Resilient Foundation is an organization based in the Netherlands that works with filmmakers and donors to finance documentaries on environmentalism. Resilient Foundation is a project of the Windward Fund, a nonprofit managed by the left-of-center consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ¹

Background

Resilient Foundation is a fund designed to finance film projects by left-of-center environmentalists. It is housed in the Hague Humanity Hub, a private foundation that fosters programs about preservation of the ecosystem. ² It is a project of the Windward Fund, one of the major funds managed by the left-of-center administrative consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ^{3 4} Its films are explicitly made to “drive collective action” and “pressure decision makers” to enact “major systems change.” ⁵

Activities

Resilient Foundation is affiliated with WaterBear, a streaming platform for climate change-related documentaries and has distribution deals with services including Apple TV, Roku, and Samsung Smart TV. ^{6 7 8}

The 2020 Oscar-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher was produced by the foundation’s founder Ellen Windemuth. Resilient characterizes it as an “atomic story,” a purposely small-scale production (to ensure that it will have a small carbon footprint) with an explosive effect. ⁹

Resilient claims that Africa is “becoming more vulnerable to extreme environmental and economic degradation” because of climate change. To this end, Resilient is producing an on-going documentary series called “8Billion” which covers topics such as floods and droughts in Mali, drought and the spread of deserts into Burkina Faso, water scarcity in Niger, and droughts in Chad, all of which are allegedly the result of climate change. ¹⁰

Resilient Circle

Organizations associated with the Resilient Foundation include UK-based charity Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Pierre Omidyar-funded tech advisory group Luminate, UK-based conservationist group Synchronicity Earth, French environmental group MAVA, Swiss private banking firm Pictet Group, World Bank-affiliated group Connect4Climate, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). ¹¹

Leadership

Resilient is led by a board of trustees whose members as of 2023 included Nice and Serious co-founder Tom Tapper, chief of external affairs at WWF-NL Allard Stapel, film director Dan McDougall, business advisor of impact economy and NGOs at the Hague Business Agency Diana Eggleston, executive director in the media banking office at private bank Coutts and Co. Judith Chan, and founder of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) Martin Palmer. ¹²

Resilient also employs a body of staff, calling it its “core team” made up of “multidisciplinary and multicultural group of talents.” Resilient claims that it is able to grow as an organization because it “embrace[s] diversity.” ¹³

1. “Project Directory.” Windward Fund. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.windwardfund.org/project-directory/
2. “About Us.” The Hague Humanity Hub. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.humanityhub.net/about-us/.
3. “Project Directory.” Windward Fund. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.windwardfund.org/project-directory/.
4. Walter, Scott. “Inside the Left’s Web of ‘Dark Money.’” Capital Research Center. Capital Research Center, October 26, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/inside-the-lefts-web-of-dark-money/.
5. “Project Directory.” Windward Fund. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.windwardfund.org/project-directory/.
6. “Project Directory.” Windward Fund. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.windwardfund.org/project-directory/.
7. “WaterBear.” WaterBear. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.waterbear.com/.
8. “How We Work.” Resilient Foundation. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/how-we-work.
9. “How We Work.” Resilient Foundation. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/how-we-work.
10. ^[1] “8billion.” Resilient Foundation. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/8billion.
11. “Get Involved.” Resilient. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/get-involved.
12. “About Us.” Resilient. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/about-us.
13. “About Us.” Resilient. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://resilient.foundation/about-us.