From 2020 to 2024, Waverley Street Foundation partnered with over 200 organizations advancing community-centered climate solutions across food, energy, land, and public engagement. These early investments helped us listen deeply to those most impacted by climate change and explore a wide range of approaches, many of which shaped where we are today.
In our first chapter, we cast a wide net. That breadth helped us learn where community-centered climate work can truly take root and deliver durable results. These learnings are now shaping a refined strategy. They’re also helping us understand what it means to show up with humility, clarity, and accountability.
We offer these reflections not as definitive answers, but as waypoints. We believe they can support greater alignment and collaboration for organizations committed to a healthy and joyful future.
Six Key Learnings
These initial learnings are grounded in four years of partnership, implementation, and adaptation. Together, they tell Waverley's early story: that broad experimentation gave us the insight we needed to focus, and that focus, done well, creates the conditions for long-term impact.
The insights reflect how our thinking evolved about what’s required for community-led climate work to take root and which types of investments have the potential to endure and scale.
Going Wide Helped Us Find Our Place
We went wide, and learned where we bring the most value: deep, community-led work with staying power.
Innovation Isn't Enough Without Implementation
The strongest results came when ideas had the trust, relationships, and systems in place to carry them forward.
To Succeed, Solutions Must Resonate
Climate efforts gained traction when people felt the value in their daily lives.
Networked Strategies Outperformed Singular Grants
The most transformative outcomes came when we supported the connective tissue: relationships, infrastructure, and alignment across communities.
Stories Shape What’s Possible
The strongest efforts didn’t just deliver—they told a story that traveled.
Joy and Connection Propel the Work
Progress was built on strategy and strengthened by relationships and moments of joy.
What We’re Carrying Forward
These insights clarified not just what works, but what’s needed to make change last. They now guide how we show up, where we invest, and what we prioritize.
Our early years taught us that doing community-led work well requires focus, patience, and strategic partnership. It means going deep, not wide.
These reflections represent an opportunity to move forward with clearer priorities, deeper relationships, and a stronger commitment to what works—especially enduring partnerships over disconnected efforts.
We’re honored to support this work, and grateful to the many partners who continue to show us how change really happens.