Emily Teitsworth: Trust, Risk & Supporting Community-Led Climate Initiatives

Send us Fan MailIn this episode we talk to Emily Teitsworth, Executive Director of the Honnold Foundation (the nonprofit set up by world-famous climber Alex Honnold), about trust, risk and the foundation's work supporting community-led climate work and low-cost solar projects. Including:How did the Honnold Foundation come about, and what is the organisation’s core focus ?How and why was low cost solar energy chosen as an intervention? What makes this so effective?What is the foundation’s operating model and where do its funds come from?Has it helped to have a high-profile founder in Alex Honnold? How does his involvement in the foundation work?Why is so little philanthropy currently aimed at climate issues? Do we need to stop seeing climate as a “cause area” and see it instead as a cross-cutting issue that affects all funders and civil society orgs?Is it a challenge for climate philanthropy that the needs of the planet are often framed as in competition with those of people? How can climate funders overcome this?What kind of due diligence do donors need to do on charities in order to fund them in a trust-based way?Can funding from donors/foundations confer legitimacy on grassroots orgs as well as financial resources? Is this useful for them?Is scaling about helping individual organisations to get bigger, or about growing the overall ecosystem?How can funders design impact measurement approaches with their grantees to ensure they are genuinely empowering and beneficial rather than imposing a new burden?Do we need a better narrative about what it means to “fail” and to “succeed” in philanthropy?Does Alex Honnold’s background as a climber gives him a unique understanding of risk, and how does this play into the work of the foundation?What role does storytelling and narrative have to play in addressing climate concerns? How is this reflected in Honnold Foundation’s approach? Is the current political moment posing challenges for organisations focussed on climate?Further ReadingHonnold FoundationHonnold Foundation 2025 Impact ReportEmily's article for Alliance, "To build effective climate solutions, embrace human-centred design"Emily's article for Inside Philanthropy (with Suzanne Singer), "Trust-Based Philanthropy Is the Key to a Just Transition"Emily and Alex Honnold on the Invested in Climate podcastWPM article, "Why Isn't All Philanthropy Trust-Based Philanthropy?"Philanthropisms podcasts with Renata Minerbo, Edouard Morena, Joshua Amponsem and Ewan Kirk.