Quaker Earthcare Witness

What Quaker Earthcare Witness does

Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a faith-based nonprofit organization that serves as the primary coordinating voice for environmental and climate concerns within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) across North America. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Chico, California, QEW operates through a small paid staff led by a General Secretary (Keith Runyan, appointed 2024, succeeding Shelley Tanenbaum) and a volunteer Steering Committee. The organization delivers a portfolio of programs rather than a unified technology product: the quarterly BeFriending Creation newsletter (mailed at a suggested $40 annual donation, free electronically), the QEW Presents! speakers series offering online and in-person workshops on topics spanning eco-theology, regenerative agriculture, native plants, permaculture, and climate justice, an annual Fall Gathering and Spring Gathering, and a Mini-Grants Program that distributes awards up to $500 to Quaker environmental projects with matching-fund requirements. QEW also operates the QuakerEarth Action Map, an interactive digital tool tracking global Quaker climate initiatives.

QEW's technology footprint is conventional for a small advocacy nonprofit: a website at quakerearthcare.org, email communications, a YouTube channel, and social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. There is no proprietary software platform, no AI/ML capability, and no SaaS offering. The organization leverages existing Quaker institutional infrastructure — monthly meetings, yearly meetings, Environmental Concerns Committees, and Field Secretaries for Earthcare — as its distribution backbone, with international reach into Bolivia (through partnerships with the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund, Friends International Bilingual Center, and A.V.P.) and Puerto Rico (through content partnerships with Casa Pueblo). Revenue is generated entirely through donations: individual contributions, support from Quaker monthly and yearly meetings (representing approximately one-third of total support), workshop honoraria, and newsletter subscriptions. No revenue figure is publicly disclosed. QEW has no parent company, no institutional investment backing, and operates as an independent private nonprofit under California jurisdiction.

Name

Quaker Earthcare Witness

Legal name

Quaker Earthcare Witness

Website

https://quakerearthcare.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Quaker Earthcare Witness is a faith-based nonprofit that serves as the primary Quaker voice on climate change and the environment across North America, delivering educational workshops, a quarterly newsletter, an interactive climate-action map, and mini-grants to Quaker meetings and communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Environmental Advocacy and Education

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Justice & Community Environmental Health (BPAGAGAL), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Environmental advocacy education
• Faith-based climate action
• Nonprofit environmental grants
• Community educational workshops
• Quaker sustainability programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Chico

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations from Individual Quakers: QEW is primarily funded through donations from individual Friends, Quaker meetings, and churches. The organization states that fully one third of their support comes from Quaker organizations such as monthly and yearly meetings.
2. Mini-Grants Program: QEW distributes mini-grants (up to $500 maximum) to Quaker projects benefiting the environment. Organizations are expected to match the grant with equal funds from their own resources. This creates a co-investment model supporting grassroots environmental projects.
3. Workshop Donations: QEW offers workshops as a service to Friends. Past donations for QEW Presents! workshops have ranged from $150 to $300. They welcome donations to support the availability of these programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Quaker Earthcare Witness is a nonprofit organization that provides Quaker-specific environmental education, advocacy, and community coordination through a quarterly newsletter, an online and in-person workshop speakers series, an interactive global climate action map, and an annual mini-grants program for Quaker environmental projects. Its core mission is to serve as the primary Quaker voice on climate change and environmental concerns, connecting monthly and yearly meetings, churches, and individual Friends across North America (with select programs in Bolivia and Puerto Rico) through faith-grounded educational resources, workshops, and grassroots funding support.

Product overview

Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a spiritually-centered nonprofit organization that offers a portfolio of educational resources and programs rather than a unified technology product. Its core offerings include: the quarterly 'BeFriending Creation' newsletter; the 'QEW Presents!' workshop speakers series covering environmental justice, regenerative agriculture, and eco-theology topics; the interactive 'QuakerEarth Action Map' for tracking global Quaker climate initiatives; and a 'Mini-Grants Program' providing up to $500 for Quaker environmental projects. QEW also provides video content including educational films and recorded event discussions. The organization functions as an advocacy and education network rather than a software technology provider.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BeFriending Creation Newsletter A 12-page quarterly newsletter that shares updates, news, and opportunities from QEW and highlights Friends' earthcare action across North America. Available by mail with a $40 annual donation requested, or free electronically, with PDF archives for past issues.
• QEW Presents! Workshops A speakers series delivering online and in-person workshops on climate change, environmental justice, Quaker faith-in-action, eco-theology, native plants, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, climate collapse, and economic dimensions of the climate crisis, offered to Friends meetings, churches, and Quaker communities on request via [email protected].
• QuakerEarth Action Map An interactive online map that tracks global Quaker climate action, enabling Friends to discover, share, and submit earthcare initiatives happening across North America and internationally.
• Mini-Grants Program Annual grant awards of up to $500 per project for Quaker environmental initiatives, with recipient organizations required to match the grant with equal funds from their own resources. Supports edible gardens, solar installations, composting projects, and other environmental projects at Quaker meetings, schools, and communities.
• Quaker Earthcare Witness Videos A library of video resources including 'The Work of QuakerEarthcare' (QuakerSpeak introductory episode), 'Quaker Earthcare Witness: A Panorama' (a 20-minute inspirational film), and recorded keynote videos from climate advocacy events and Spring/Fall Gatherings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Dozens of mini-grants distributed to Quaker communities globally, including support for indigenous potato farmers in Bolivia, young women studying environmental sciences at Friends school in Costa Rica, and Friends Meetings completing solar installations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, legacy and supporting.

