Contact: Bari Samad, Communications & Marketing Director, Second Nature; [email protected]
(April 26, 2023)– Second Nature– an NGO focused on accelerating climate action in, and through, higher education- has received grant funding from Lumina Foundation– an independent, private foundation committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.
The grant will support the execution of Second Nature’s new strategic plan. The plan aims to mobilize the full range of strengths within the higher education sector to accelerate climate solutions, using network design to identify complementary strengths across institutions and personnel roles. Rather than solely focusing on operational decarbonization, this new strategic direction embraces the diverse strengths of the higher education sector.
“Lumina Foundation’s generous grant will help us drive equitable and holistic climate solutions by embracing the higher education sector’s diverse assets, including various leadership roles and types of institutions, to create scale and impact,” said Tim Carter, president of Second Nature. “The work will recognize and support climate action at community and technical colleges, smaller four-year schools, and institutions that have strong connections with their surrounding communities such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).”
“Lumina’s work has long focused on colleges and universities that serve the majority of today’s students but receive little press and public attention,” said Terri Taylor, strategy director for innovation and discovery at Lumina Foundation. “In our third grant to Second Nature, we applaud their evolution to recognize the contributions of all types of institutions and the potential that this larger higher education community can have ambitious, equitable impact on our national climate and sustainability goals.”
Specifically, the funding will support two key pathways in Second Nature’s strategic plan:
- Diversify to Unify: leverage and align the complementary strengths of the higher education sector through Second Nature’s collaborative program design and sector-wideactivities.
- Champion: serve as the higher education sector’s collective voice for climate actionbuilding momentum, inspiring progress, and highlighting the sector’s critical role in solving climate challenges.
The Diversify to Unify pathway will seek to create more equitable outcomes for Black, Hispanic, and Native American learners since they represent a more significant percentage of the student population on the campuses that Second Nature will engage in as part of its new strategic plan.
Both pathways will build awareness, support, and alignment with evidence-based solutions and program infrastructure support for key actors, institutions, systems, and partner organizations. A primary outcome of both the Diversify to Unify and Champion pathways is to create a shared understanding among leaders and other stakeholders within higher education institutions that climate leadership is not simply for larger colleges and universities but for all institution types.
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About Second Nature: Second Nature is committed to accelerating climate action in, and through, higher education. This is accomplished by mobilizing a diverse array of higher education institutions to act on bold climate commitments, to scale campus climate initiatives, and to create innovative climate solutions. Second Nature aims to align, amplify, and bridge the sector’s efforts with other global leaders to advance urgent climate priorities. secondnature.org.
About Lumina Foundation: Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. We envision a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. Our goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy. luminafoundation.org.
