A non-profit seed fund created in partnership with the Brown family and Brown-Forman.

Our Vision

We envision a community that has a deep understanding of the value of nature and what it means to the lives of human beings, to the prosperity of businesses and communities, and to relationships all around us.

Our Mission

To inspire joint action to improve our natural, social, and economic environment for future generations.

Core Values

Shared Learning

Everyone has something to share, and everyone has something to learn. We value diverse perspectives for an informed balance.

Joint Relationships

It’s all connected, so our approach is too. We value pilots that grow people’s knowledge, capacity and network connections.

Long-term Mindset

Sustainability takes generational patience. We value local action that builds scale along the many stages of growth.

Dendrifund

A branching seed fund.

At Dendrifund, we believe in making a big impact through small, intentional actions. Our name reflects this approach with the prefix Dendri-, meaning tree-like or branching in structure. It represents our philosophy that even small actions can lead to significant change. We also value the importance of family and sustainability, as reflected in the tree structure of our name, and our work in white oak forests.

Board of Directors

  • Andy Battjes, Secretary

    Brown-Forman

  • Dace Brown

    Brown Family

  • Eliza Brown, President

    Brown Family

  • G. Garvin Brown IV

    Brown Family

  • Owsley Brown III

    Brown Family

  • Sara Brown Fleishman, Treasurer

    Brown Family

  • Garvin Deters, Vice President/ Governance

    Brown Family

  • Brian Fitzgerald, Finance & Investment Chair

    Brown-Forman

  • Barbara Hurt, Executive Director

    Brown-Forman and Brown Family

  • Leah Kelly

    Brown-Forman

  • Kelly Kowalczyk

    Brown-Forman

  • Heather Lair

    Meridian Institute

  • Virginia Lee

    Independent Consultant

  • Elizabeth McCall

    Woodford Reserve Master Distiller

  • Michael Sadowski

    Independent Sustainability Advisor

  • Zach Wardlaw

    Brown Family

Help Us:

Convene by coming to the table with new networks, resources, and ideas.

Seed by getting involved with exciting and innovative initiatives from the ground up.

Incubate by taking action and ownership to help sustain the future.