermediaries, so size alone is not the deciding factor. The best prospects are organizations with strong community accountability, credible leadership, and a clear role in a broader movement.

For well-aligned groups, this is a funder worth cultivating. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. PROFILE: Based in Durham, North Carolina, the Laughing Gull Foundation describes itself as a progressive family foundation rooted in the South and committed to justice.

It was founded in 2012 by Virginia “Midge” Coward and members of her family with wealth derived in part from an early family investment in Berkshire Hathaway. Its mission is to “redistribute our resources to repair, rehumanize, and transform relationships, institutions, and systems.

” The foundation applies an explicit racial equity lens throughout its operations and prioritizes organizations that have BIPOC leadership and clear accountability to affected communities. It supports direct service, policy advocacy, community organizing, efforts to change public attitudes and capacity-building activities such as leadership development, fundraising, board development and peer learning.

While its grantmaking is centered in the South and Southeast, it sometimes supports national organizations that provide meaningful assistance to organizations and communities in the region. Laughing Gull is a spend-down foundation. In 2016, the family established a 20-year timeline for distributing the foundation’s assets, placing its anticipated closing around 2036.

The foundation says the decision reflects the urgency of the issues it addresses, a desire to move wealth out of family control and the founders’ wish to see the impact of its work. Dr. LaTonya Penny currently serves as chief executive.

Grants for Higher Education in Prison Laughing Gull’s Higher Education in Prison program supports efforts to expand access to high-quality, accredited college courses inside state correctional facilities in the South. The foundation views prison education as both an educational equity and racial justice strategy and prioritizes programs serving communities that have been disproportionately affected by incarceration.

The program’s current priorities include: Supporting and improving higher education in prison programs in the South. Building networks and peer-learning opportunities for program leaders, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students, colleges and other stakeholders. Supporting research, evaluation and public awareness.

Helping returning students transition from college in prison to education in community settings. Advancing policies and institutional practices that reduce barriers to prison education and strengthen prison-college partnerships. Laughing Gull favors student-centered programs that incorporate the voices and experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.

It also supports HEP coalitions, research and policy organizations, reentry initiatives and organizations working to strengthen the long-term sustainability of prison education programs. In 2025, the foundation approved about $1. 98 million for 36 higher education in prison organizations.

Grantees included the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, Benedict College’s B. E. S.

T. Lives Center, Claflin University, Common Good Atlanta, the Florida Coalition for Higher Education in Prison, the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network, Operation Restoration, the Tennessee Higher Education Initiative, the University of Central Florida’s Florida Prison Education Project and the Vera Institute of Justice. The portfolio also includes several HBCUs and statewide or regional HEP coalitions.

See the foundation’s 2025 grant announcement for the full list. The Laughing Gull Foundation is a GUTC signatory . The foundation’s LGBTQ+ Equality program supports organizations working toward a South where LGBTQ+ people can live safely and openly without discrimination.

It funds work throughout the Southeast while giving particular priority to organizations based in North Carolina and Virginia. The foundation emphasizes solutions that are led by and center Black, Indigenous and other people of color. Current funding priorities include: Community organizing and civic engagement.

Direct services, including LGBTQ+ community centers, housing, case management, physical and mental healthcare, food assistance, mutual aid and gender-affirming resources. Policy advocacy and education addressing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Direct action, legal advocacy and efforts to change public attitudes and culture.

Capacity building and support for intermediary grantmakers that reach emerging Southern organizations. In 2025, Laughing Gull awarded $1. 95 million to 35 LGBTQ+ organizations.

The foundation described these awards as direct, multiyear general operating support.

Grantees included the Campaign for Southern Equality and its Southern Equality Fund, Equality North Carolina Foundation, Equality Virginia, Freedom Center for Social Justice, the Knights & Orchids Society, LGBTQ Center of Durham, Nationz Foundation, Southern Vision Alliance, TAKE Birmingham, Time Out Youth and Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ Out in the South initiative.

See the 2025 LGBTQ+ Equality grant announcement for the complete portfolio. This program is a particularly strong prospect for Southern organizations led by LGBTQ+ people who are also Black, Indigenous, Latine, transgender, gender expansive, disabled or otherwise situated at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.

