Non-profit

Andes Amazon Fund

Website:

www.andesamazonfund.org/

Location:

Washington, DC

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Project of:

New Venture Fund

Formation:

2015

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The Andes Amazon Fund is an environmentalist organization focused on the Andes Mountains and Amazon rainforest regions of South America. It is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit within the Arabella Advisors funding network of left-of-center advocacy, cultural, and environmental projects. 1

Background

The Andes Amazon Fund is a grantmaking organization with a stated goal of conservation in the Amazon headwaters. The organization has pushed to expand protected areas at the national, regional and local level. 2

The organization is part of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the network of four nonprofits created and managed by Arabella Advisors, a philanthropy consulting company based in Washington, D.C.,  that caters to major left-of-center foundations and organizations. 3

The AAF advocates for conservation in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador. 4 It professes to have pushed for the designation of 20 million acres of new protected areas. 5 It has advocated for curbing gold mining, reducing deforestation, increasing environmental regulation, and providing economic incentives for conservation. 6

Finances

The organization awards grants to other nonprofit groups including Amazon Conservation Association, Upper Amazon Conservancy, and Nature and Culture International. 7

Donors to the Andes Amazon Fund include The Wyss Foundation, the Gordon E. and Betty I. Moore Foundation, and the Blue Moon Fund. 8 The Moore Foundation gave $5 million, and the Wyss Foundation donated $10 million in 2017. 9

Leadership

Megan MacDowell is executive director of the Andes Amazon Fund. Previously she was the director of the Amazon Conservation Association. She also worked for communications for Conservation International’s field programs, and conducted research for The Nature Conservancy’s Brazil program. 10

Adrian Forsyth is the founder and former executive director of Andes Amazon Fund. He remains a strategic advisor. He is currently the president of the board of the Amazon Conservation Association and is the board chairman of Osa Conservation. He was also formerly the vice president of Conservation International. He worked as an associate at the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Ontario Museum. He was previous a faculty member of Arizona State University in the Department of Zoology. 11

Enrique Ortiz is the senior program director of the Andes Amazon Fund. He co-founded the Andes-Amazon Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Amazon Conservation Association. He is also a board member of the Association for the Conservation of the Amazon Basin. 12

Thomas Lovejoy is the chairman of the board for the Andes Amazon Fund. He previously worked as a senior advisor to the president of the United Nations Foundation, a chief biodiversity advisor to the World Bank, assistant secretary for environmental and external affairs for the Smithsonian Institution, and executive vice president of the World Wildlife Fund. 13

References

  1. Andes Amazon Fund. Idealist. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/1a785aa3cbc94a8a904139482b41dbc2-andes-amazon-fund-at-new-venture-fund-washington
  2. Andes Amazon Fund. Idealist. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/1a785aa3cbc94a8a904139482b41dbc2-andes-amazon-fund-at-new-venture-fund-washington
  3. Andes Amazon Fund. Idealist. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/1a785aa3cbc94a8a904139482b41dbc2-andes-amazon-fund-at-new-venture-fund-washington
  4. Overview. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/impact/overview/
  5. Megan MacDowell. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/person/megan-macdowell/
  6. Viscidi, Lisa and Ortiz, Enrique. “How to Save the Amazon Rain Forest.” The New York Times. July 19, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/opinion/amazon-rainforest-deforestation.html
  7. Grantees. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed March 3, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/impact/grantees/
  8. Donors. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/about/donors/
  9. Press Release. “Moore, Wyss Foundations Award $15 Million to Andes Amazon Fund.” Philanthropy News Digest. September 14, 2017. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/moore-wyss-foundations-award-15-million-to-andes-amazon-fund
  10. Megan MacDowell. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/person/megan-macdowell/
  11. Adrian Forsyth. Andes Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/person/adrian-forsyth-ph-d/
  12. Enrique Ortiz. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/person/enrique-ortiz/
  13. Thomas Lovejoy. Andes Amazon Fund. Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.andesamazonfund.org/person/thomas-lovejoy/

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Molly McUsic
    Steering Committee Member
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Andes Amazon Fund

1759 R Street Northwest, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20009