ABOUT TERN FOUNDATION
Tern Foundation is on a mission to expand solar energy in Massachusetts for environmental sustainability and the transition to clean, 100% renewable energy communities.
We collaborate with local organizations that want to join the green energy movement to benefit their communities and the natural environment.
Founded in 2010, Tern is guided by our mantra—a mindset and response to global climate change:
At Tern, we are curious about the creative ways local nonprofits engage and connect in the face of an endangered planet and increasingly extreme weather. Taking action on climate is an essential shared value among the organizations we support.
We make solar grants to organizations that engage creatively with their many stakeholders and who see the natural environment as a stakeholder too.
We are energized by new ideas and possibilities that invite environmental responsibility into the conversation for just and sustainable communities. We support communities that are having these urgent conversations and asking what’s possible to protect the magnificent biodiversity of planet Earth—now and for long term sustainability.
Marianne Lampke & Lisa Linnehan
CO-DIRECTORS
Marianne and Lisa co-founded Tern Foundation in 2010 out of a deep respect for nature and in response to climate change. Since then, the foundation has supported the installation of over 500kW of solar renewable energy for mission-inspired organizations. The foundation works in partnership to protect the environment as well as invest in nonprofit organizational sustainability. While Tern is a small grantmaking foundation working in a local context, we see every solar project as one worthy step toward reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals for global well-being, particularly Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy.