Daybreak Fund Awards Nearly $1.8 Million to Advance Nature-Based Climate and Water Solutions in the Western Lake Michigan Region

The Daybreak Fund today announced its 2025 grants, investing nearly $1.8 million in 15 projects led by nonprofit and community partners across Wisconsin’s western Lake Michigan watershed and Lake County, Illinois. The grants support nature-based solutions that address climate risks, improve water quality, and strengthen community resilience.

A collaborative of eleven philanthropic partners, Daybreak focuses its funding at the intersection of climate, water, and equity—backing practical projects that help people and places adapt while safeguarding natural resources.

“Across this year’s slate, communities are putting nature to work—cooling neighborhoods, managing stormwater, restoring habitat, and improving working lands,” said Amber Meyer Smith, Program Officer for the Daybreak Fund. “We’re proud to support partners who pair scientific know-how with on-the-ground leadership so solutions take root and deliver lasting benefits where they’re most needed.”

“By harnessing local expertise and investing in innovative partnerships, the Daybreak Funds is building resilient landscapes that not only address climate challenges but also promote equity, public health, and long-term prosperity for all,” said Vicki Elkin, Executive Director of the Fund for Lake Michigan, a major contributor to the Daybreak Fund.

Indigenous knowledge and land stewardship

This year’s awards include multiple initiatives that integrate Indigenous languages, practices, and relational approaches into conservation and education. For example, at UW–Milwaukee’s Electa Quinney Institute, students and interns will apply Potawatomi-guided restoration on MMSD Greenseams® sites, including culturally significant plantings and beaver-habitat support—advancing flood storage, water quality, and a more inclusive conservation workforce. In Lake County, Ill., Lake Forest Open Lands Association will pair coastal habitat work at the Greene Nature Preserve with Indigenous cultural monitoring and community programming in partnership with Trickster Art Gallery—bringing Traditional Ecological Knowledge into project design, plant selection, and public engagement while helping stabilize ravines and bluffs, enhance nearshore habitat, and strengthen connections to long-standing stewardship traditions.

Regenerative agriculture

Multiple projects aim to improve farm viability while protecting water and storing carbon. Clean Wisconsin will help build reliable supply chains for Kernza® and hybrid hazelnuts; GrassWorks will expand managed grazing through schools, pasture walks, and technical plans; Sand County Foundation will scale interseeding cover crops in silage systems; Dairy Grazing Alliance will demonstrate precision tools to optimize pasture rotations; and the Savanna Institute will train county conservationists and pilot funding pathways for agroforestry.

Community-scale climate resilience

Urban and near-urban investments will help neighborhoods manage heat and flooding, grow canopy, and track air quality. Riverworks Development Corporation will green the gateway to B-Line Park on Milwaukee’s Beerline Trail; Youth Conservation Corps will install rain gardens and permeable paving at its Waukegan headquarters while training local youth; the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange (via Global Philanthropy Partnership) will map who’s doing what on green stormwater initiatives and convene a new peer circle; the Sustainable Business Council will coach a Green Bay cohort of small and medium businesses to implement site-scale nature-based projects; and the Great Plains Institute will work with partners to show how a utility-scale solar site in Kenosha County can function as green infrastructure for stormwater and soil health.

Daybreak continues to prioritize investments in communities most affected by climate change and pollution, supporting projects that are community-led, scientifically grounded, and designed for durable outcomes.

For more details on each project, visit daybreak.fund/grantees.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.