Crane Institute of Sustainability

The Crane Institute originated from an April 2014 meeting in which a group of 120 philanthropists worked to develop a nonprofit framework to promote SRI and ESG policies. The Crane Institute was officially founded in 2015, and works with corporate and educational entities as well as nonprofit groups to promote left-of-center policies in addition to SRI and ESG activism. ^{5  6  7}

Crane has received funding from major left-of-center grantmaking organizations including roughly $485,000 from the Ford Foundation, $400,000 from the New Venture Fund (NVF), and $127,330 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF). ^{8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17}

In 2020, Crane was an associate partner of left-wing Global Citizen’s “Time to Just Vote” campaign. ¹⁸ From 2017 to 2018, Crane received at least $245,423 of grants from the left-of-center Ford Foundation. ^{19 20 21}

Activities and Partners

Crane Institute of Sustainability works with organizations in the higher education, business, and nonprofit sectors to develop an agenda to implement left-of-center socially responsible investing (SRI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activism in management. ^{2 22}

Crane supports adding a “sustainability lens” to all decision-making processes, ³  advocates for the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity, expresses the view that “historic social structures” perpetuate inequality and drive ecological breakdown, ²³ and supports left-of-center climate-related activism. ²

Members of the Crane Institute of Sustainability’s staff and board have also promoted environmentalist activism and left-of-center social justice in numerous publications. ^{24 25}

The critical race theory-influenced ¹ environmentalist activism organization Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) is the “flagship initiative” of the Crane Institute of Sustainability. ^{3 4} Crane coordinates IEN’s efforts to align its investment efforts with left-of-center ESG activism and sustainability goals. ²⁶

In 2020, Crane was an associate partner of left-wing Global Citizen’s “Time to Just Vote” campaign. ¹⁸ Crane is also an institutional member of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment. ²⁷

Since 2020, the Crane Institute has expanded its Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) investment model to several endowment funds. These include the Arizona State University Foundation, the California State University Foundation, Lewis Clark College, the University of California, and the University of Toronto. ²⁸ Crane and IEN have also expanded their network of institutional partners to include the Sustainable & Impact Investing Learning & Knowledge (SIILK) Network, Second Nature, the HBCU Green Fund, 1% for the Planet, As You Vote, and the Investor Alliance for Human Rights as of 2026. ²⁹

As of 2026, the Crane Institute has received funding from the Denver Foundation, the Generation Foundation, the Litterman Family Foundation, the Sorenson Impact Foundation, the Tipping Point Fund (TPF), and the Wallace Global Fund. ²⁹

Leadership

Georges Dyer is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Crane Institute of Sustainability as well as the head of Crane’s Intentional Endowments Network (IEN). Prior to working for the Crane Institute, Dyer was vice president at climate advocacy group Second Nature, the founder of environmentalist organization Greenland Enterprises, and the Head of Market Intelligence for the Institutional Equities Group at LaBranche Financial Services in New York. As of 2026, Dyer is a member of the board for several organizations including the Brookwood School and Change Is Simple.  ³⁰

Dianne Dillon-Ridgley is the chair of the Crane Institute’s board of directors. Prior to the Crane Institute, she served as the United Nations’ (UN) representative for the World YWCA. She was part of the U.S. Delegation to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the 1997 UN General Assembly, and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa. She previously worked as president of the Association of Iowa Human Rights Agencies, the CEO of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, and a board member of Interface, Inc. As of 2026, she is a member of the board of trustees for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), serving in the role since 2002 while previously acting as board chair from 2014 to 2015. She is also the board chair for the Green Leadership Trust (GLT) and board member of  theVermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC). ³¹

Finances

In 2024, the Crane Institute of Sustainability reported $1,276,614 in total revenue, $1,267,710 in total expenses, and $381,431 in total assets. ³²

The Crane Institute has received several grants from left-of-center organizations. From 2021 to 2024, Crane received five grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) totaling $127,330. ^{14  15  16  17} From 2017 to 2020, Crane received five grants from the Ford Foundation totaling at least $485,000. ^{8  9  10  11}

From 2016 to 2019, Crane received three grants from the Denver Foundation totaling $110,000. ^{33  34  35} In 2024, Crane received a grant from the Climateworks Foundation totaling $100,000. ³⁶ In 2022, Crane received a grant from the New Venture Fund totaling $250,000, in addition to a 2024 grant totaling $150,000. ^{12  13}

In 2020, Crane received a $50,000 grant from the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund, in addition to a $20,000 grant from the GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund For Wealth Management in 2022. ^{37  38}