The portfolio includes both direct-service providers and organizations working on advocacy, organizing, litigation, civic engagement and movement infrastructure. Grants for Climate and the Environment Laughing Gull’s Climate & Environment program supports climate and environmental justice work across the South.

It prioritizes grassroots organizations led by and serving BIPOC and low-income communities that have experienced disproportionate harm from pollution, climate change and economic inequality. Current funding priorities include: Climate and clean-energy funder collaborations, network development, capacity building and field building. Policy advocacy related to the power and transportation sectors.

Community-led climate, clean-energy and environmental justice advocacy. Land conservation, heirs’ property protection and other strategies that help BIPOC communities retain land. Direct service, organizing, advocacy and culture-change work that builds community power and improves public health.

Although reducing regional emissions remains part of the foundation’s strategy, its portfolio is broader than conventional climate mitigation. It includes organizations working on environmental health, utility policy, community organizing, renewable-energy access, Black land ownership, rural power building, sustainable agriculture and philanthropic infrastructure. In May 2026, Laughing Gull announced $1.

9 million for 26 climate and environmental justice organizations.

Recent grantees included Alliance for Affordable Energy, Appalachian Voices, Black Family Land Trust, Center for Heirs Property Preservation, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, Groundswell, Land Loss Prevention Project, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Partnership for Southern Equity, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Southeast Climate and Energy Network, Taproot Earth and Virginia Organizing.

The foundation said these grants reflect its continuing practice of multiyear general operating support. See the 2026 Climate & Environment grant announcement for the full list. Other Foundation Strategies Laughing Gull also pursues its mission through funder organizing and mission investing .

These are foundation-wide strategies rather than additional nonprofit grant programs. Through funder organizing, Laughing Gull develops relationships and learning communities among funders and movement leaders. It aims to bring additional philanthropic resources to progressive Southern organizations and strengthen the funding landscape in its three program areas before the foundation completes its spend-down.

For grantseekers, this work may create indirect opportunities through regional networks, pooled funds, referrals and intermediary grantmakers. Laughing Gull has also used a portion of its assets for mission and impact investing since 2012. Its investments seek financial returns and measurable social or environmental benefits and are aligned with its grantmaking priorities.

The foundation is not currently accepting unsolicited investment offerings. Laughing Gull reported approximately $6. 1 million in grants paid in fiscal year 2024.

Its tax records list 127 grant entries totaling about $6. 2 million to 59 distinct grantees. The average grant was approximately $49,000, the median was $50,000 and the largest listed grant was $160,000.

The foundation prioritizes organizations rooted in the South and Southeast. It may also support regional or national organizations that provide infrastructure, technical assistance, regranting or other meaningful support to Southern groups. Across its programs, Laughing Gull favors organizations led by and accountable to BIPOC and directly affected communities.

It supports grassroots groups but also funds colleges, established advocacy organizations, regional networks and national intermediaries. Funding may support direct service, organizing, advocacy, civic engagement, legal work, policy change, research, capacity building, culture change and movement infrastructure, depending on the program. The foundation does not publish a conventional open application, RFP or LOI cycle.

Organizations based in or focused on the U.S. South whose work closely aligns with one of its programs may submit a brief introduction through the online contact form . The form requests an introduction of no more than one page. Grantseekers should not treat the introductory form as a general funding application.

A strong introduction should identify the relevant program priority, the organization’s Southern base or footprint, its community leadership and accountability, and its role within the broader field. While Laughing Gull does not accept grant applications, it encourages organizations working in its areas of interest to introduce themselves and describe their work in an email.

The names and profiles of its grantmaking team are available on its staff page. Submit general inquiries via the contact page. Enable JavaScript to continue This site uses JavaScript to verify your account, display articles, and provide other features.

Please enable JavaScript or allow scripts for Inside Philanthropy, then reload the page. Chrome: Open Chrome Settings, then go to Privacy and security > Site settings > JavaScript, and select “Sites can use JavaScript. ” Safari: Open Safari Settings, then check the Security settings for JavaScript.

Make sure JavaScript is enabled, then reload this page. Brave: Click the Brave Shields lion icon in the address bar and allow scripts for this site. If scripts are blocked, article access and account verification may not work.

Full Brave Shields instructions