Wyss Foundation

OVERVIEW: The primary focus of the Wyss Foundation is the conservation vulnerable lands, waterways and ecosystems. Other areas of interest include economic opportunity, women and girls, civic engagement and democracy, medical research, and higher education. Its grantmaking is global in scope.

IP TAKE: The Wyss Foundation is known for its support of large-scale land conservation initiatives in the American West, but recent work has spanned the globe, supporting land, ocean, freshwater, and ecosystem conservation programs. The foundation has also named the engagement of Indigenous pe0ples in conservation as a priority. The foundation’s latest commitment, the Wyss Campaign for Nature, represents a $1.5 billion commitment to large scale protection of target areas around the world.

This is a relatively transparent funder that publishes spotlight articles about its current grant partners, as well as a comprehensive list of yearly grants. Its massive donations make a big splash in its giving area, so its influence is hard to miss. Unfortunately, this funder is not accessible, as it will not accept or review any unsolicited requests. It may require some networking and extra leg work to get on their radar, as long as your work aligns closely with theirs.

PROFILE: The Wyss Foundation was established in 1998 by billionaire Hansjörg Wyss. A native of Switzerland, Wyss is the former president and chair of Synthes U.S.A., a manufacturer of medical devices used in the treatment of bone disorders and injuries that was purchased by Johnson & Johnson in 2012. Wyss is a nature enthusiast and his foundation’s mission is to support “innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities, and strengthen connections to the land.” The Wyss Foundation current focus areas are Protections, Community, and Discovery. The foundation also runs fellowship and scholars programs in to support early-career future leaders in conservation.  

Grants for Environmental Conservation

Since its inception, land conservation has been the Wyss Foundation’s largest area of giving. Grantmaking is currently conducted through the foundation’s Protections focus area. According to the foundation’s website, Wyss has facilitated the conservation of over 20 million acres in the American West and at least five million acres in other countries. In 2010, Wyss facilitated one of the “largest private conservation purchases in American history,” when over 300,000 acres of the Plum Creek timberlands were acquired by the U.S. Forest Service and the State of Montana. More recently, the foundation has provided ongoing support to the Nature Conservancy, which has used funding to purchase over 3,000 acres of land near Washington’s Hoh River as part of an initiative to protect salmon populations and habitats and to develop sustainable economies in the state of Washington.

Current conservation grants are conducted through Wyss’s newest commitment, the Wyss Campaign for Nature, which represents a $1.5 billion effort to “protect 30% of the planet by 2030.” The campaign names three specific strategies: the expansion of protected areas, implementation of “international conservation targets,” and the promotion of conservation and clean energy movements around the world, with a strong focus on Indigenous groups. Supported projects that are currently underway include the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s work in the Boreal Wildlands, the South Endeavor Trusts work at the Mt. Gibson Protected Area in Australia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Argentina Program to protect and preserve the Reserva Natural Payunia in Mendoza Provice. Recent U.S. conservation grantees include the Conservation Fund, the Western Rivers Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, Trout Unlimited, and the Wilderness Society.

Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation

The Wyss Foundation’s Protections grantmaking program names the conservation of oceans and bodies of freshwater as areas of interest. Wyss recently provided support to a collaboration between Frieds of Cocos Islands, National Geographic Pristine Seas, Blue Nature Alliance, and others to provide protections to a swathe of Costa Rica’s marine territory including Cocos Island National Park and the Bicentennial Seamounts Marine Management Area. Wyss also gave $2.9 million for the Nature Conservancy’s Blue Bonds for Conservation project in the Caribbean. Other marine and freshwater grantees include Oceana Inc., Western Rivers Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and the Oceans North Conservation Society.

