Catalysts for Change

How do we shift to a clean energy economy, help communities adapt to climate change, and help responsible and local journalism survive? Supported by an activist family foundation and often working closely with it, Vermont nonprofits have played vital roles in making positive progress on these and other complex challenges. The stories in Catalysts for Change tell what these partnerships have achieved, and how. Highly readable, informative, and inspiring, Catalysts for Change begins with Claire Malcolm's jarring experience as a newly trained nurse witnessing unsafe childbirth practices among the poor in China, where she lived and worked for nearly half a century. Widowed and living in Vermont later in life, Claire created the Lintilhac Foundation to help bring nurse-midwifery back into the American healthcare system, in Vermont's largest hospital. Over the decades since Claire's passing in 1984, the foundation, run by her daughter-in-law and son, has expanded its focus to support and work closely with nonprofits in maternal and child health, responsible journalism, water quality, land conservation, and clean energy. The Lintilhac Foundation's story is a rewarding one-both for everyone who cares about Vermont and for philanthropies across the country that are seeking new models for how they can play a more engaged role in their communities.