Earth Island Institute

Earth Island Institute supports environmental action projects and helps foster the next generation of environmental leaders in order to achieve solutions to the crises threatening the survival of life on Earth.

Earth Island was founded in 1982 by legendary environmentalist David Brower. For more than three decades, Earth Island has been the organizational home to more than 200 grassroots environmental action projects and currently has a vibrant network of more than 75 projects. This is the largest, most diverse, and most skilled team of established and new leaders that we’ve ever had. Our project leaders work in communities spanning the globe protecting marine life, confronting plastic pollution, preserving forests, helping indigenous leaders protect their sacred sites, restoring wetlands, greening schools, and getting kids outside into nature, to name just a few.

Our Brower Youth Awards and New Leaders Initiative recognizes, mentors, and supports incredible young leaders who bring creativity and drive to an evolving environmental movement. Earth Island is widely recognized as running the premier youth environmental awards program in North America. Brower Youth Award winners exemplify the best of the younger generation’s environmental leaders – poised, thoughtful, fearless, articulate, and outspoken – taking on the environmental challenges we’re all facing.

We are also proud that our Earth Island Journal continues to empower action both in print and through daily online postings by providing tough investigative news coverage of crucial environmental issues worldwide that are often ignored by the mainstream press. The Journal serves our movement like no other.

In 2017, we launched our legal arm, Earth Island Advocates, to offer legal protection for irreplaceable resources, wild spaces, and wildlife that are critical to a healthy planet. Advocates combines the knowledge and expertise of our grassroots project network with the pro bono resources of law firms, legal clinics, and nonprofit organizations. This model creates a unique and highly-effective relationship between the lawyers who advocate in the courts, and the environmental activists who dedicate their efforts to a wide array of specific issues.