The Emil Muller Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation that typically donates to environmental programs in Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates counties in New York. ¹ It awards grants to environmental conservation programs, capital projects, and general operations. ²

The foundation has donated to Earthworks‘ Center for Youth Services, Finger Lakes Land Trust, Taproot Collective, ³ the Nature Conservancy Central and Western Chapter, Ducks Unlimited, ⁴ and Encompass. ⁵ In 2024, the foundation reported approximately $400,000 in annual grantmaking and net assets of over $9.5 million. ⁶

Founder

Emil Muller was a construction mogul. He was born in Switzerland in 1904 and moved to New York in 1926. He worked a series of jobs upon arriving in New York before eventually settling on carpentry, and in 1932 he earned a degree in Architectural Drafting from what is now known as the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 1933, Muller received U.S. citizenship and started his own construction company. Muller would build homes during the day and attend school in the evenings, eventually earning a degree in Industrial Management in 1935. Muller worked on low income housing and apartment building until the mid-1940s when he began building strip malls. He argued that strip malls would become the future of suburban shopping, and in his career he “developed, built, owned, and managed over twenty plazas.” ⁷

Muller owned thousands of acres of land in New York which enabled him to enjoy horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, farming, and hunting. His “love of the outdoors nurtured his conservation interests and he made numerous gifts of land to different organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, so that others could enjoy the land as he did.” ⁷ In addition to his conservation efforts, Muller sat on the board of Highland Hospital where he donated to the cardiac unit, and the Rochester Museum and Science Center where he chaired the building committee for its Strasenburg Planetarium. ⁷

Grantmaking

Earthworks

Earthworks is an environmental nonprofit which advocates strict regulations in the mining industry, an end to oil and gas energy, and an expansion of weather-dependent energy sources like wind and solar. ⁸ In 2024, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $20,000 to Earthworks’ Center for Youth Services in Rochester, New York. ³

Finger Lakes Land Trust

The Finger Lakes Land Trust is a conservation group focusing on water health and land conservation in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Since its inception in 1989 to 2026, it claimed to have helped conserve 35,000 acres of forests, farmland, gorges, and shoreline in the region. ⁹ It has also invested in programs to fix toxic algae blooms happening in the Finger Lakes and associated waterways. ¹⁰ In 2024, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $15,000 to the Finger Lakes Land Trust to help expand the Wesley Hill Preserve. ³

Taproot Collective

Taproot Collective is a community organization in Rochester, New York that provides materials, workshops, and technical and design assistance for urban gardens to help promote youth employment in low-income communities. ¹¹ In 2024, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $10,000 to help build more community gardens. ³

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is the world’s largest conservation nonprofit which as of June 2024 held total assets of over $9.5 billion. ¹² It supports policies and efforts that allegedly drastically cut carbon emissions and protect farmland and forests in order to “store billions of tons of living carbon.” ¹³ In 2023, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $20,000 to The Nature Conservancy Central and Western Chapter for the expansion and renovation of the West Hill Preserve Trail. ⁴

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited is an advocacy group which focuses on the health of waterfowl and the habitats in which they live. The organization offers hunting safety and strategy guides and invests in conservation programs that increase the health and population of wildlife, the ability of people to enjoy the outdoors, and the enrichment of biodiversity and expansion of natural habitats across the country. ¹⁴ In 2023, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $25,000 to Ducks Unlimited for the restoration of the Seneca River Floodplain. ⁴

Encompass

Encompass was a nonprofit that advocated an increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the animal advocacy movement. ¹⁵ In 2022, the Emil Muller Foundation donated $25,000 to Encompass’s Future Ready Program. ⁵

1. “Home.” Emil Muller. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.emilmullerfdn.org/. 
2. “What We Fund.” Emil Muller. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.emilmullerfdn.org/what-we-fund. 
3. Emil Muller Foundation, Form 990-PF, 2024, Part XIV. 
4. Emil Muller Foundation, Form 990-PF, 2023, Part XIV. 
5. Emil Muller Foundation, Form 990-PF, 2022, Part XIV. 
6. Emil Muller Foundation, Form 990-PF, 2024, Part III Line 6. 
7. “Our Founder.” Emil Muller. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.emilmullerfdn.org/our-founder. 
8. “What We Do.” Earthworks. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://earthworks.org/what-we-do/. 
9. “About .” Finger Lakes Land Trust. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.fllt.org/about/. 
10. “Protecting Water Quality in the Finger Lakes Region.” Finger Lakes Land Trust. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.fllt.org/finger-lakes-water-quality-land-protection. 
11. “Taproot Collective.” United Way. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.unitedwayrocflx.org/roc-the-day/causes/taprootcollective. 
12. The Nature Conservancy, Form 990, 2023, Part I Line 20. 
13. “Our Priorities: Tackle Climate Change.” The Nature Conservancy. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/. 
14. “Ducks Unlimited Conservation.” Ducks Unlimited. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.ducks.org/conservation. 
15. Healey, Paul. “Meet the Organization Making the Animal Movement More Inclusive.” Species Unite, June 8, 2020. https://www.speciesunite.com/news-stories/making-the-animal-movement-inclusive.