Perspectives

Explore the Accessible Stages Collaborative's approach to building inclusive theater practices.

Accessible Stages Collaborative: Expanding Inclusive Theater Across Maine

Arts Access

Equity

People With Disabilities

Rosalind Erwin

Learn how Women for Healthy Rural Living used insights from its community to make programming more accessible for all.

How Did They Do It? Women for Healthy Rural Living’s Accessible Outdoor Programming

Data & Research

Outdoor Access

Ash Holland

Hear from two experts about what makes the Data Innovation Project's approach to data collection and analysis so impactful for nonprofits.

Storytelling Through Data: A Conversation With the Data Innovation Project

Capacity Building

Hear from three youth climate activists about their role in the Listen Project's groundbreaking research.

The Listen Project: Profiles From the Front Lines of the Youth Climate Movement

Youth Engagement

Climate Action

Opening Doors to Mainers With Disability: A Look at Open Door Arts’ Accessibility Workshops

Diana Morris

Hear from Executive Director Diana Morris about the Onion Foundation's commitment to ensuring grantee organizations thrive well beyond the foundation's end.

Where Can We Make a Difference That Will Hold?

Philanthropy

The Onion Foundation

Grant Funding

Hear from Environment Program Officer Rosalind Erwin about her background, her priorities, and her hopes for the future of the sector.

Supporting a Sector, One Grant at a Time: A Conversation With Environment Program Officer Rosalind Erwin

Learn how Rippleffect navigated financial uncertainty by strategically diversifying funding streams.

How Did They Do It? Rippleffect’s Strategic Approach to Financial Sustainability

Explore Midcoast Maine's Salt Bay Chamberfest, a festival bridging the classical and the experimental.

Salt Bay Chamberfest: How an Annual Music Festival Bridges the Classical and the Experimental

Fritz Onion

Susan Onion

Hear from Fritz and Susan Onion about their decision to spend down their foundation over the next two decades — and why doing so responsibly is so important.

Why We Decided To Spend Down the Onion Foundation

Hear from Pauline Dion and Kristen Wurth on what makes the Boothbay Sea and Science Center's seaweed-growing program so special in schools across Maine.

The Science of Seaweed: A Conversation With An Educator-Nonprofit Duo

See Subcircle's innovative three-phase arts residency program, Dollop, in action.

A Dollop of Dance: A Photo Essay on Subcircle’s Innovative Performing Arts Program

Learn how and why the Teach ME Outside team is updating the Community-Based Outdoor and Environmental Learning census, and why doing so is critical to Mainers.

Tracking Environmental Education in Maine: How Teach ME Outside Is Updating a Groundbreaking Census

Learn all about the Maine Academy of Modern Music's annual Resurgam Festival, including the partnerships that make the event possible.

The Resurgam Festival: Where Maine Musicians Shall Rise

Learn all about the Dawnland Festival of Arts and Ideas, a celebration of Indigenous culture and creativity.

The Dawnland Festival of Arts and Ideas: A Celebration of Indigenous Creativity

People of Color

Wabanaki Community

Discover the incredible progress the Maine Outdoor School for All program has had in its first pilot year.

Inside the First Year of the Maine Outdoor School for All Program

Hear from executive director Diana Morris on why supporting grantee organizations' advocacy efforts is a key responsibility of Maine foundations.

Change Dies in Silence: On the Importance of Advocacy in Philanthropy

How Did They Do It? Indigo Arts Alliance’s Quest To Claim Permanent Artist Housing

Learn the steps invasive plant patrollers take to prevent the spread of dangerous invasives and protect the lakes that Mainers hold dear.

Preventing the Spread of Invasive Aquatic Plants: A Photo Essay in Four Phases

Hear from two Onion Foundation grantees about what they got out of recent scenario-planning sessions with the SectorWind consultancy.

Planning for an Uncertain Future: How a Scenario-Planning Cohort Built Nonprofits’ Resilience

Learn how New England nonprofit Slingshot empowers communities to organize, mobilize, and advocate for environmental justice.

