Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense

“The organization changed its name from mcf legacy fund to equation campaign & global climate legal defense effective may 21, 2024, which is reflected in the amended articles of incorporation and bylaws.”

“The executive directors are automatically directors and all other directors are appointed by mcf.”

“Equation campaign and global climate legal defense's governance decisions, particularly amendment to the by-laws, also have to be approved by the governing body of mcf, it's parent organization.”

“The organization will distribute a full copy of the form 990 to all members of its governing body prior to filing.”

“All members of the governing board, officers and key employees must annually review the conflict of interest policy and complete a questionnaire concerning compliance on an annual basis. The forms are reviewed by the corporate secretary and cfo to ensure ongoing compliance and determine whether a conflict exists. All conflicts and potential conflicts are required to be disclosed, and the person is excluded from participating in deliberations and decisions concerning the matter.”

“As of june 30, 2024 equation campaign & global climate legal defense does not have any paid staff. Ecgcld hired staff following the policies and procedures of its parent organization, the marin community foundation (mcf). Mcf's top management official's compensation package is reviewed and decided annually by the board of directors. A compensation committee comprised of several independent members of the board of directors is established annually. Every few years, the committee engages an independent executive compensation consultant to evaluate the president's and cfo compensation packages to determine if the components, as well as the package as a whole, continue to be fair and reasonable.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are available upon request.”

“Rhea suh, sa hartman (thru 12/23), janelle cavanagh, lauren mcclelland (start 01/24), saul macias, and ashley smith are full-time employees of marin community foundation.”

“Marin community foundation (mcf) is a publicly-supported community foundation with the charitable mission of mobilizing the power of community and the resources of philanthropy to advance equity for people, places, and the planet. Mcf makes grants and loans to support community issues in marin county, california and throughout the world, encourages individuals, families, and businesses to partner with mcf to fulfill their financial and charitable goals, educates the community on pressing needs and the organizations addressing them, convenes people to work on community problems, and encourages greater community involvement. Although equation campaign and global climate legal defense's (ecgcld) charitable purposes remain wholly consistent with the purposes described above, the charitable activities of ecgcld have been revised as described below. Ecgcld will no longer operate donor advised funds and encourage donors to create donor advised legacy funds, as originally described in its application for recognition as a tax-exempt charity. Ecgcld will continue to make charitable grants to qualified recipients in order to advance ecgcld's exempt purposes, and has revised its eligible recipients to include organizations exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c)(3) and other organizations and individuals, to the extent that such grants would carry out the charitable purposes of mcf. Specifically, ecgcld will make grants to assist local communities. This grantmaking program is formerly a project of rockefeller philanthropy advisors, inc., a section 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, that is being transitioned to mcf's supporting organization ecgcld. Former project leaders katharine redford, who will serve as ecgcld's executive director managing the equation campaign program, and betsy j. Apple, who will serve as ecgcld's executive director managing the global climate legal defense, or "clidef" program, as well as the other senior leaders of ecgcld's programs. Ecgcld's equation campaign grantmaking program will support grantee organizations that assist local communities struggling with the development of projects that harm community members. Ecgcld's clidef (global climate legal defense) grantmaking program will provide support for people who are legally targeted as a result of their work relating to their communities. Ecgcld's clidef grants will help such individuals respond to these retaliatory attacks. Some grants will directly fund the legal defense of these individuals. Other grants will support legal ngos that provide local representation for such individuals and/or that proactively advise local residents. In the course of making and administering such grants, ecgcld will comply with all monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure that all grants exclusively further mcf's charitable purposes. When ecgcld makes grants to foreign charities or any other organizations that have not been recognized with an irs tax-exemption determination letter, ecgcld will exercise expenditure responsibility as described in treas. Reg. Section 53.4945-5(b) with respect to all such grants, unless a foreign public charity equivalency determination (as set forth in treas. Reg. Section 53.4945-5(a)(5) and rev. Proc. 2017-53) has been obtained with respect to the applicable organization.”