Associate Director, Environment

The Overbrook Foundation

The Overbrook Foundation (the "Foundation") is a family foundation that supports organizations advancing human rights, protecting American democracy, and conserving the natural environment. Founded in 1948, the Foundation has a fourteen-member Board of Directors and a professional staff of seven. The Foundation awarded approximately $10 million in grants in 2025.

Based in New York City, the Associate Director, Environment (the "AD") will lead all aspects of the Foundation’s Environmental Grantmaking program (the "Program"), which focuses on protecting the natural environment and combatting the climate crisis. The AD will lead grantmaking for the Program, and will monitor and evaluate the progress and impact of individual grants and overall Program strategies, communicating frequently about them to the Board, grantee partners, and others interested in the Foundation’s work.

Principally, the AD will be responsible for identifying effective and impactful organizations and programs, building deep partnerships with grantees and managing the Foundation’s investment in them with the Foundation’s board and staff. Entrepreneurial and driven to expand the impact of the Program and its grantee partners, the AD will serve as an ambassador for the Foundation, seeking opportunities to build strategic partnerships and enhance the Foundation’s impact.

An excellent writer and communicator, the AD will occasionally author and distribute content across different mediums and platforms, speak publicly about the Program, and represent the Foundation at affinity groups and collaboratives. The AD will also work in partnership with the Lead Advisor for the Environment on special initiatives around donor engagement, DAF giving, and other projects.
The AD will be a strategic thinker with a commitment to the Foundation’s mission, and will serve as a thought partner and member of the Foundation’s leadership team. They will actively participate in strategic discussions, drawing on their curiosity and professional experience to provide informed and incisive perspectives to all manner of topics, from communications strategy, to peer organization outreach, to the Foundation’s culture, to partnerships with the Board.

• Manage grantmaking process for the Program, including generating and evaluating proposals and prospective grantee partners, developing written funding recommendations and presenting them to the Board, and monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on grantee partner performance;
• In close collaboration with the Foundation’s President, colleagues, and Board, evolve Program strategy and approach on an ongoing basis to best achieve the Foundation’s mission;
• Serve as the primary point of contact with prospective and current grantee partners around all issues, investing in the Foundation’s relationship with them and identifying opportunities to provide them with technical assistance as appropriate;
• Develop and maintain a robust pipeline of best-in-class prospective grantee partners for the Program so that the Foundation is always preparing for current and future grant‑making cycles;
• Develop, implement, and constantly improve a system for monitoring and evaluating grantee partner impact through solicitation of reports, meetings, calls, site visits, and other methods;
• Work in partnership with the Lead Advisor for the Environment on special initiatives around donor engagement, DAF giving, and other projects;
• In general, collaborate with President and colleagues on all manner of organization‑wide effort, from Board meetings to strategic planning efforts to organizational retreats and other events.

• Stay abreast of relevant issues, trends, and developments in the Program’s grantmaking areas, remaining current on fast‑changing political and legislative developments and emerging funding needs and opportunities;
• Prepare written and other communication as needed to educate colleagues and the Board on developments relevant to the Program and to share learning from our grantees and Programs;
• Remain educated on best practices in…