About NEEF

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is the nation’s leading organization in lifelong environmental learning, creating opportunities for people to experience and learn about the environment in ways that improve their lives and the health of the planet. Congressionally chartered in 1990 as a 501c3 nonprofit to complement the work of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NEEF is a non-partisan, non-advocacy organization working to make the environment more accessible, relatable, relevant, and connected to people’s daily lives.

Our Purpose

To cultivate an environmentally conscious and responsible public

Our Vision

That people’s everyday actions are guided by an understanding and concern for the well-being of people and the planet

Our Mission

To make the environment more accessible, relatable, relevant, and connected to the daily lives of all Americans

Our Work

See the impact of our work.

NEEF is reaching Americans where the environment intersects daily life:

Conservation

National Public Lands Day: The nation’s largest single‐day volunteer effort for public lands, taking place every year on the fourth Saturday in September.
Employee Engagement: NEEF works with organizations on engagement campaigns to increase awareness and support for corporate social responsibility priorities, and encourage team members to take action on sustainability at work, as well as at home and in their communities. NEEF also convenes corporate thought leaders to assess best practices, conduct sustainability surveys, and create tools to measure the return on investment of engaging employees in environmental education and behaviors.
Engagement Campaigns: NEEF partners with sports leagues (such as the NBA and the NHL), museums, zoos, and aquaria to prompt fans and visitors to take environmental actions at home. These campaigns are grounded in behavioral science, engage Americans in "learning by doing," and demonstrate that collective actions can create large-scale impacts.

K-12 Education

Greening STEM: The outdoors facilitate real-world, project-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning. Our online Greening STEM Learning Center provides free materials and educator toolkits tied to standards.
National Environmental Education Week: A weeklong, nationwide celebration of environmental education.
Climate Superstars: An online environmental challenge for middle school students that gets kids excited about the environment and how they can take an active role in caring for its future.

Health

Asthma: NEEF works with health care professionals to inform the public about environmental triggers and management of asthma. NEEF also offers a free, online accredited eLearning course to help pediatric healthcare providers manage environmental asthma triggers and intervention strategies.
SunWise: Delivering sun safety education and materials to our nation’s educators and the public.

Grants

Grants: NEEF offers a variety of grants and awards to help organizations build capacity, increase diversity, and expand their work locally. We routinely highlight individual and group commitment to nature through education and service. Last year, NEEF provided nearly half a million dollars to educational and public land partners across the country. If you have any questions about an open grant, please email grantsadmin@neefusa.org. Please note that we cannot provide any information about grants that are not open. This includes when a closed grant will be open again.
To stay on top of our grant programs, make sure to sign up for our email list.

Tools & Resources

Reports & Studies
- Literacy Report: NEEF partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to publish Environmental Literacy in the United States: An Agenda for Leadership in the 21st Century.
- Roper Reports: A series of surveys to better assess the public understanding of the environment and environmental education.
- Employee Engagement: Case studies and best practices.
Online Courses: In collaboration with Udemy, NEEF develops free, online courses to promote understanding about the relationships between extreme weather, climate, health, and the environment.
NEEF Connect: Practical information about health, environment, education, and other climate facts for the public.