The Phoenix Conservancy restores endangered ecosystems globally for the communities that depend on them and the conservation of biodiversity. We are a young, rapidly-growing nonprofit based in Pullman, WA working to restore the most critically-endangered, biodiverse ecosystems (10% or less intact) on a Local (Palouse prairie), National (Great Plains prairie), and Global (Madagascar rainforest) scale. In 2025, we are expanding our work to three additional endangered ecosystems around the world (announced in late 2024). In all of our focal ecosystems, we leverage restoration as a vehicle to combat and reverse: • Biodiversity loss • Climate change and resulting insecurity, desertification, and erosion • Poverty, malnutrition, poor quality of life, and loss of economic empowerment While these foci may seem unconnected at first glance, ecosystem degradation and human desperation invariably go hand-in-hand; TPC strongly believes that successful restoration depends on addressing causes of human suffering simultaneously. Our innovative, science-driven approach to restoration is built around this perspective, going beyond simply planting trees to craft self-sustaining restoration projects that generate new opportunities to improve lives at every stage.

We envision a world in which all the planet's ecosystems are regenerated and conserved to their maximum extent and their preservation is prioritized by all humans.

Goal One: Restore a maximal amount of degraded land into their original ecosystem, prioritizing the most critically endangered, biodiverse ecosystems on local, national, and global geographic scales.

Goal Two: Develop social enterprise programs for communities that rely on the ecosystems where we work; successful ecological restoration depends on addressing root causes of human suffering.

Goal Three: Develop a strong, equitable, enduring, and pragmatic conservation organization through a continual commitment to optimizing all practices for efficiency and longevity.

True to our long-term perspective, we have invested most strongly in leadership development of the next generation of conservationists by providing paid internships for the first time. In doing so, we seek to make careers in conservation more equitable and accessible to diverse perspectives than in the past by investing now in the leaders that will shape our field in the decades to come.

In response to generally lower salaries associated with nonprofits (especially organizations transitioning to paid positions for the first time), TPC was forced to adapt to several staff transitions due to departures of previous staff members pursuing higher compensation. High turnover is common in conservation, and despite the challenges that hiring poses for a very small staff, embracing unexpected changes as learning opportunities enabled our organization to not only weather these transitions, but to thrive and continue to grow. This funding has allowed us to maintain and hire talented, dedicated staff and interns, as we continue to develop revenue-generating restoration projects and escape the notorious “Nonprofit Starvation Cycle” that threatens so many young organizations.