Changing the Climate Philanthropy Equation
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Randall Kempner
This story is part of the Architects of Impact series, highlighting stories of innovation that demonstrate how our Community is mobilizing to ensure a world that works for all people and the planet.
Less than two percent of global philanthropy goes toward addressing climate change—a figure that, to Member Randall Kempner, reflects both an urgent failure and a tremendous opportunity.
“Philanthropy needs to step up, and it has not historically done so,” he says. “The climate crisis is real, and it impacts everything else: health, education, equity, homelessness, and economic development. As a global philanthropic community, we have not been doing nearly enough.”
Kempner believes the solutions already exist. What’s missing, he argues, is the coordination and capital to scale them. “We already know what works,” he says. “The question is how quickly we can act and how effectively we can work together to do it.”
That conviction drives his work as Executive Director of the Climate Philanthropy Catalyst Coalition (CPCC), a network of funders and advisors. His mission is ambitious yet specific: triple U.S.-based climate philanthropy within five years by connecting people, data, and ideas across the field. CPCC is fiscally sponsored by Forward Global.
A Coalition for Climate Action
Kempner’s path to climate philanthropy runs through decades in international economic development, including leadership roles at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and the Aspen Institute. During his time at Aspen, he co-authored a guide to climate philanthropy for the climate-curious—donors who care about the issue but don’t know where to start. That research revealed a crucial gap: climate philanthropy advocates lacked a true community of practice. “People were generally working in isolation,” he says. “They didn’t know one another well, and they didn’t have a structure for collaboration.”
That realization inspired the creation of the CPCC, launched in 2024 with early support from the Gates Foundation and Forward Global. Today, CPCC has grown to include more than 50 member organisations committed to expanding climate giving. Its quarterly meetings include “ask and offer” sessions where members share specific needs and offers of support with each other. “What I like best is when members identify real actions that they choose to work on together,” Kempner says. “Collaboration is hard. A lot of funders want to do their own thing—and I get that. But Forward Global, and now CPCC, are proving that when philanthropic colleagues come together, they can amplify their impact.”
That collaborative spirit is modeled on Forward Global’s own community. Kempner first encountered the network while leading the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation (he now sits on the board of another family foundation). “It’s always about the people,” he says. “Forward Global is a great place to learn about cutting-edge philanthropy, and, especially, to find fellow social impact travelers.”
Kempner participates actively in Forward Global’s Climate Action Lab, where members share insights, visit projects, and explore integrated approaches to climate and social impact. “I’ve had the chance to travel with the group of them to Brazil and learn first-hand about the efforts of Indigenous populations in the Amazon,” he says. “It’s a wonderful mix—the right people thinking about the right things, and visiting the places where the work is actually happening.”
Through Forward Global’s fiscal sponsorship programme, Kempner says, CPCC benefits from “people who push me to think further and who introduce me to new ideas about how I can be a better philanthropist—and a better global citizen.”
Clarity, Collaboration, and Accountability
His mantra is simple: focus on implementation over invention. “We have all the scientifically proven solutions we need to address climate change,” he says. “But we’re not investing enough in scaling them.” To change that, CPCC serves as connective tissue across the climate philanthropy landscape—a place where funders, advisors, and intermediaries can learn from one another and act together. Members range from family foundations and funder collaboratives to international investment advisory firms and small philanthropic consulting practices.
Already, CPCC connections have led to collaborations that stretch from Randall’s home base in Texas to national networks and to shared efforts to identify scalable climate solutions across multiple platforms. But Kempner insists that progress be measured by outcomes, not enthusiasm. “We’ll know if we fail,” he says. “Our goal is to triple U.S. climate philanthropy. That’s not something you can fake.”
At the same time, he knows that unlocking more climate giving requires not just better networks, but better stories. “Stories are really important—but they can also be dangerous if they’re not true,” he says, referring to narratives about climate change being a hoax. “In the climate space, we need to make sure the stories we tell are based on scientifically backed information. Stories are more powerful than facts—but they can be misused. Let’s make sure we use them to move people to do the right things, based on real facts.”
He points to the Potential Energy Coalition—the self-described “nonprofit marketing engine for planet Earth”—as a powerful example. Its campaigns are designed for everyday audiences, not just committed climate activists. By tapping into personal concerns—like a mother’s worries about her child’s health—or using familiar cultural touchpoints, the group meets people where they are. Randall sees that as the most effective route to action.
Philanthropy on a Global Scale
What Kempner is building isn’t just a coalition—it’s a model for how philanthropy can organize around any global challenge. The CPCC approach mirrors Forward Global’s own: gather peers who want to learn, connect, and act; equip them with evidence and access; and remove the friction that keeps ideas from scaling.
“Climate philanthropy isn’t about saving the planet for someone else—it’s about saving the future we all share,” he says. “If we fail on climate, we fail on everything else. But if we get it right, we make progress on everything.”
CPCC shows what’s possible when infrastructure supports ambition: the philanthropy community supported him in starting CPCC, and now he can give back to the community. For Kempner, it’s time to multiply that impact. “The solutions are already here,” he says. “What we need is the collective will—and the funding—to put them to work.”