Slingshot: Mobilizing Communities Against Environmental Health Threats

Learn all about Kinonik, a microcinema bringing film lovers together in Portland, Maine.

Kinonik: A Microcinema Determined To Preserve the Analog Film Experience

Explore how Rivertown Community Arts Center tapped into the community's needs to build a thriving arts program for people of all ages.

Rivertown Community Arts Center: Where Community Is an Art Form

Nat May

Learn how the Demographic Data Collection Toolkit for Arts and Culture Organizations helps organizations take a values-based approach to shaping their programs.

Who’s Involved in the Work? Inside an Empowering Toolkit for Arts Nonprofits

Learn how collaborative grantmaking made the Maine Outdoor School for All program happen.

Collaboration and Adaptability: The Tickets To Getting All Maine Students Into Outdoor Education Programs

Learn all about Mayo Street Arts's Traditional Arts Network, a program designed to celebrate cultural arts traditions from Maine's migrant community.

Cultural Resources, Mayo Street Arts, and the Importance of Supporting Multigenerational Traditional Arts

Learn why the Onion Foundation's Equitable Outdoor Access strategy prioritizes those most burdened by barriers to outdoor access.

An Inside Look at Our Approach to Equitable Outdoor Access

Learn why the Onion Foundation values the Wolankeyutomone Kisi Apaciyewik Fund and encourages conservation-focused grantees to contribute to the fund.

The Act of Return: Why Supporting the Wolankeyutomon Kisi Apaciyewik Fund Is Vital to Land Conservation

Learn about Portland Trails, a nonprofit that connects all of Portland, Maine, through 100 miles of outdoor trails.

How Portland Trails Expands Equitable Access to the City’s Natural Network

Learn how the Maine Appalachian Trail Club organizes and activates hundreds of volunteers to maintain miles-long stretches of critical New England trails.

Volunteer Series, Part Four: How To Recruit, Engage, and Partner With Community Volunteers

Explore the Langlais Art Preserve, a 90-acre space dedicated to immersing visitors in the wonder of Bernard Langlais's sculptural installations.

Keeping a Sculptor’s Legacy Alive: Inside the Langlais Art Preserve

Hear from Diana Morris, Executive Director of the Onion Foundation, on her background, what she's seeing in philanthropy right now, and what the future holds.

The Importance of Values-Driven Leadership: A Conversation With Executive Director Diana Morris

Explore SPACE's Sonic Visions program, a grantmaking initiative designed to support creative musicians throughout Maine.

Sonic Visions: Making SPACE for Maine Musicians

Learn how Lindsey Bourassa worked diligently to set up Maine's first and only flamenco-based nonprofit, FLOR.

Flamenco at FLOR: How a Maine-Based Performer Created a Flourishing Dance Nonprofit

Explore Maine Adaptive's Veterans No Boundaries program, a camp designed to help military veterans and their families heal and connect.

‘Coming to This Was Like Coming Home’: How Maine Adaptive Helps Military Vets Heal

Explore how the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy has turned climate action into climate justice by addressing the intersections of social needs.

The Center for an Ecology-Based Economy: Putting Justice at the Heart of Climate Action

Volunteer Series, Part Three: How Participatory Grantmaking Democratizes Decision-Making

OUT Maine and Haystack: A Partnership Forged in Creativity and Collaboration

LGBTQ+ Community

Coming Together To Protect Maine’s Lakes: Insights From Invasive Plant Patrol Trainees

Creativity in the Kennebunks: How River Tree Arts Has Built Community for More Than 40 Years

3 Key Ingredients to the Piscataquis Environmental Education Collaborative’s Success

How Kindling Collective Busts Down Barriers to the Outdoors

Chocolate Church: Where Art and Community Become One

Community Geographics, Kennebunk Land Trust, and the ‘Full Picture’ of Trail Accessibility

