Ruth Richardson's Channel

I am the co-founder of Small Change Fund. My passion is in seeding good ideas and cultivating their growth from seed to root to branch. Over the arc of my career in environmental philanthropy I have been involved in many different “acts of creation,” the latest one being Small Change Fund, a new web-based vehicle for one-to-one giving to grassroots socio-environmental initiatives in Canada and abroad. Small Change Fund enables social change at the grassroots level helping Canadians invest in local actions that make a difference for the planet by bridging the gap between those who can offer support and grassroots groups that can use that support to build more sustainable communities, preserve biodiversity, and gain a voice in their own future.

Prior to Small Change Fund, I was the first Director of the Unilever Canada Foundation, working within a corporate environment to lead the company in environmental philanthropy and community engagement. I was the founding Chair of the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network spear-heading the first affinity group of its kind in the country turning an early conversation between several funders into an international network of now 50 members. I sat on the founding advisory committee of the Laidlaw Foundation’s Children and Environmental Health program helping to initiate a key program on toxics reduction in Canada. Most recently, I was the first Environment Program Director at the Metcalf Foundation that has been the cornerstone of innovative environmental policy funding in Ontario. As well, I am on the founding board of the newly established Prince Edward Community Foundation, helping to shape the organization into an effective change agent for local action.