• Bolivian Quaker Education FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBQEF organizes annual Quaker Connections Study Tours to Bolivia. QEW's Quaker Earth Organizing Fellow participates in these tours to build solidarity and learn about Bolivian Quaker earthcare initiatives including food relief, solar energy, and prisoner programs. The partnership connects North and South American Friends in climate action.
• Friends International Bilingual Center (Bolivia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIBC, led by Emma Condori, provides food relief to Aymara highland villages whose potato crops have been destroyed by drought. QEW supports this work through its global network and the Quaker Earth Organizing Fellow connection. Programs include food relief for 150 families and potato seeds for 300 families.
• Quaker Bolivia Link (QBL)legacyStrategic or Co-development PartnerQBL recently laid down its formal charity status but its impact continues through solar-powered water pumps and greenhouses now maintained by local communities in Bolivia. QBL provided funds for greenhouse construction at San Pedro de Chonchocoro prison and water filtration/pumping systems for Aymara communities.
• Quaker Institute for the Future (QIF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQIF is a think tank supporting research informed by Quaker values like peace and ecological resilience. QEW publishes content from QIF, including the book 'Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth?' on AI and human ecology. QIF uses methods of spirit-led communal discernment.
• P.A.V. / Alternatives to Violence Project (Bolivia)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Bolivian version of AVP conducts workshops in prisons including San Pedro de Chonchocoro maximum security prison. QEW connections support these programs through the Quaker Bolivia Link partnership, including funding for greenhouses where prisoners grow food.
• Casa Pueblo (Puerto Rico)supportingGTM or Marketing PartnerCasa Pueblo is Puerto Rico's preeminent environmental organization founded by Alexis Massol Gonzalez. After Hurricane Maria, they provided solar energy to restore power to vital community services. QEW content highlights Casa Pueblo's work as a model of community resilience and renewable energy transition.
• Environmental Defenders of McHenry CountysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerBill and Alice Howenstine were instrumental in the early years of Environmental Defenders of McHenry County. Bill helped form the Illinois Association of Conservation Districts and was founding Board Member of what is now the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. The organization preserves open space and supports environmental education.
• Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEQAT is a Quaker environmental organization that has joined the international campaign to pressure Vanguard and other financial institutions to stop financing fossil fuels. They conduct direct action campaigns and worship at investment company headquarters. QEW content amplifies their campaigns.
• Bur Oak Land Trust (Iowa)legacyOthersJim and Kathy Kessler donated most of their 30-acre property south of Grinnell to Bur Oak Land Trust in 2017. The property includes restored prairie, oak savanna, wetland, and woodland habitats. QEW Steering Committee member Jim Kessler has shared over 100 native planting presentations.
• Northwest Arkansas Master NaturalistssupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerMany native plants for the Fayetteville Monthly Meeting's native plant garden at Ozark Natural Science Center were donated from the Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists' native plant nursery. QEW mini-grants helped fund additional plant purchases.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Blessed Tomorrow (ecoAmerica): Faith-based climate program under ecoAmerica mobilizing religious leaders for climate action; shares QEW's faith-climate education and constituency model, but is embedded in a larger secular environmental organization with national program infrastructure and corporate funding streams.
• Casa Pueblo (Puerto Rico): Community-led environmental organization in Puerto Rico focused on solar energy, sustainable forestry, and post-Hurricane Maria resilience; QEW partners with Casa Pueblo and amplifies its work as a model, making it a peer in grassroots environmental action with overlapping community-resilience themes.

Broad incumbents

• Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL): Quaker-led policy advocacy organization lobbying the U.S. Congress on peace and sustainability issues; comparable to QEW in faith-rooted advocacy positioning and Quaker constituency, but operates at the federal lobbying layer rather than grassroots education/network model.
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC): Largest Quaker-affiliated nonprofit in the U.S., running global programs in peace, justice, and sustainability; operates a much broader portfolio than QEW but shares the Quaker faith-rooted advocacy model and engages overlapping meetings/donors, making it the natural institutional incumbent in this space.

Direct peers

• Interfaith Power & Light: Faith-based climate response organization with 40+ state affiliates mobilizing religious communities for climate action; directly comparable to QEW in mission and constituency model, but operates across multiple faiths and at significantly larger scale with professional staff and donor infrastructure.
• Creation Justice Ministries: Ecumenical Christian organization representing 38 denominations in creation-care advocacy and education; comparable to QEW as a faith-rooted environmental education network, with similar programmatic mix of resources, workshops, and constituency mobilization but across Christian denominations rather than Quaker-specific.
• GreenFaith: Multifaith climate and environmental justice organization mobilizing religious communities globally; shares QEW's faith-rooted environmental education and advocacy model, but with a broader interfaith reach and more developed international program portfolio.
• Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT): Philadelphia-based Quaker environmental organization focused on direct action campaigns against fossil fuel financing (Vanguard) and climate justice; QEW explicitly lists EQAT as a core strategic partner and amplifies its campaigns, making it the closest peer in mission, faith framing, and Quaker-community base.
• National Religious Partnership for the Environment: Coalition of U.S. faith institutions (including Quaker bodies) advancing environmental stewardship; comparable to QEW in faith-rooted environmental education and advocacy, with overlapping constituencies but operating as a coalition convener rather than single-denomination network.
• Quaker Institute for the Future (QIF): Quaker think tank focused on research informed by Quaker values including ecological resilience; QEW lists QIF as a core strategic partner and publishes its content (e.g., 'Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth?'), positioning QIF as a content/research peer that complements QEW's programmatic outreach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/quakerearthcare
• Facebookfacebook.com/QuakerEarthcare
• Instagraminstagram.com/quakerearthcare
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quakerearthcare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Quaker Earthcare Witness