Fiscal Sponsorship
EDGI is fiscally sponsored by Multiplier, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports projects that are turning game-changing ideas into planet-saving impact.
Current Support
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
June 2021 - May 2023
$450,000 “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”
EDGI is utilizing these funds to sustain and further develop our work at the intersection of US federal environmental, science, and information policies and practices. In our first four years, our analyses demonstrated that just and effective environmental governance will require significant work to improve three critical functions: agency operations, public information, and community engagement. With programs rooted in these three areas, over the next two years we will explore how environmental, climate, and data governance can be rebuilt and reimagined to protect the most vulnerable, and how governing agencies and industries can be held more accountable through transparent, collaborative, community-centered environmental research, technology, and decision-making.
Proposal Developers: Gretchen Gehrke, Christopher Sellers
Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar
Communications Coordinator: Shannan Lenke Stoll
Development Director: Muhi Khwaja
Web Monitoring Project Leader: Gretchen Gehrke
Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman
Interviewing Co-Curator: Leif Fredrickson
Interviewing Co-Curator: Jessica Varner
Environmental Data Justice Coordinator: Lourdes Vera
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Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
September 2020 - August 2021
$50,000 “Building Foundations for the Environmental Right to Know in the Digital Age”
Over the last three years, EDGI’s analyses have demonstrated that we need to not just restore but enhance the rules and principles guiding how our federal government protects our ecosystems and human health. EDGI has been developing detailed retrospective analyses with a view to formulating recommendations for concrete improvements to both our regulatory systems for protecting our environment and to the democratic orientation of those systems, which will better ensure that environmental protection benefits everyone. We are laying the groundwork for justice-oriented public data and information accessibility, including new standards for public oversight and our environmental right-to-know, that is tailored to the digital age.
Proposal Developers: Gretchen Gehrke, Christopher Sellers
Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman
Website Monitoring Program Leader: Gretchen Gehrke
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Code for Science & Society
December 2020 - December 2021
$20,000 “Environmental Enforcement Watch: Open Data Science for Environmental Justice”
EDGI is using this funding to host a series of online workshops for our Environmental Enforcement Watch (EEW) project. In these workshops, we bring together environmental activist groups, environmental justice communities, subject area experts, and members of the public to collaboratively analyze & make actionable data from EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database using data science tools we have created.
Proposal Developers: Kelsey Breseman, Gabby Trudo
Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman
EEW Coordinator: Lourdes Vera
EEW Outreach Coordinator: Leslie Alanis
EEW Notebook Developer: Megan Raisle
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Earth Science Information Partners Lab
March 2021 - August 2021
$10,000 “Developing an Environmental Enforcement Data Portal for Grassroots and Congressional Action”
Vital data about federal environmental enforcement actions against facilities that pollute the soil, air, and water is currently available but largely inaccessible in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. In this project, we will build a web portal to share accessible data tools we have developed so that the public can use ECHO data to answer questions about polluting facilities in their areas of interest and draw attention to their findings. Our web portal will include new tutorials about how to access and query our database, and will create intuitive access to our existing data science tools.
Proposal Developer: Kelsey Breseman
Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman
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Individual Donations
Our work is made possible through grants and direct tax-deductible donations from the public.
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In-kind resources:
Previous Support
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, with Climate Central
April 2020 - June 2021
$450,000 “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”
EDGI used this funding to continue and expand its successful work documenting and analyzing changes to federal websites involving environmental issues, interviewing past and present staff of EPA and other agencies, analyzing federal environmental policy changes, publishing lay and academic articles on federal environmental concerns, and developing new democratic approaches to environmental data production, access, and use. This funding allowed us to lay vital groundwork for a brighter future for environmental data and governance in which justice and equity stand at the center.
Proposal Developers: Christopher Sellers, Gretchen Gehrke, Sara Wylie, Kelsey Breseman
Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar
Communications Coordinator: Kelly Wilkins
Web Monitoring Project Leader: Gretchen Gehrke
Archiving Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman
Environmental Data Justice Coordinator: Lourdes Vera, Sara Wylie
April 2018 - March 2020
$500,000 “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”
The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) is using this funding to continue and expand its very successful work in archiving federal environmental data, monitoring and reporting on changes in federal websites involving environmental issues, interviewing past and present staff of EPA and other agencies, producing analyses of federal environmental reports and rules changes, publishing lay and academic articles on federal environmental concerns, and working with data justice organizations to develop new democratic approaches to environmental data production, access, and use, as well as additional general organizational support.
Proposal Developers: Phil Brown, Michelle Murphy, Nick Shapiro, Raymond Cha
Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar
Community Coordinator: Kevin Nguyen
Web Monitoring Project Lead: Gretchen Gehrke
Web Monitoring Software Developer: Jason Sherman
Archiving Project Manager: Kelsey Breseman
Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson
October 2018 - September 2019
$35,200 “Organizational Effectiveness Grant”
This project involves working to build more organizational effectiveness within EDGI, including working with two consultants with complementary skills. Zulakya Santiago of Libélula Consulting is focusing on EDGI’s internal structure and Susanne Moser is focusing on EDGI’s external relationships with many different audiences and types of organizations. This funding also supported a two-day in-person meeting of EDGI’s core membership.
Proposal Developers: Phil Brown, Gretchen Gehrke, Stephanie Knutson, Susanne Moser, Zulayka Santiago, Aparna Sundar, Sara Wylie
Organizational Effectiveness Consultants: Libélula Consulting, Susanne Moser Research and Consulting
Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson
May 2017 - June 2018
$97,020 “Collaborative Website Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategic Communications to Protect Science Infrastructure Under the Trump Administration”
Climate Central is partnering with The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) to comprehensively assess which government-based climate science resources (including databases) are threatened and to establish a model and plan for ongoing monitoring and strategic communications that protect vital scientific infrastructure.
EDGI Proposal Developers: Andrew Bergman, Toly Rinberg, Sara Wylie, Rebecca Lave, Nick Shapiro
Remote Project Manager: Raymond Cha, Weather Pattern, LLC
Grant Coordinators: Stephanie Knutson, Nick Shapiro
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Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
June 2018 - May 2020
$200,000 “Archiving, Monitoring, and Ensuring the Accessibility of Federal Environmental Data: Support for the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative”
This grant will be used to promote access to government data and information, refine assessments of data vulnerability, and promote social and environmental justice movement building. Read more here.
Proposal Developers: Nick Shapiro, Stephanie Knutson, Phil Brown, Ray Cha, Lindsey Dillon, Matt Price, Dawn Walker, Sara Wylie
Community Coordinator: Kevin Nguyen
Archiving Project Manager: Kelsey Breseman
Web Monitoring System Administrator: Jonathan Buys
Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson
March 2017 - September 2017
$50,000, “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative”
This grant provided funding for three of EDGI’s core working groups: archiving, website monitoring, and interviewing.
Proposal Developers: Nick Shapiro, Michelle Murphy, Sara Wylie
Contractors: Andrew Bergman, Rob Brackett, Toly Rinberg
Working Group Coordinators: Brendan O’Brien, Matt Price, Dawn Walker, Chris Sellers, Toly Rinberg
Project Directors: Nick Shapiro, Stephanie Knutson