The Power of Big Lake — and the People Who Protect It

The Hidden Crisis That's Holding Back Maine's Most Promising Nonprofits — And How Fiscal Sponsorship Might Help

How 7 Lakes Alliance’s YCC Program Harnesses the Power of Young Conservationists

Celebrating 25 Years of Creativity and Community at Waterfall Arts

Restoring the State’s Biodiversity With Maine Audubon’s Winning “Intrapreneurship” Proposal

Sally Struever

‘Leading With Courage’ at PEAK2025

Building Queer-Inclusive Arts Programming With OUT Maine

Volunteer Series, Part Two: Educating and Engaging the Community

Celebrating Love Maine Trails Month With Community Action

Creating Inclusive Outdoor Spaces for Wildlife Trackers in Maine: A Guest Article

How the Roux Institute Helped Twelve Nonprofits Develop Their “Intrapreneurial” Mindset

A Look at The Telling Room’s Theory of Change — and Its Role in Articulating the Nonprofit’s Impact

Volunteer Series, Part One: The Power of Community Science

Cultivating Family, Community, and Care: A Conversation With Board Member Alene Onion

Arts and Well-Being, Part Four: How Maine Inside Out Uses Theater To Drive Social Change

The Foundation’s Role in Transforming Joy Into Systemic Change

Arts and Well-Being Series, Part Three: How ArtVan Brings Mobile Art Therapy Directly To Maine’s Youth

Test Blog Post

Opening Doors to the Outdoors: How Pine Tree Camp Engages the Whole Family at Camp

Putting Principles Into Action: How Trust-Based Philanthropy Has Influenced Our Work

Breaking Barriers and Building Community: How Three Gear-Sharing Organizations Help Mainers Access the Outdoors

Capacity Building for the Betterment of All: How Wintergreen Arts Center Forged a Stronger Operational Foundation

Nature-Based Learning in Maine: How Three Organizational Partnerships Are Immersing Students in the Outdoors

Holly Taylor

Improving Accessibility in Nonprofit Programming: Reflections From Our Grantee Listening Session

Raising the Mainsail Together: How Three Maine Organizations Share the Helm To Provide Adaptive Sailing Experiences

The Onion Foundation Team

Planting Seeds for a Better Future: A Photo Essay From the Onion Foundation’s Day With the Wild Seed Project

Putting Onion Foundation Values Into Action: Reflections on the First Light Learning Journey Course

Building Life Skills, One Drawing at a Time: A Look at Leaps of Imagination’s Innovative Art Program

Accessibility, Advocacy, and Awareness: Key Drivers Behind Our Pledge for Disability Inclusion

10 Years Into Building a Foundation in Maine: A Conversation With Fritz and Susan Onion

Adapting Art To Build Community: How Maine State Music Theatre Makes Space for Theater-Lovers With Disabilities

A Reimagined Concert Experience: Vigorous Tenderness’ Quest To Create Radical Chamber Music in Maine

Putting a Value on Priceless Natural Resources: A Look at Research on the Economics of Maine’s Lakes

Notes From Summer Camp: A Photo Essay

Arts and Well-Being Series, Part Two: How H.O.M.E. Supports Unhoused Families Through Creativity

Arts and Well-Being Series, Part One: What Research Reveals About the Arts’ Profound Impact on Our Lives

Caring for the Caregivers: How the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center Supports Equitable Environmental Access

Environmental Learning in Maine: Key Insights From Teach ME Outside’s 2022 Census

Momentum Conservation and the Onion Foundation: A Philanthropic Partnership Designed for Impact

A New Era for the Onion Foundation: Reflections From Our Executive Director

Susan is a longtime educator with over 20 years of experience as a K–5 teacher, librarian, and adult literacy tutor. She serves as a Maine Public Trustee and sits on the Advisory Board for Pluralsight One. In addition to board service, Susan volunteers at the local public library and leads invasive plant surveys on nearby ponds. In the summer, you can find her paddleboarding on Maine lakes with her dog, Mia, and cross-country skiing those same lakes in the winter. 

