We sat down with Noa Staryk, board chair at McKnight Foundation, to learn more about their nation-leading approach to climate philanthropy. From grantmaking to investment strategies, Noa provides sharp insights and inspiration for other funders looking to join the movement.

NCFP: Can you tell me a bit about McKnight and your background with the Foundation?
Noa: McKnight Foundation was founded in 1953 by my great grandparents William and Maude McKnight. In 1974, my grandmother Virginia McKnight Binger took the helm. For many years, the family comprised the board and meetings took place at my grandparents’ dining room table. At the core of our family identity was caring deeply about the issues impacting Minnesota communities, and our generation learned a lot through osmosis over the years. As we near our 70th anniversary next year, I am reflecting that we were fortunate McKnight Foundation began that way, because it has helped us keep community needs at the center of our mission as our programs evolved and as we have grown our assets, staff, and potential for impact.

NCFP: What motivated McKnight to begin supporting climate efforts, and how did that grow over the years?
Noa: We began our clean energy work in 1994, the same year that the first wind farm was built on the Buffalo Ridge in Minnesota. At the time, climate change was not even a term that we were using, but we knew that the Midwest’s many coal plants put us at the heart of America’s climate and pollution problems. We also knew that there were incredible economic development opportunities with renewable energy. We started small in Minnesota and slowly grew our funding through partnership with the Energy Foundation.

About ten years ago, climate change emerged as one of the most profound issues of our lifetime. We realized that the time to act was now, not just for us, but for the next generations. Because we’re a place-based funder, we started creating our own portfolio to combat climate change in the Upper Midwest. We expanded to more states and formalized our Midwest Climate and Energy program in 2015 with the hiring of a dedicated program director and team. Today we are proud to support a network of over 100 grantees, many at the intersection of climate and equity, across an increasingly diverse Midwest.

Read the full article about climate philanthropy at the National Center for Family Philanthropy.