About Redwoods

Redwoods Collective is a pilot. The idea emerged from over two years of research, focus groups and demand from donors that revealed a pressing need from the philanthropic market for more vetted solutions and reliable intelligence in pathways to climate impact.

In response, Climate Lead, ClimateWorks Foundation, and other leaders in climate philanthropy have teamed up to launch Redwoods Collective, an intelligence service designed to connect philanthropic professionals with excellent resources. The pilot is set up to offer: 1) climate education, 2) vetted leads, and 3) trusted diligence that can help donors and their staff quickly unlock new money for urgent climate solutions.  

For our launch, we have partnered with Climate Lead (formerly CLI), a specialized advisory organization that has helped ultra-high-net-worth philanthropists move over $4 billion into climate solutions over the past five years. Climate Lead will provide big-picture framing on what matters in climate philanthropy, a growing list of fundable opportunities, concise intelligence on a set of fundable opportunities, and deeper-dive educational materials that help philanthropic professionals understand and frame important and emerging issues. 

Our Partners

  • Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. By serving as an impartial guide, Climate Lead equips high-net-worth philanthropists who are new to climate with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions, in partnership with a diverse network of experts. Since 2019, Climate Lead has helped over 100 philanthropist families move major gifts totaling more than $4 billion into high-impact climate solutions globally.

    Climate Lead is our intelligence partner.

  • ClimateWorks is a global platform for philanthropy to innovate and scale high-impact climate solutions that benefit people and the planet. ClimateWorks delivers global programs and services that equip philanthropy with the knowledge, networks, and solutions to drive climate progress for a more sustainable and equitable future. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has granted over $1.8 billion to more than 850 grantees in over 50 countries.

    ClimateWorks Foundation is our fiscal sponsor.

  • P150 is a collaborative of global philanthropy advisors working together to move more money, more impactfully, towards efforts that can change the world.

    P150 is our philanthropic community partner.

Our Advisors

​​Redwoods is supported and advised by a small group of experienced funders and leaders in climate philanthropy who came together to design this new offering.

Jennifer Kitt, Climate Lead

Jennifer Kitt is president of Climate Lead, where she leads the organization’s work with philanthropists to harness their interest, passion, and generosity to increase funding for climate solutions. As an advisor to donors, their staff and advisors, and a strategic partner for organizations working to address the climate crisis, she is focused on building a community to bring new donors into the climate space to fund promising, high-impact solutions. Jennifer brings more than 20 years of experience working with philanthropists, corporations, and foundations to improve human well-being. She also brings decades of experience in community building, philanthropic collaboration and complex problem solving. As the mother of two boys, Jennifer is focused every day on the responsibility of our generation at this moment in time to heal planet Earth.

Shawn Reifsteck, ClimateWorks Foundation

Shawn Reifsteck is the Managing Director for ClimateWorks Foundation. Shawn has extensive leadership experience in the fields of philanthropy, environmental conservation, and civic engagement, and has built a reputation in the climate philanthropy community over much of the past decade as a strategic and collaborative leader. He has held numerous leadership positions with organizations over the past 20 years, including with Points of Light, Philanthropy Associates, The Ocean Foundation, and the food bank system in the U.S. Shawn earned his Masters in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco, holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Macalester College, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School—University of Pennsylvania.

Marisa de Belloy, High Tide Foundation

Marisa de Belloy is the President of High Tide Foundation. Her background includes investment banking, strategy consulting and human rights work. Marisa was previously COO of Made in a Free World, a SaaS solution for human trafficking. Before that, she created and ran a highly successful media & technology practice at investment banking firm Michel Dyens & Co., based in Paris, and co-founded and ran Fotango, an online photo sharing site funded by leading European VCs that was later sold to Canon, Inc. She has worked at Goldman Sachs and the LEK Partnership and taught finance at a French university. Marisa speaks French and English and has spent over 15 years working in Europe. She serves on several boards in the Bay Area where she resides with her husband and four children. Marisa received her MBA from Stanford University and her BA from Yale.

Marcia DeLonge, High Tide Foundation

Marcia DeLonge is the Program Director at High Tide Foundation. Marcia’s background includes research, leadership, and collaboration in the climate, environmental, and agricultural sciences. Prior to joining High Tide in 2022, Marcia was the Research Director and Senior Scientist in the Food & Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a member-supported non-profit organization. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar at University of California, Berkeley, where she contributed to research on opportunities to manage grazed grasslands for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Her prior work included scientific research on storms in Senegal and dry tropical forests in Mexico. She received her MS and PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and her BA from Northwestern University.

Tom Steinbach, Tempest Advisors

Tom Steinbach is Executive Director of Tempest Advisors, Sea Change Foundation and Sea Change Foundation International where he leads a team of philanthropy experts focused on addressing climate change in the United States and internationally. He has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors on climate and environmental issues for three decades. Tom sits on several boards of climate focused organizations. Of these, perhaps most relevant for the Redwoods effort is his role as Board Chair of Climate Lead.

Anajli Jaiswal, Tempest Advisors

Anjali Jaiswal is the Deputy Director of Tempest Advisors, working to address the serious threats posed by global climate change. She focuses on strategic planning, philanthropic collaboration and operations. Anjali is an expert in developing and implementing climate strategies with decades of experience in climate policy and law. Prior to joining Tempest Advisors, Anjali has two decades of experience with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where she was the founding director of NRDC's India climate and energy program. She also worked as a senior energy litigator and California water attorney at NRDC. Anjali was a law clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Louisa S. Porter and a fellow in the Fulbright-Nehru Indo-American Environmental Leadership program. She holds a B.S. in environmental sciences from the University of California, Riverside and law degree from UC Law San Francisco.

Apply Today

Redwoods is in pilot mode; we are starting with a select group of philanthropy professionals who can help us learn, test, and ramp up.

If you’re interested in joining our pilot, please fill out an application:

For all other inquiries, please email info@redwoodscollective.org or fill out this contact form.