I’m Brett Howell, founder of Howell Conservation Fund, and a new member of Exponent Philanthropy. My mission is to catalyze teams to achieve breakthrough solutions to the systemic sustainability issues we face on our planet. As a venture philanthropist, I’m focused on solving at the “root cause” of environmental challenges.

In June, I’ll be heading to Henderson Island, an uninhabited World Heritage site in the eastern South Pacific and the world’s most plastic-polluted beach, as part of a broader plastic pollution expedition including artists, business experts, filmmakers, government leaders, journalists, and scientists. I’ll be leading the beach clean-up team efforts.

As I head out for the trip, Exponent Philanthropy asked me to share three perspectives:

  1. Have a concentrated focus.
  2. Pool money.
  3. Take a risk on early-stage nonprofit groups and ideas.

During my years working for nonprofits, I hosted quite a few “show the donors the project” trips. You’ve probably been on at least one of these yourself, where you “see,” but don’t “touch/directly impact” the solution that your funds are going to support.

In addition to providing financial support, I am applying my professional program management capabilities to make the trip a success by raising the overall capacity of the expedition:

  • Connecting with global players about breakthrough solutions for what to do with the tons of plastics we’ll be collecting
  • Creating a conduit for U.S. funders to donate to the international effort while meeting U.S. donor rules
  • Literally rolling up my sleeves and leading a team to remove ~10 tons of trash and plastics. This will prevent sea turtles from wading through plastic on the beach to dig nests, stop some seabirds from accidentally feeding their young microplastics, and perhaps let hermit crabs use shells from their natural environment instead of plastic bottle tops.

Read the full article about venture philanthropy by Brett Howell at Exponent Philanthropy.