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#wednesdaysforwomen Partner Spotlight: NFWF

Avangrid Foundation

#wednesdaysforwomen Partner Spotlight: NFWF

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In celebration of 100 years of the right to vote, Avangrid Foundation giving and storytelling this year includes a focus on diversity and inclusion, with special emphasis on women and girls.

Through our partners, we meet countless inspiring women working to better the world we live in and the lives of people in communities both near and far. Using #wednesdaysforwomen, we will help share their unique stories in spotlights throughout the year.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was created by Congress in 1984 to work with the public and private sectors to restore the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats for present and future generations. NFWF has since grown to become the nation’s largest private conservation grant-maker.

We spoke with Amanda Bassow, Director of the Northeastern Regional Office, to learn more about her leadership in promoting sustainability and climate action on the ground and in the field.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT NFWF, YOUR BACKGROUND AND YOUR ROLE. WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS WORK?

I joined NFWF in 2006 to run our Chesapeake Bay grants portfolio, and since 2013 I have served as the Northeastern Regional Director. In that capacity I oversee the development and expansion of several landscape-scale initiatives in the region focused on protecting and restoring critical habitat for fish and wildlife. Current efforts include: working to restore forest and freshwater habitat in New England and Central Appalachia; improving water quality and coastal habitats, and also building community resilience to storms and sea level rise in Long Island Sound the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay; and, working to slow the spread of white-nose syndrome in bats and help affected bat populations recover. All of this work depends on the partnership of a broad mix of funders, landowners and implementers from the public and private sectors. In 2019, the Northeastern region included more than 150 grant-funded projects supported by 14 different funding partners.

DESCRIBE FOR US THE IMPACT NFWF HAS AND WHAT MAKES IT SUCH AN IMPORTANT ORGANIZATION.

NFWF supports projects in all 50 states and U.S. territories and plays a key role in bringing together the public and private sectors to increase the resources available for conservation. Our projects – more than 18,600 since our founding by Congress in 1984 – go to some of the nation’s largest conservation organizations, as well as some of the smallest. NFWF neither advocates nor litigates, but focuses on funding the best projects that will provide the maximum long-term benefit for species and habitats.  Over the past 36 years we have funded 5,000 organizations and generated a total conservation impact of $6.1 billion.

As a grantmaker focused on on-the-ground projects, we work with the community of the willing, or more often the community of the eager. I am so inspired by our grantees and partners – like the dairy farmers, who have one of the hardest jobs there is, and who still find time to embrace conservation practices, like transitioning to grazing, streamside forest buffers, and innovative approaches to manure management. And the municipal public works directors who have figured out how to make green stormwater infrastructure more cost-effective than traditional gray infrastructure. For me, it’s inspiring to work for an organization that has as broad a reach as NFWF does and that has such a powerful impact on conservation efforts across the country.

WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN TO YOU?

Sustainability to me is more a direction than an endpoint. It’s about continually trying to find ways to meet human needs while at the same time minimizing our impacts on fish, wildlife, habitats and ecosystems. It’s about striving to live in ways that protect diverse, resilient ecosystems that can adapt to a changing climate, while continuing to produce clean water, clean air and healthy soils upon which we all depend.  And it means investing in habitat restoration and helping landowners manage their lands in ways that meet their own goals, while also minimizing environmental impacts, and maximizing wildlife benefits.

HOW ARE WOMEN IMPACTED BY ISSUES OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION? WHAT WOMEN LEADERS IN THESE AREAS INSPIRE YOU?

My work is largely focused on restoring habitats that have been degraded by human activity and/or by extreme weather events, and on helping wildlife populations that are in decline to rebound and recover. This work is all the more challenging in the face of unknown and rapidly changing environmental conditions.

These conservation challenges are not unique to women, but it is my experience that women are often at the forefront of this work – finding innovative strategies to address complex issues, engaging communities from the ground up to participate in stewardship of their local natural resources, and building bridges across sectors and interest groups.

This work requires big-picture thinking, collaboration and a willingness to fail. And in my experience, women are drawn to it. I have been inspired by dozens – if not hundreds – of women who are in the field, in the rivers and streams, in the board room, and in some cases in caves, all working to find solutions.

I think about Dr. Winifred Frick, who is the chief scientist at Bat Conservation International, and is a partner on multiple Bats for the Future Fund grants. Fred is developing and utilizing cutting edge science to help slow the spread of white-nose syndrome in bats. I think about Amy Wolfe, who is the Director of Trout Unlimited’s Northeast Habitat Program. Amy works tirelessly with volunteer landowners to restore habitat for wild trout. I think about Olivia Ferriter, who is retired from the Department of Interior, and Wendi Weber, who is a Regional Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Olivia and Wendi were NFWF’s key partners in executing the Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resilience Grant Program and their combined vision and pragmatism were keys to its success. And I think about Dianne Russell, who leads the Institute for Conservation Leadership, and who has coached, cajoled and inspired countless conservation leaders to think big, think smart and think collaboratively.

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HOW DO COMMUNITY PARTNERS LIKE THE AVANGRID FOUNDATION HELP MAKE YOUR MISSION A REALITY? SHARE A SUCCESS STORY FROM OUR PARTNERSHIP!

Our mission is to bring together the public and private sectors to support conservation, so without amazing partners like the Avangrid Foundation, it would not be possible for us to do what we do. NFWF specializes in bringing all parties to the table – individuals, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and corporations. Together, we protect and restore imperiled species, promote healthy oceans and estuaries, improve working landscapes for wildlife, advance sustainable fisheries and conserve water for wildlife and people.

The NFWF-Avangrid Foundation partnership already has supported 15 different on-the-ground conservation projects to restore healthy forests and rivers in New England, to improve management of the mixed grass prairie in the northern Great Plains, and to test treatments and management strategies to slow the spread of white-nose syndrome in bats. For example, in Maine, these grants are removing seven barriers to fish passage that will restore access to 12 miles of upstream habitat and more than 3,900 acres of lake habitat – benefiting river herring, Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, American eel, and eastern brook trout.

Altogether, this partnership already has leveraged $400,000 in funding from the Avangrid Foundation (of $1 million committed over 4 years), over $2.8 million from other public and private funders, and more than $3.4 million in grantee-provided match – and we’re just getting started. This is exactly the kind of result Congress envisioned when it created NFWF 36 years ago.


The Avangrid Foundation is committed to sustainable development and being dynamic stewards of our communities and environment in accordance with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, and in partnership with experts at the local and national levels.

This action supports:

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