Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice

What Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice does

Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice (BEA) is a nonprofit intermediary organization founded in 2013 and headquartered in Calabasas, California. Operating as a fiscally sponsored project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), BEA connects three sectors—grassroots environmental justice organizations, national environmental groups, and funder allies—to shift philanthropic resources toward frontline BIPOC-led communities. The organization has mobilized approximately $24-25 million to over 130 grassroots environmental justice groups across 34 states and 4 territories through its core programs.

BEA's core offerings include the BEA Fund (a participatory grantmaking program providing general operating support grants to grassroots EJ organizations, with past cycles ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 awards), the BUILD Program (launched May 2023, providing technical assistance in financial management, program strategy, communications, and organizational wellbeing), and the BEA x Sachamama Campaign Lab (a 2025 pilot supporting shared advocacy campaigns). Supporting resources include the Federal Grants Toolkit (2024), case study series, landscape assessments, and impact reports. The Grassroots Membership network provides the connective structure across all programs, offering cross-sector collaboration spaces and funding eligibility to member organizations. The organization does not develop proprietary technology platforms; its infrastructure is programmatic and relational rather than software-based.

BEA's revenue model is grant-based, relying on foundations and individual donors to fund its operations and pass-through grantmaking. Grant cycles have varied significantly: $11.75 million to 89 organizations (2022), $4.8 million to 91 organizations (2023), and $1.95 million to ~40 organizations (2024). In 2025-2026, BEA paused the BEA Fund entirely due to sharp contractions in philanthropic funding for environmental justice work, while continuing membership, capacity-building, and convening activities. The organization is governed by a Steering Committee representing all three sectors, with Linda Saleh serving as Executive Director since December 2022.

Name

Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice

Legal name

Building Equity & Alignment for Environmental Justice

Website

https://beajustice.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BEA is a nonprofit intermediary founded in 2013 that connects grassroots environmental justice organizations, national environmental groups, and funders through participatory grantmaking and capacity-building programs. It has mobilized approximately $25 million to frontline BIPOC-led communities across 34 states and 4 territories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Justice Philanthropy / Nonprofit Intermediary Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

Keywords

• Participatory grantmaking
• Environmental justice funding
• Capacity building programs
• Nonprofit intermediary services
• Grassroots movement support

Headquarters

HQ city

Calabasas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donations: BEA operates as a fiscally sponsored project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE). The organization mobilizes resources from foundations and individual donors to fund grassroots environmental justice organizations through the BEA Fund participatory grantmaking program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BEA operates as a nonprofit movement intermediary that mobilizes philanthropic resources from foundations and individual donors and redistributes them to grassroots environmental justice organizations through the BEA Fund participatory grantmaking program, which provides general operating support grants to BIPOC-led frontline EJ groups. The BUILD Program complements this funding with technical assistance in financial management, program strategy, communications, and organizational wellbeing, while the Grassroots Membership network and convenings foster cross-sector alignment among grassroots groups, national environmental organizations, and funder allies.

Product overview

BEA operates as a network organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs and resources rather than a single unified product. The core offerings include the BEA Fund (participatory grantmaking program providing grants to grassroots EJ organizations), the BUILD Program (capacity-building technical assistance), and the BEA x Sachamama Campaign Lab (cohort-based campaign development). Supporting these programs are knowledge products including the Federal Grants Toolkit, case study series, landscape assessments, and impact reports. The Grassroots Membership provides the connective structure, offering cross-sector collaboration spaces and funding eligibility to member organizations. Together, these offerings form a comprehensive ecosystem resourcing the environmental justice movement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BEA Fund Participatory grantmaking program providing general operating support grants to BIPOC-led grassroots environmental justice organizations to build local power and leadership. Grants are reviewed by a committee drawn from BEA's three sectors.
• BUILD Program Building Up Infrastructure, Leadership, and Development Program — provides technical assistance, tools, and funding to strengthen grassroots environmental justice organizations in financial management, program strategy, communications, evaluation, and organizational wellbeing, with funds deployed within three weeks of approval.
• BEA x Sachamama Campaign Lab Cohort-based campaign lab designed to support BEA member organizations in building and launching shared advocacy campaigns, providing training in campaign development, messaging, storytelling, and media strategy.
• Federal Grants Toolkit Step-by-step, customizable public toolkit designed for BEA members and environmental justice leaders new to federal grants, helping build organizational foundations and unlock practical tools for federal funding access.
• Grassroots Membership Membership network connecting Grassroots Environmental Justice groups, National Environmental Organizations, and Funder-Allies with access to cross-sector collaboration spaces, community connections, leadership opportunities, and funding eligibility through BEA Fund cycles.
• Victories and Momentum on the Frontlines Case Study Series Case study series documenting grassroots environmental justice victories and the transformative work of grassroots organizations, including the Richmond Chevron Refinery Campaign.
• Landscape Assessment Research report examining alignment between philanthropy and environmental justice sectors, with detailed analysis of Midwest and Gulf South regional dynamics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $25 million mobilized directly to frontline groups through the BEA Fund
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and pilot.

• Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2026BEA and HEFN co-hosted AI in Our Communities: From Data Centers to Democracy, a virtual funder briefing reaching more than 350 funders, examining the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and its environmental justice implications.
• Nonprofit Finance FundcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025BEA partnered with Nonprofit Finance Fund to host a two-part organizational learning series designed to support organizations navigating financial uncertainty and rapid change. This partnership provides scenario planning support for BEA's grassroots members and grantees.
• Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE)coreOthersBEA is a fiscally sponsored project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE). SEE serves as BEA's fiscal sponsor, handling legal and administrative functions while BEA maintains programmatic autonomy.
• SachamamapilotStrategic or Co-development PartnerBEA partnered with Sachamama to launch the BEAxSachamama Campaign Lab, a cohort-based campaign lab designed to support members in building and launching shared advocacy campaigns. The pilot focuses on data centers and their environmental justice impacts.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Movement Strategy Center: Movement Strategy Center is a national movement-building and grantmaking intermediary that uses participatory approaches to shift resources to frontline organizations, closely mirroring BEA's model of resourcing grassroots leadership through values-aligned funding.
• Hill-Snowdon Foundation: Hill-Snowdon Foundation is a family foundation focused on resourcing movement infrastructure and social-justice intermediaries, making it a structural peer in the foundation-as-intermediary space.
• Neighborhood Funders Group: Neighborhood Funders Group is a peer network of foundations and intermediaries focused on community change; it serves as both a convening infrastructure and regranting entity for member foundations, paralleling BEA's cross-sector convening role.
• Threshold Foundation: Threshold Foundation is a participatory grantmaking foundation where members collectively decide where to direct resources, sharing BEA's core methodology of shifting decision-making power to community stakeholders.
• The Solutions Project: The Solutions Project is a funder collaborative and grantmaking entity that supports frontline climate-justice and EJ leaders, making it a close thematic peer in the participatory grantmaking space for environmental work.
• Borealis Philanthropy: Borealis Philanthropy is a funder collaborative that pools resources from foundations to regrant to racial-justice and EJ-aligned organizations, making it a direct structural peer to BEA's grantmaking intermediary model.
• Haymarket Fund: Haymarket Fund is a movement-support foundation that pools resources from donors to regrant to progressive organizing, sharing BEA's model of channeling pooled philanthropic capital to grassroots infrastructure.
• Native Ways Federation: Native Ways Federation is a network of Indigenous-led foundations and intermediaries that coordinate regranting and capacity-building to Native communities, making it a direct structural peer operating under a similar intermediary model for a different community.

Broad incumbents

• Akonadi Foundation: Akonadi Foundation is a Bay Area-based racial justice funder that supports movement-building organizations through grantmaking and convening, sharing BEA's intermediary role but with a broader civil rights portfolio.
• Funders' Committee for Civic Participation: The Funders' Committee for Civic Participation is a broader funder intermediary that coordinates philanthropic strategy across a wider portfolio of civic engagement issues, sharing BEA's cross-sector convening and alignment-building function at greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BuildingEquityandAlignment
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beajustice

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice