The Onion Foundation in Auburn, Maine has announced the appointment of Rosalind Erwin to serve as its Environment Program Officer. She will have responsibility for leading the Environment Program, which focuses on Equitable Outdoor Access, Nature Learning, and Advocacy and Movement Building. Erwin will join the foundation on January 8, 2024.
“We are excited to have Roz join our team. With her 12 years of philanthropic experience, she will take the lead in our work to build a stronger environmental sector with the goal of increasing access to and enjoyment of the state’s natural resources,” said Susan Onion, cofounder of the foundation. “Roz shares our commitment to advancing equity and is eager to work with the nonprofit community, peer funders, and others to develop inclusive and effective environmental programs and organizations.”
Erwin currently is a Senior Program Officer at New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, where she oversees environmental grantmaking across the state as well as a community grantmaking program in southeastern New Hampshire and southern Maine. In this position she has had responsibility for designing and implementing a new environmental grantmaking strategy. Earlier in her career, Erwin was a Program Officer at the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and developed environmental conservation grantmaking programs nationally as well as in Myanmar and Mexico. She also served as a Resilience Project Manager and as a Senior Program Manager at Cities of Service, where she worked directly with ten municipalities across the country, launched a new grants program, and cultivated a community of practice to develop climate resilience programs in vulnerable communities. Erwin captured the municipalities’ experiences and learning in several publications as well as blog posts.
Erwin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Colby College, concentrating in Environment Science, as well as a Master of Science in Biology from Fordham University, specializing in Ecology. She lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband and two children.
The Onion Foundation is a private charitable foundation established in 2014. Its mission is to build a healthy and more equitable Maine by deepening the connection of all people to the arts and to nature. Since its creation, the foundation has made 1600 grants, totaling over $18.5 million, to more than 500 unique non-profit organizations in the state of Maine. The Onion Foundation is committed to advancing equity so all people in Maine can fully realize their potential and to building trust through clarity and openness. Its decisions are informed by diverse ideas, experiences and knowledge systems, including the perspectives of those with lived experience and with creative approaches.
The Onion Foundation Environment Program aims to enable all Maine residents, especially in rural areas, to enjoy the state's natural resources and to develop the knowledge, skills, and motivation to protect Maine's environment. Rather than supporting land acquisition and capital projects, the Environment Program focuses its resources on the people of Maine, whose lives and behaviors will shape environment and climate change outcomes.