John,

I’m Denis Hayes, CEO of the Bullitt Foundation. Our foundation stopped making grants in 2024 and tasked Washington Conservation Action with carrying on part of our legacy: awarding the annual $100,000 Bullitt Prize to emerging environmental leaders.

Now, more than ever, we need environmental leaders. We need people who see environmental injustice and create solutions. We need to invest in these solutions, in these young innovators.

That’s what the Bullitt Prize does: support young leaders. There is still time to apply for the 2025 Prize!

Apply for the Bullitt Prize!

For decades, people have introduced me as, “the national organizer of the first Earth Day.” But in 1970, I had no idea that Earth Day would evolve into an institution.

WCA, like Earth Day, began small in the late 1960s, bringing together environmental groups to work together toward common goals, just as we did with Earth Day.

Likewise, it has evolved over the nearly six decades since its founding: WCA has had a hand in most of the consequential conservation and environmental justice laws and institutions that make Washington an environmental model for the nation: from the founding of the Department of Ecology and the Forest Practices Act in the 1970s to the Climate Commitment Act, our 2021 law that makes polluters pay for the damage they cause.

The Bullitt Prize supports new beginnings, small projects with the potential to make a big difference. Under WCA’s management, the prize will broaden, opening up to grassroots organizers and professionals in addition to academic researchers.

Application open through May 16. Please apply! Or send this to someone you would like to apply.

Apply for the Bullitt Prize!

Sincerely,

Denis Hayes
CEO, The Bullitt Foundation.