When Cordelia S. May first turned her attention to family planning and population issues in 1952, she was barely out of college. The world was not yet having the conversations she believed it needed to have. Decades later, when she founded the Colcom Foundation in 1996 at age 68, she was still waiting for those conversations to catch up.
A VISION AHEAD OF ITS TIME
May’s perspective on environmental health was grounded in a specific observation: that human activity places limits on what the planet’s ecosystems can sustain, and that population growth amplifies every other pressure on those systems. She understood this not as a political position, but as an ecological reality one she expressed in stark terms: human activity is putting such a strain on Earth’s natural functions that the ability of ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.
That framing guided her philanthropy. For May, the connection between population and environment was not one thread among many it was the thread that ran through all the others.
WHAT COLCOM FOUNDATION DOES
The foundation’s primary mission is to foster a sustainable environment to ensure quality of life for all Americans by addressing the causes and consequences of overpopulation and its adverse effects on natural resources. Colcom Foundation also supports regional conservation work, environmental projects, and cultural assets.
Its grantmaking program is designed to honor May’s humanitarian goals, including the foresight, dignity, and compassion she brought to her work. Following her death in 2005, the foundation was substantially funded and continues to operate in direct alignment with her founding vision. Through their grants, they have supported many organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, which works towards protecting endangered species, and the Sierra Club Foundation, which advocates for clean energy and climate solutions. These grants have helped to advance important causes and support organizations that strive to make a difference.
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The environmental crises that fill today’s headlines biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem collapse are precisely the consequences May spent her life trying to prevent. The Colcom Foundation’s ongoing work reflects a simple conviction: that preventing these outcomes requires understanding and addressing their root causes, and that doing so is among the most urgent humanitarian tasks of the present moment. Refer to this article for related information.
More about Colcom on https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile?key=COLC002