What changed
From independent grants to a coordinated strategy.
Traceability systems coordinated across countries, dramatically reducing illegal fishing.
- $8Min additional USAID funding, effectively doubling the initial investment
The client
The Walton Family Foundation tackles tough social and environmental problems with urgency and a long-term approach.
A family-led foundation, it works to create access to opportunity for people and communities. As part of its multi-million-dollar investments, WFF has focused on protecting oceans and rivers and the livelihoods they support, for the benefit of people and the environment. These efforts include making commercial fisheries more sustainable by promoting good management that protects ecosystems and builds economically thriving coastal communities.
The challenge
Across South America’s vital coastal regions, WFF saw a critical opportunity to transform both policy frameworks and market systems to support sustainable fisheries.
The stakes were extraordinarily high: millions of livelihoods depend on healthy marine ecosystems, rampant illegal fishing threatened biodiversity, and opaque supply chains undermined accountability. The challenges included:
- Fragmented governance systems preventing coordinated marine resource management
- A lack of transparency enabling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
- Disconnected conservation efforts working in isolation rather than toward systems change
- Limited financial resources to scale successful interventions
- Weak market incentives for sustainable harvesting practices
Without systems-level intervention, these challenges threatened not only marine biodiversity but also economic security for coastal communities and the long-term viability of the region’s blue economy.
Our approach
Transforming South America’s fisheries required a holistic approach that connected policy, markets, communities, and finance.
Systems thinking with local relevance
- Mapped the stakeholders of the entire regional fisheries ecosystem, identifying leverage points for intervention
- Facilitated strategic alignment sessions with WFF grantees across multiple countries to develop integrated approaches tailored to local contexts
- Established a regional knowledge-sharing network to amplify successful innovations
Radical partnership development
- Designed a collaborative framework that let diverse organizations, including previously competing NGOs, work in coalition toward shared outcomes
- Facilitated trust-building between international funders, local communities, and government agencies
- Brokered new partnerships between conservation interests and market actors to create economic incentives for sustainability
Creative financial leadership
- Identified innovative funding mechanisms to sustain conservation efforts beyond initial grant periods
- Developed a compelling investment case that attracted additional funders, including USAID
- Designed blended finance approaches that used philanthropic capital to unlock public funding
Action over abstraction
- Implemented practical traceability systems adaptable to different country contexts
- Developed clear metrics and accountability frameworks to track progress
- Translated complex sustainability science into actionable tools for fisheries managers
The outcome
Outcomes that went beyond traditional conservation metrics.
Policy and governance
- Facilitated the development of coordinated traceability systems across multiple countries, dramatically reducing illegal fishing
- Helped establish new collaborative governance models that brought previously marginalized stakeholders into decision-making
Collaboration
- Transformed fragmented NGO efforts into a cohesive regional strategy with clear roles and shared accountability
- Created a learning community among grantees that accelerated the adoption of successful innovations across countries
Finance
- Helped secure an additional $8 million in USAID funding, effectively doubling the initial investment
- Established sustainable funding mechanisms that will continue beyond the grant period
Markets
- Contributed to increased consumer awareness of, and demand for, sustainable seafood
- Helped formalize previously opaque value chains, creating economic incentives for sustainable practices
The people behind the work
Meet the team
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Designing a grant portfolio for systems change?
Scott Burns directed the Walton Family Foundation’s Conservation Program, a half-billion-dollar grantmaking effort, before joining Council Fire.