Environmental Grantmaking Advisory Committee Application

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 19th. 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.

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Jen Bailey is the Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, bringing her deep experience in community-based leadership, philanthropy, and movement-building to the organization.

Jen is the Founder of Faith Matters Network, a national Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually-grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities. Since its inception, Faith Matters Network has served over 25,000 leaders through its programs and initiatives. She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.

Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair.

An Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Jen holds degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured by On Being with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more. She is also the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope (Chalice Press, 2021).

email Jen: [email protected]