About us
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Founded in 1961, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is one of the UK’s largest independent funders.
In 2024, we provided £48.8m in funding towards a wide range of work in support of our aims: to improve Our Natural World, secure A Fairer Future and nurture Creative, Confident Communities. We also have a £60m allocation to social investments and a £10m allocation to impact investments. Our funds are generated by our investment portfolio.
Meet our people
Who's who at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Meet our staff, trustees, young consultants, and strategic advisory panels.
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Our values
Our organisational values will act as a guide for staff and Trustees about how we work at Esmée. Our organisational values will act as a guide for staff and Trustees about how we work at Esmée.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our commitments on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as an organisation and through our work.
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Climate Change
Read about our commitment to addressing the causes and impacts of climate change.
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Our funding data
We publish all our grants and social investments on 360Giving, an initiative that aims to help UK funders share their data in an open and standard format online.
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Our investments
Our investments ensure that we can keep working to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK for decades to come.
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Strategy
Information about our strategic plan including our impact goals and the outcomes we hope to achieve by 2030. We also outline how we will work in support of our mission.
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Governance
Esmée is governed by a Board of Trustees who meet six times each year to set and oversee the delivery of the Foundation’s strategy. We also have a number of Trustee committees, which support our work throughout the year.
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Open and trusting grant-making
Learn about our commitments to open and trusting grant-making, which is part of a campaign launched by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).
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Working for Esmée
Our vision is for Esmée to have a diverse team of staff and Trustees – with the skills, knowledge, experience, networks and insights required to deliver our strategic plan.
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HR policies
Information on HR policies for people working at Esmée. As well as providing guidance on employment issues including the range of benefits available to staff, they ensure that we adhere to the law with consistency and consideration.
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You might be interested in
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17 June 2025Financing the future of UK sustainable agriculture: from policy to investment
After the Spending Review confirmed £2.7 billion a year for farming, food security and nature recovery, we asked Thomas Slattery and Hayley Mole, authors of our first investment deep dive into sustainable food and agriculture, how the policy landscape can enable the significant investment needed to transform the UK food system.
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How can we support lived experience in the workplace
Together with Peer Power Youth and Place Matters, we're pleased to share a report, Supporting Employees with Lived Experience, with learning from 24 social impact organisations as part of a peer learning exchange on lived experience. Esmée Funding Manager, Genevieve Ford-Saville, writes about how the group came about and what's next for this work.
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My experience on the Involving Young People Collective
Francesca Hutchin, a member of Esmée’s Involving Young People Collective, shares reflections on being part of the Collective, the different working relationships, and experience of assessing grants.
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Pre-application Q&A Webinar: 12 May 2025
Watch a pre-application Q&A webinar we held on 12 May 2025 for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance.
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