Fritz is a cofounder of Pluralsight, an enterprise technology skills platform, where he served as chief content officer from 2008 to 2014. Fritz received his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.S. in computer science from the University of California, Irvine. In his spare time, he enjoys playing his octave mandolin and cycling on the back roads of Maine.

Alene Onion is an aquatic ecologist in New York, focused on water-quality monitoring and management. Alene was born and raised in Maine and regularly visits a family-owned camp in Mt. Vernon. Beyond water-quality monitoring, her interests include cross-country skiing, windsurfing, and cooking with her family.

Alene Onion

Diana is the inaugural executive director of the Onion Foundation. Previously, she founded and directed the Baltimore, Maryland, office of the Open Society Foundations, served as the first executive director of the Blaustein Philanthropic Group, and was a program officer at the Ford Foundation, working nationally and internationally. Diana has also assisted philanthropies and nonprofit organizations in strategic planning and executive searches. She has an A.B. from Smith College and a J.D. from Boston University and undertook graduate studies in cultural anthropology at Princeton. Diana serves on the boards of Salt Bay Chamberfest and Healthcare for the Homeless and provides pro bono legal counseling to immigrants. Diana and her husband have two grown girls and all love to rendezvous on the Maine Coast for kayaking, hiking, and ambitious cooking.

Roz is the environment program officer at the Onion Foundation. She previously served as senior program officer at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation where she oversaw community grantmaking in the Piscataqua region and environmental grantmaking statewide. Roz has also worked as senior program manager at Cities of Service, a nonprofit that supported municipal governments in their citizen engagement programs, and program officer at the Helmsley Charitable Trust, where she oversaw place-based grantmaking for environmental conservation. Roz lives in Southern Maine, where she enjoys winter beach walks and kayaking with the tide on the river.

Nat is the arts program officer at the Onion Foundation and a founding board member of Common Field and the Hewnoaks Artist Colony. He previously served as the first executive director of SPACE in Portland, Maine, where he established The Kindling Fund, supporting individual artist grantees. Nat has worked with or advised numerous local and national arts organizations, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, Americans for the Arts, the Alliance of Artist Communities, the Portland Museum of Art, Maine College of Art, and Indigo Arts Alliance. In addition to his interest in the arts, Nat worked with Portland Food Co-op to plan and open its retail location and has trained as a Master Gardener Volunteer.

Sally previously held positions at 317 Main Community Music Center, Portland Museum of Art, and Port City Studios. She’s volunteered extensively, including at the Maine Women's Lobby, Portland Buy Local (as a founding board member), Maine Craft Association, Portland Public Art Committee, and Treehouse Institute. She currently serves on the board of the Maine Women's Lobby Education Fund. Sally recently moved to the mountains from Portland after living there for almost 20 years. She's excited to get outside and explore this beautiful corner of Maine! 

Ben is the Environment Program Associate at the Onion Foundation. Born and raised in rural central Maine, he previously held service roles with AmeriCorps in Phoenix and the Peace Corps in Guatemala before working with StoryCorps for several years. Additionally, he supported refugee and asylum-seeking youth through his work with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) and received a Fulbright Fellowship in Colombia, where his research focused on the lasting environmental and human rights impacts of U.S. foreign policy in Central and South America. Ben now lives in southern Maine, where he enjoys exploring the outdoors with his dog. 

Ben D.

Holly Taylor (she/they) is the Program Associate at the Onion Foundation. An arts administrator, movement artist, and educator, Holly has held positions at Creative Portland (ME), FirstWorks (RI), and collaborated with performance, dance education, and public art groups throughout New England. Holly received a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and an M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch. 

Perspectives on the arts sector including grantee highlights and stories from the field. 

Arts

Perspectives on the environment sector including grantee highlights and stories from the field. 

Environment

Conversations and analysis on advocacy, philanthropy, and the work of the foundation.

Perspectives

Arts

Environment

Advocacy & Insights