Walton Family Foundation bolsters climate efforts with 2 new fellows

Bentonville-based Walton Family Foundation (WFF) announced two new fellows on Thursday (April 18): Emily Fairfax and Meaghan Parker.

Fairfax is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Minnesota. Parker is a Public Policy Fellow at the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. She previously led the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ).

According to a news release, the fellows will leverage their experience in tackling and reporting on the climate crisis.

“We need to take action to protect water and nature to be resilient to climate change,” said Moira Mcdonald, Environment Program Director of the Walton Family Foundation. “From nature-based solutions — like beaver-based restoration — to fact-based environmental journalism, this year’s fellows are taking action for a brighter, more sustainable future where people and nature thrive together.”

Click here for additional background on the new fellows.

WFF was created in 1987 and is led by the family of Walmart Inc. founders Sam and Helen Walton. Annie Proietti, one of their granddaughters, is the board chair.

The philanthropy and grantmaking nonprofit supports initiatives that improve K-12 education, protect rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and invests in its “home” region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta.

According to the most recent information available, WFF grants totaled more than $566 million in 2022 and the nonprofit’s assets that year totaled nearly $5.7 billion.

The foundation has about 100 employees and additional offices in Denver, Jersey City, N.J. and Washington, D.C.