In 2024, the Dan & Margaret Maddox Fund brought together a community group of composed of young environmental professionals and activists to distribute $100,000 in grants to Middle Tennessee organizations working to protect the natural environment. This was our first participatory grantmaking initiative to focus specifically on the environment. Previous years had focused on high school youth, HBCUs, and LGBTQ+ youth. This year’s group met regularly over the course of six months to learn about grantmaking and different nonprofit organizations to make the follow grants:

• $30,000 to The Tennessee Aquatic Project
• $30,000 to Brooklyn Heights Community Garden
• $20,000 to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
• $10,000 to Recycle Reinvest
• $10,000 to Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy

This Advisory Board wanted to fund organizations and initiatives focused on increasing access to green space, climate justice, and food justice. When looking at the applications, they prioritized applications that embodied Indigenous and racial justice, intersectionality, advocacy & direct service.

Since 2008, the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund has partnered with nonprofit organizations in Middle Tennessee to improve the lives of young people across Middle Tennessee.  Core to this work is our commitment to addressing the systemic injustices that have marginalized communities and continue to leave many behind.  School vouchers will be a detriment to ensuring that all children can access high-quality educational opportunities.

School vouchers divert resources away from already underfunded public schools and further burden families facing poverty.   Public schools in Tennessee lack the resources they need for students to thrive and vouchers would magnify the problem. It is expected that the voucher proposal will cost the state of Tennessee over $1.1 billion over the next five years. 51% of public school students will get less in state funding than voucher recipients will.

Private schools are also not accountable for serving students and families with the greatest needs.  Private schools are not required to offer the same protections and services that guarantee safe environments and equitable education opportunities for all students  including students with disabilities, English language learners, and LGBTQ+ students. Vouchers also fail to benefit rural students where private school options are limited.

Most importantly, data shows that vouchers do not lead to better academic outcomes. MNPS students outperformed voucher users in Nashville. ESA/voucher participants in Nashville.

Here are some resources from our partners to learn more about vouchers:

The Education Trust

Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment

Nashville Public Education Foundatoin

Rev. Jen Bailey is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a public theologian and leader in the multi-faith movement for justice. She was the founding Executive Director of Faith Matters Network, an innovative Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities.  She has been an Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow and a Truman Scholar.

Jen has served on the boards of the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, The Fetzer Institute and was recently the chair of The Healing Trust board in Nashville.

“We are thrilled to have Jen lead the foundation into the next season of justice and liberation work in Middle Tennessee,” said Indira Dammu incoming board chair. “Jen brings a wealth of nonprofit and foundation experience to Maddox.”

“We believe Jen’s understanding of the Beloved Community is expansive and includes our sacred obligation to care for the planet that nurtures us,” said David Esquivel, chair of the search committee. “She is the right leader to help us live into our vision of people and planet flourishing together.”

“I am so honored to step into this role. Our focus on youth and the natural world are a public declaration of our unwavering commitment to work toward building for the better future and leave this world better than we found it. My deepest gratitude to Rev. Kaki Friskics-Warren and the Maddox team for the incredible foundation you have laid. And my heartfelt thanks to the Maddox Board for your trust in me. I am so excited to help shape this next chapter of our work alongside our partners.” Rev. Jen Bailey

Jen assumes the role as Executive Director on February 3, 2025. Jen will oversee the vision and operations of the foundation.  She succeeds Rev. Kaki Friskics-Warren who has served the foundation since 2009.

About the Maddox Fund

Maddox Mission: We seek a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat.  The Maddox Fund supports youth and environmental work in Middle Tennessee through program and advocacy grants.  Information on our grantmaking can be found at maddoxfund.org. For more information:  [email protected]; 615-385-1006

The Maddox Fund Environmental Participatory Grant Advisory Board, composed of young environmental professionals and activists, seeks inquiries from Middle Tennessee nonprofits regarding environmental grants available Q4 of 2024.

Grants of up to $30,000 will be made in the following areas:

Access to Green Space—including but not limited to, environmental equity-focused activities and programs, liberatory outdoor teaching practices, preventing loss of natural space, access to natural space.

Climate Justice—including but not limited to, reparations for communities impacted by climate change including community resiliency, just transition from fossil fuel to renewable, safe and affordable energy, mitigation of invasive insects and diseases caused by climate change, mitigation of flooding caused by climate related severe weather.

Food Justice—including but not limited to addressing agricultural land loss, advancing food justice for marginalized communities, land justice for marginalized communities.

Schedule 

• November 4: Inquiries due
• November 15:  Notification of next phase
• December 5:  Full proposal due (not to exceed xxx pages or composed of xx questions)
• December 20:  Anticipated announcement

Format for Inquiry: One page, including program/organization description, area of interest (green space, climate justice, and/or food justice), skeleton budget, and requested amount

Send to:  [email protected] by November 4

Total Funds Available:  $100,000

Inquiry Evaluation Lenses: Indigenous and racial justice, intersectionality, advocacy & direct service

Who is the Maddox Fund:  The Maddox Fund is a Middle Tennessee foundation that works to better our community through partnerships that improve the lives of young people and protect the natural environment.

What is Participatory Grantmaking: PGM a shift in power. Participatory grantmaking processes engage those who are directly affected by the issues at hand in the decision-making process.

Composition of Environmental Participatory Grant Advisory Board

Members of the advisory board were recruited from Maddox partner organizations and environmental advocates.  The advisory board includes:

• 5 African American Females
• 1 African American Male
• 3 White Females
• 8 Cis Gender
• 1 Agender

Send letters of inquiry to [email protected].  If you have any questions about the grant opportunity, please email [email protected] or call the Maddox office at 615-385-1006.

