March 8, 2000 opened a new chapter of the NEGEF story. What began in 1986 as an experiment in funding the "real grassroots" is now a non-profit corporation, and a tax-deductible, 501(c)(3) public charity in its own right. Our visible future now stretches five, ten and even fifteen years forward.

NEGEF, Inc.'s small grants program will continue to anchor our work. The activist/funder collaboration that has guided us from inception will be the heart of our governance.

Our independence brings new challenges and opportunities. We believe there should be an active citizen group in every New England community. The Clean Water Act starts with control of discharges in each town. The Toxics Use Reduction Act succeeds when local businesses incorporate greener practices on their production lines. And supporting local farmers, their markets, food coops and buy-local programs means fewer chemicals sprayed aggressively by large corporate farmers.

NEGEF is about finding and encouraging local personal and political actions. It's about engaging neighbors in environmental stewardship. With a commitment to the long term, we are now looking for more ways to fulfill this role.

As we stretch forward, we also look back to those who planted and watered the NEGEF seed. We give the biggest thanks to the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, the Island Foundation, the Henry P. Kendall Foundation and the John Merck Fund for the vision in 1995 to ask the New England environmental community about the future of the environmental movement in the region, and then to act on those ideas. We are also grateful to the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for giving us the support and encouragement to develop our program. And then to our other early funding partners ­ the Sudbury Foundation, the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the Merck Family Foundation, the Prince Charitable Trusts, the Beldon Foundation and the Davis Conservation Foundation - we owe a debt of gratitude.