Program Officer Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Established in 1926, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (CSMF) is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. They support nonprofit activities throughout the U.S. and internationally focused in four programs:
Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Youth Engagement. In addition to the home office in Flint, MI, offices are located in suburban Detroit, London, and Johannesburg. In 2025, the Foundation made 396 grants totaling more than $159 million.

For more information about CSMF’s work, please visit their website. To learn more about the values that undergird all of their work, visit their Values page.

Launched forty years ago, the Mott Foundation’s Environment program has long supported programs around the world that protect communities and the ecosystems upon which they depend. This work has demonstrated that such grantmaking must seek practical ways to build strong economic, social, and environmental conditions for all people; in a word, sustainability. In 2025, the Environment program awarded 93 grants totaling more than $20 million.

This is an exciting time to join the Environment team as they begin to implement in 2026 a new ten-year program plan. Based on the lessons learned from their long-term engagement in the field, the new work will pursue three initiatives:

• One Water in which CSMF will promote clean, affordable and accessible water for all from source to tap, both in the Great Lakes region and across the United States.
• Finance for Sustainability in which CSMF will aim to influence international finance to drive the transition to low‑carbon energy, protect ecosystems and uphold the rights of local communities.
• Land, Water and People of the Amazon Basin in which CSMF will work to advance land rights, ecological stewardship and sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon basin.

The Foundation is seeking a Program Officer to manage the One Water’s national approach, a new focus area within the Environment program’s water initiative. CSMF plans to grant $10 million per year for ten years to advance the goals of the One Water initiative in its entirety, with the funds split between the Great Lakes and national work. This Program Officer role is an exciting opportunity for a water policy expert to help design and shape a new philanthropic strategy poised to make an impact on how water is managed in the United States.

Specifically, the national grantmaking portfolio seeks to:

• Support for networking and technical assistance for groups in the water policy and adjacent fields to build One Water movement strength nationally.
• Support for opinion research, message development and media to tell One Water success stories at the local, regional, state and national levels.
• Support for selected efforts outside of the Great Lakes basin to secure One Water policy wins and demonstrate model projects that build momentum for progress across the country.

As the Foundation launches this work, the Program Officer will help strengthen the national “One Water” ecosystem—connecting state and local efforts to national partners, elevating compelling stories of progress, and supporting policy wins that can be replicated and scaled. The Foundation is approaching the national strategy with both ambition and humility, recognizing that durable change will require sustained coalition‑building, pragmatic solutions, and engagement beyond traditional environmental audiences over a multi‑year horizon.

The Program Officer will work closely with colleagues on the One Water team supporting the Great Lakes region and will be part of an eight‑person environment team. This is a full‑time position located in Flint, MI and will require frequent travel throughout the U.S.

• With the One Water team, design and execute multi‑year grantmaking strategies.
• Monitor developments in water policy and management across the United States; identify emerging issues and trends.
• Periodically review the One Water U.S. initiative for continued relevance; recommend future grantmaking priorities; and…