Grants for Animals and Wildlife Conservation

The Wyss Foundation names biodiversity and the preservation of vulnerable ecosystems as priorities of its Protections grantmaking. In Kazakhstan, the foundation partnered with the U.K.’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan to obtain protected status for two nature preserves, the Bokey Orda State Nature Reserve and the Ashiozek State Nature Sanctuary, which together account for more than 1.6 million acres of land. And in Zambia, the foundation partnered with the Frankfurt Zoological Society to facilitate the repopulation the Nsumbu National Park, which was the site of extensive poaching in the early 2000s, with elephants, lions, and rhinos.

Grants for Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights

The Wyss Foundation names support for conservation efforts by Indigenous groups and nations as a priority for its Protections grantmaking. In Canada, the foundation supported the Cree Nation’s efforts to protect the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory in northern Quebec. Another recent grant went to the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which collaborated with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to preserve the Qat’Muk, a valley in British Columbia.

Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy

Wyss’s grantmaking for climate change and clean energy has tapered off in recent years. In 2016, the Wyss Foundation joined with other foundations to support the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which aims to reduce and/or eliminate the use of substances that deplete the earth’s ozone layer. While climate change is not a named priority at this point, the foundation’s conservation work supports several “nature-based solutions” to the warming climate. Grantees with work that relates to climate change include Re:Wild, which used funding to protect 30,000 acres of the Maya Forest Corridor in Belize, and the Wilderness Land Trust, which works in the U.S. to transfer private lands to federal preservation status thereby preventing development. The foundation has also supported Solar United Neighbors, which helps communities transition to producing their own solar energy.

Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity

The Wyss Foundation makes grants for work and economic opportunity via its Community grantmaking program, which names “expanding economic opportunity and reducing inequality” as areas of focus. Specific interests in recent years include the reform of lending practices and the development of policies that “help families save and build wealth.” Women and immigrants are populations of interest in this area. Recent grantmaking appears to prioritize organizations involved in policy development, including the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Grants for Women and Girls

One of the goals of the Wyss Foundation’s Community grantmaking is to “build a society where women are empowered and have equal opportunities.” In 2015, the foundation collaborated with the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Scholars Strategy Network to produce a symposium, the Women Effect, at Harvard University. Since then, the foundation has made grants to Peace Women Across the Globe, the Women’s Lunch Place of Boston, the Women’s Resource Center of Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Safe Voices, a Maine organization that provide shelter and aid to victims of domestic abuse and sex trafficking.

Grants for Medical Research

The Wyss Foundation’s Discovery grantmaking program prioritizes medical research and innovation with a strong focus on the musculoskeletal system, reflecting Wyss’s past work in the medical devices industry. In 2008, the foundation helped to establish the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University with a gift of $250 million. The foundation also supports medical research and education at hospitals and universities across the U.S., including Clemson University, the University of Washington, the University of Mississippi, the University of Maryland, the University of South Alabama, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Grants for Higher Education

Wyss’s Discovery grantmaking also supports a broad range of scholarships and fellowships in diverse disciplines at colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. Notable among these are the Wyss Fellows Program for future conservation leaders and the Wyss Scholars Program for graduate-level education in Western land conservation. The Fellows Program consists of a two-year fellowship with participating conservation organizations in Arizona, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico and offers experiences in “policy development, grassroots and grasstops organizing, coalition-building, research and writing, media and communications, and fundraising.” The Scholars Program, meanwhile, offers “up to half of the tuition and expenses of getting a master’s degree or a third of the tuition and expenses of getting a law degree” at six participating schools in the U.S. The Wyss Foundation has supported fellowship and scholarship programs in other disciplines at colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad including Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, New York University, Georgetown University, Yale University, and the University of Colorado.  

IMPORTANT GRANT DETAILS:

Grants generally range from $10,000 to $100,000, with some organizations receiving commitments of several millions over multi-year periods. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.

  • Conservation grantmaking prioritizes the American West and prioritizes long term partnerships with large organizations and collaborative initiatives. In other areas of interest, Wyss gives to a range of large and small organizations.

  • The Wyss Foundation conducts its grantmaking by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited requests for funding.

General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation via its contact page.  

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