Dan Maddox used to say, “It is my job to make the money and her job to give it away. She is doing a better job than I am.” He was referring to his wife Margaret – in fact a Vice President of the Maddox companies and fully engaged in business matters. Still, the anecdote (a popular joke at parties in the ’70s and ’80s) illustrates a persistent practice among foundations: the disconnect over how the money is made and how it is given away.

Historically, the Maddox Fund’s Investment Committee structured the organization’s investment program with the singular focus maximizing returns. The Grant Committee, another group altogether, developed a process for giving the money away. The committees reported to each other at board meetings; their work, however, was guided by different values and directives.

With this siloed structure, Maddox’s market investments and grants could easily work against each other. For example, we might have invested in a company that degrades water quality while our grants prioritized healthy water systems; or, we might have invested in companies with extractive labor practices even as Maddox espouses justice and liberation.

During our 2020 equity audit, we interrogated our practices and began to ask how we could align our resources with our values. We asked ourselves what it would look like if every dollar we invested worked to further our mission.

Meanwhile, the Investment Committee went to work crafting our investment North Stars, which led to a 14-month search for an investment adviser who specialized in mission-aligned investments. In 2022, we hired Bivium Westfuller – a multi-racial, gender-diverse investment advisor “compelled by the power of financial resources, invested with purpose, to drive a flourishing society and planet.”

As of March 2024, approximately 71%, or $41M, of our assets have moved to Bivium Westfuller and invested with seven (7) diverse managers focused on solutions to three of our society’s most pressing problems – affordable housing, renewable energy and economic equity.

One of Maddox’s overarching North Stars is to be a “learning organization embracing all stages of transformation and change toward liberation.” We are in a steep learning curve right now as we plan for the transition of the remaining 29% of Maddox’s legacy investments toward alignment with our North Stars. In the year ahead we will be learning about impact measurement, shareholder activism and Net Zero investing. We are also learning, alongside other area foundations, about program- and mission-related investments in order to invest 95% of our resources in companies/markets that work for good.

The Maddox Fund seeks a world in which people and planet flourish together in regenerative systems free from oppression and threat. The old ways of working will not address our society’s most intractable systems and problems. New ways of thinking and investing are required. 

I come by it honestly. For 50 years my mom was part of a women’s group called the “Walkie Talkies.” You got it, they walked and talked weekly—seeing one another through personal crises, solving the world’s problems and cooking up a good deal of southern-woman mischief. It is no surprise that my response to almost every organizational crisis or transition is, “You want to take a walk?”

In my 15 years at the Maddox Fund, I’ve walked with long-term CEOs and young folx entering the nonprofit space. Walking puts people on an equal footing, creating a safer and more mutual environment for conversation. It also embodies what I believe to be true—we move forward together. ¡Adelante!

Walking also gets us outside, connecting us to nature and its rhythms. In the Spring, I choose Centennial Park, which is full of goslings and protective parents. In the Fall, Shelby Park’s colors make it my go-to place. And any season is perfect for Mill Ridge Park—our newest anchor park, thanks to the support of the Joe C. Davis Foundation and the excellent leadership of Darrell Hawks. The natural environment reminds us that seasons come and go—as do problems—and that our place in creation is both profound and insignificant.

In my final months at Maddox, I’d like say goodbye to everyone personally because you have shaped my life. But the closest I can get is inviting you on a walk–in small groups for cross-pollination and conversation. As appropriate, we might grab a coffee or a beer after our stroll.  Recognizing that walking is not for everyone, and even ableist, I’ve included some times at the Maddox office for a bite of lunch.

Use the form to RSVP for one of the sessions. All the dates below are open, but we will keep the groups small so that I can connect with each of you.

I anticipate that, as we stroll together, I’ll say “thank you” a lot. For your inspiration and courageous leadership, thank you.  For your boundless compassion and demand that systems be transformed, thank you. For your insistence that Maddox lead toward justice, thank you.  For envisioning a more liberatory Middle Tennessee, thank you.

In the months ahead, the Board of Directors of the Maddox Fund will announce the name of our new Executive Director. We hope they will join the team in the 4^th quarter of 2024 as I exit at the end of the year. I know the new leader will be motivated by the Middle Tennessee nonprofit community as you welcome the next season of Maddox philanthropy.

The Maddox Fund believes that real expertise lies within the community. We have lived that out in the past through participatory grantmaking with LGBTQ+ high school students making funding decisions or HBCU students guiding our priorities. Shifting grantmaking power to those connected to issues gets dollars closer to community-led solutions.

This year, the Maddox Fund has set aside $100,000 for environmental causes in Middle Tennessee.  We are seeking advisors to guide how to direct those funds to area nonprofits.  Each participant will be paid $1,000 for their time and expertise.

The ideal advisory committee member:

• Is a middle Tennessee student or young professional, ages 15-35
• Has a demonstrated commitment to environmental causes
• Has knowledge of Middle Tennessee environmental nonprofits & their work (participants may be employed by an area environmental nonprofit, but will be required to abstain from voting if there is a conflict of interest)
• Has the desire to learn about and participate in democratizing of philanthropy
• Is available for opening session on September 14 (required)
• Is able to attend 75% of all virtual meetings (required)

10 advisors will be selected.

Application

Apply by August 19^th. You can access the application here.

Timeline

• July 8—Application announcement
• August 19—Applications for fellowship due
• August 21—Participants notified of application (accepted/declined)
• September 14, 10:00-3:00—Opening Session (required for all participants in person)
• Wednesdays, September 18-November 5, 6:00-7:30 via Zoom (required to attend 75% of sessions)

Email [email protected] with any questions. Visit our environment page to learn more about our environmental grantmaking priorities.