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Impact & Accountability

Measuring our impact

Six snapshots of our impact

Across our region, we focus on impact at the intersection of equity, economy, and the environment toward transformative change. Together with a wide network of hundreds of partners–including nonprofits, businesses, tribes, agencies, philanthropic organizations, and individuals–we’re expanding our impact through collective action. 

Our process for identifying the best indicators to demonstrate our impact has been ongoing. Read more below about efforts to evolve our measurement practices to include principles of Equitable Evaluation, and more meaningful indicators of equity, justice, resilience, and well-being.

500 +

funding and project partners committed to radical, practical change

Ecotrust staff Lily Abood and Christopher Rachal greet each other with a hug, surrounded by volunteers at Thimbleberry Collaborative Farm. Photo credit: Jason Hill

Our work is only possible due to the support and collaboration of a wide network of partners. Across our work, partnership is at the center of what we do. In 2024, we were joined by:

  • 375+ funding partners, including
    • 112 sustainers
    • 189 individual funding partners (excluding sustainers)
    • 74 organizational funding partners
  • 130+ project partners
101

Community Grants have been awarded since Ecotrust Events began the program in 2009, providing nonprofits with free event space

A recipient of a Community Grant, ALIST held their 16th WSW Meet Up event on the Natural Capital Center’s Rooftop Terrace. Photo credit: Hannah Bernabe

Since 2014, Ecotrust Events has offered event space, free of cost, to nonprofits with limited means and that center communities of color. In 2024, the Community Grant program awarded a total value of $23,090 in event space to eight nonprofits:
  • ALIST Consulting
  • Blanchet House
  • CUB
  • Cupcake Girls
  • Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
  • Minds Matter
  • Pan African Festival
In addition to Community Grants, in 2024, Ecotrust Events worked alongside 129 nonprofits to host 320 nonprofit-focused gatherings, including weekly meetings, galas and fundraisers, volunteer appreciation events, and education sessions.
80 +

Indigenous Leadership Awards distributed since 2001

The 2024 awardees are (from left to right) sm3tcoom (Delbert Miller), Skokomish; SandeBea Allman, Oglala Lakota and Nimiipuu; Delano Saluskin, Yakama; Darrell Hillaire, Lummi; Corinne Sams, Umatilla; and Theresa Sheldon, Tulalip. Photo credit: Kari Rowe, Lakota, Ojibwe

The Indigenous Leadership Awards are a celebration of the determination, wisdom, and continuum of Indigenous leadership across the region. For more than 15 years, Ecotrust has been proud to honor Indigenous leaders from across the region at in-person celebrations hosted in Portland, and provide them with unrestricted cash awards—many of which are reinvested in their communities.

In October 2024, the six awardees were granted unrestricted cash prizes totaling $60,000 and honored at the Redd on Salmon Street among a gathering of 300+ friends, family, colleagues, and supporters. 

$ 427 M

in New Markets Tax Credit allocations awarded to Ecotrust CDE since 2004

The MLK Medical Campus. Photo credit: Sara Pietka

Congress established the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program in 2000 to attract investment capital in Low-Income Communities as determined by census tract demographic data. NMTCs can provide up to 20 percent of total funding for capital projects of over $5 million in the form of a grant-like subsidy.

Through Ecotrust CDE, we’re able to use financial tools like NMTC to support equitable, climate-smart businesses, many of which offer quality jobs accessible to local community members. As of 2024, we have 18 active NMTC projects representing a total allocation of $154 million, including investments in wastewater treatment projects, solar energy, health care, forest management, and more. Of these 18 projects, seven are with businesses owned by tribes, and six are with businesses owned people of color.

“

Ecotrust unites communities in the Northwest to focus on a positive future based on Indigenous knowledge and a shared investment in the health of our land, water, and people.

—Kelley Beamer, Executive Director, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District

111
graduates of Green Workforce Academy since the program began in 2018

Graduates of Green Workforce Academy’s spring 2024 cohort, along with program staff Keri Wilborn, Teresa Gaddy, and Jason Stroman. Photo courtesy of Green Workforce Academy

The Green Workforce Academy is a paid opportunity for Black, Native, and people of color in Portland who want to learn more about jobs in the green economy. This collaborative-led program is produced in partnership with the Blueprint Foundation, Wisdom of the Elders, Native American Youth and Family Center, and Self Enhancement, Inc. 

Check out our current Open Opportunities to see more of Ecotrust's program opportunities. 

group of people kneeling down gardening vegetables in the sun
454

livelihoods supported in 2024

The Lynn Canal Food Web. Photo by Shaelene Moler

Through its many programs and services in 2024, Ecotrust’s efforts have supported livelihoods through three main channels: (1) providing assistance to community-centered businesses and enterprises as they work to create and support the livelihoods of their leaders and staff; (2) providing workforce development, career pathways, and leadership development services to individuals from frontline communities; and (3) strengthening Indigenous livelihoods by supporting Indigenous-led stewardship and sovereignty over lands and waters. In 2024, Ecotrust directly supported the livelihoods of 454 individuals and provided technical assistance to 25 businesses and organizations to build their capacity to support livelihoods. By strengthening new and existing livelihoods we are working towards building a thriving local economy. When we invest in the people around us—whether small business entrepreneurs, local farmers, artists, or service providers—we aim to not only support or create living wage employment, but also to reinforce networks of care, skill-sharing, opportunity, and self-determination. Strong local livelihoods mean more stable families, stronger communities, greater economic equity, and a deeper sense of connection.
Sisterhood_Kitchen_Collective

“

Ecotrust didn’t just lease us a kitchen; they invested in our vision, our voice, and our value. From day one, they treated Sisterhood Kitchen Collective like partners, not charity. And that matters deeply, especially for Black and Indigenous women entrepreneurs who are so often overlooked or underestimated.

Ecotrust shows up with integrity, respect, and a real commitment to seeing us win, not just survive, but thrive. This is what true partnership looks like.

—Andrea Wade, co-founder of Sisterhood Kitchen Collective

Measuring equitable outcomes

In order to better quantify and track impact across our various programs and projects, in 2019 we developed a set of key indicators to measure various outcomes and chart our shared progress towards our vision and goals. We have also committed to apply a set of Equitable Evaluation principles in measuring outcomes. This includes using an equity framework for all new evaluation projects, as well as inviting input from affected parties throughout various stages of an evaluation, from design to meaning-making. Learn more in our Equitable Evaluation at Ecotrust report brief.

Our goal is to more faithfully reflect our and our partners’ progress toward the world we seek to co-create and inhabit, and to share this information with our community with clarity and specificity.

In 2017, we published our first Equity Progress Report. We are committed to centering racial equity in our partnerships and projects, and within our organization. This ongoing work is described in detail at Equity at Ecotrust. 

In 2020 and 2021, we released Indicators Reports that measured organization-wide outputs according to seven indicators: Acres, Audiences, Businesses, Inclusion, Jobs, Partners, and Trainees. 

With the implementation of the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, the indicators for our work are shifting and a new framework is in development.

Bringing together evaluation metrics around programmatic performance and progress toward building a more equitable organization, we continue to share stories of impact in our latest Annual Report.

2024 Annual Report - Ecotrust

Explore more metrics and stories in our 2024 Annual Report.

See the report

More than 100 people came together to create our Strategic Plan.

See the plan