The Multisolving Institute is a left-of-center policy activist organization that promotes “multisolving.” This approach is designed to promote policies that align constituencies for greater left-of-center impact, accomplish several goals with the same budget, solve short-term problems to address long-term crises, and include the left-of-center concept of equity in all issues. 1
The Multisolving Institute is a project of the left-of-center New Venture Fund, which is managed by Arabella Advisors. 2
History and Leadership
The Multisolving Institute was founded in February 2022 by Elizabeth Sawin when she was the co-director of environmentalist think tank Climate Interactive. At the time of its founding, the Multisolving Institute separated from Climate Interactive and became its own organization. 3 4
As of June 2024, Sawin is the executive director of the Multisolving Institute. Prior to founding the Multisolving Institute, Sawin worked with the Sustainability Institute and founded Climate Interactive to work on far-left climate equity policies. She is on the advisory board of Climate Communication; Climate Interactive; the Kresge Foundation’s Climate Change, Health and Equity Initiative; Partnership for Southern Equity’s Ecoistricts Program; and the Post Carbon Institute. 5 In 2024, Sawin was named as a panelist on the Climate Science Advisory Panel of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D). 6
Activities and Funding
The Multisolving Institute is a left-of-center policy activist organization that promotes “multisolving.” This approach is designed to promote policies that align constituencies for greater left-of-center impact, accomplish several goals with the same budget, solve short-term problems to address long-term crises, and include the far-left concept of equity in all issues. 1
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., 7 the Multisolving Institute is a project of the left-of-center New Venture Fund, which is a project of Arabella Advisors. 2 The institute supports the far-left concepts of racial equity 8 and climate equity and supports the use of weather-dependent energy in the United States to combat climate change. 3 9
The organization’s efforts focus on researching and documenting best practices, developing strategic communications to share more information about multisolving activities, and training organizations to center the far-left concept of equity in their programming. 4 The Multisolving Institute also holds external trainings and events about multisolving 10 and creates tools for left-of-center organizations to address climate issues. 11 The Multisolving Institute has conducted research on the intersections of health and climate policies for the left-of-center Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 12
The Multisolving Institute has also built the FLOWER tool, which is an interactive community engagement tool about multisolving. The tool has prompts about multisolving designed for different sized groups addressing questions about how to model the benefits of multisolving, and how to adapt the concept to different applications. 13
The Multisolving Institute’s partners include the Partnership for Southern Equity, the Summit Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Morgan Family Foundation, liberal donor George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Julis-Rabinowitz Family, the Why Wait Fund, Surdna Andrus, and the Kresge Foundation. 14
The Multisolving Institute has also partnered with the Climate Interactive to work on the far-left concept of equity, climate-related issues, and other social issues. 15
Funding
The Multisolving Institute receives its funding from individual contributions and donations. All fiscal support for the Multisolving Institute is routed through its parent organization, the left-of-center New Venture Fund. 16
References
- “The Possibility.” Multisolving Institute.” Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/about-us/.
- “Privacy Policy.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/privacy-policy/.
- “About Us.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/about-us/.
- “Ceballos, Cassandra. “Announcing the Multisolving Institute.” Climate Interactive. February 1, 2022. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.climateinteractive.org/blog/announcing-the-multisolving-institute/.
- “Elizabeth Sawin, PhD.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/about-us/elizabeth-sawin-phd/
- “Healey-Driscoll Administration Launches Climate Science Advisory Panel; Dr. Sawin named as panelist.” Multisolving Institute. January 23, 2024. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/healey-driscoll-administration-launches-climate-science-advisory-panel-dr-sawin-named-as-panelist/.
- “Multisolving Institute.” Idealist. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/69ad3eff23a242ed83d49dbe53e82508-multisolving-institute-washington.
- “Racial Equity and Multisolving: A Conversation With Nathaniel Smith of Partnership for Southern Equity.” Multisolving Institute. April 10, 2022. Accessed June 1, 2022. https://www.multisolving.org/equity-and-multisolving-a-conversation-with-nathaniel-smith-of-partnership-for-southern-equity/.
- Elizabeth R. Sawin, Kelsi Eccles, Susanne Moser, and Tina Smith. “Multisolving: Making Systems Whole, Healthy, and Sustainable.” Stanford Social Innovation Review. November 1, 2023. Accessed June 1, 2023. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/multisolving_making_systems_whole_healthy_and_sustainable.
- “Trainings & Events.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/events/.
- “Tools.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/resources/.
- “Multisolving at the Intersection of Health and Climate.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/resources/multisolving-at-the-intersection-of-health-and-climate/.
- “FLOWER.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/flower/.
- “Our Partners.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/about-us/.
- “Multisolving.” Climate Interactive. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.climateinteractive.org/themultisolvinginstitute/.
- “Donate.” Multisolving Institute. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://www.multisolving.org/donate/.