Colcom Foundation is a Pittsburgh-area philanthropic organization with an unusual focus: it explicitly links population growth to environmental decline and funds work aimed at addressing both sides of that equation. The foundation was established in 1996 by Cordelia S. May, a philanthropist who spent decades thinking about the relationship between human numbers and the health of the natural world. Colcom Foundation is among the primary sources of funding directed towards the United States anti-immigration movement. That funding helps organizations like the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the American Border Patrol, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and Numbers USA.
Where It Began
Mrs. May’s commitment to this cause dates back to 1952, when she was 23 years old. Her decision to support family planning at that early stage was motivated by concern for the planet’s ecological health and for human quality of life. She believed that population growth, while easy to overlook in the short term, would produce cumulative pressures on natural systems that future generations would struggle to manage.
That conviction never left her. She founded Colcom Foundation at age 68, in 1996, and the organization was substantially funded following her death in 2005. The foundation’s stated purpose is to honor her humanitarian goals, foresight, and compassion through its grantmaking.
Core Areas of Work
The foundation’s primary mission is to foster a sustainable environment that supports quality of life for all Americans, with a focus on the causes and consequences of overpopulation and its toll on natural resources. At the regional level, Colcom Foundation supports conservation efforts, environmental projects, and cultural initiatives.
The organization draws a clear line between population growth and the environmental problems dominating today’s news cycle: aquatic and terrestrial habitat destruction, pollution, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem collapse. In the foundation’s view, a culture that prizes growth rarely acknowledges these connections, which is precisely the gap Mrs. May spent her life trying to close.
A Long View
Colcom Foundation compares its founder to figures like Susan B. Anthony and others who were considered radicals in their time and later acknowledged as visionaries. The foundation believes Mrs. May’s environmental arguments will receive the same eventual recognition. Its work is designed to make sure her perspective reaches the people and organizations best positioned to act on it. Refer to this article to learn more.
Find more information about Colcom Foundation on https://waterlandlife.org/land-conservation/colcom-revolving-fund-for-local-land-trusts/