Founded in 1992, the mission of the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas (MCFA) (formerly known as the Mitsubishi International Corporation Foundation (PDF:50KB)) is to promote environmental causes throughout the Americas in the broadest sense, which encompasses both the physical and social environments in which we live. In furtherance of our mission we support a wide range of projects in the following four categories:

• Biodiversity Conservation
• Sustainable Development
• Environmental Justice
• Environmental Education

A concrete example of how the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas carries out these objectives is its grant to The Nature Conservancy to create a manual to evaluate and strengthen coalition building for protected area conservation. This manual was published in 2005 and has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Guide in Chinese (PDF:558KB)
Guide in English (PDF:758KB)
Guía en Español (PDF:277KB)
Guia no Português (PDF:443KB)

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

The Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas does not provide financial support for individuals. It does not make gifts for religious, political or lobbying purposes. It does not support any organization that discriminates on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or handicap. It only makes direct grants and donations to 501(c) (3) non-profit organizations in the U.S. or their equivalents overseas.

Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas-supported programs are geographically limited to the Americas. The Foundation may give preference to programs where the corporation has a strong presence, or where there is an opportunity for employee volunteerism.

For grantmaking in Europe and Africa, please visit the Mitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe & Africa website. For Asia and Oceania, please visit the Corporate Citizenship section of the Mitsubishi Corporation website.

All grants are subject to approval at the annual board meeting held each autumn. Most grants are pursuant to proposals solicited by MCFA. Ideal timing for proposals is during the first quarter of the calendar year.

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas made its first PRI to Root Capital, "a nonprofit social investment fund that is pioneering finance for grassroots businesses in rural areas in developing countries." The PRI is part of a growing trend among foundations to increase their impact through mission related investing.

Root Capital:

$300,000 program-related investment (PRI) to expand lending to sustainable small and growing businesses in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador and promote the preservation of environmentally vulnerable regions in Latin America.

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

*in alphabetical order

Since its founding in 1991, the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas has contributed nearly $5.6 million to environmental causes in the Americas.

American Bird Conservancy / ProAves:

Providing training for 36 women to expand or develop micro-businesses, while preventing illegal extraction or poaching of wood, animals, and other resources from nature reserves in Colombia ($60,000 over three years)

MCFA has donated more than $300,000 to ABC, primarily for the purchase of bird habitats in Mexico for conservation purposes. Read more (PDF:45KB)

Fundación Natura:

Building sustainable cultivation and production practices for small and medium-sized cocoa producers in Colombia to achieve Rainforest Alliance certification ($25,000)

Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda:

Supporting innovative, grass-roots community-based environmental education in a Mexican biosphere reserve ($300,000 over three years)

O Boticario Foundation for Nature Protection:

Supporting the Oasis Project, an innovative project that offers incentives to landowners to protect a major watershed of Sao Paulo, Brazil ($400,000 over five years)
Read More (PDF:40KB)

Rainforest Alliance:

"Conserving ecosystems through community ecotourism" in Ecuador and Peru and increasing the quantity and quality of Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee in Brazil ($100,000 over two years)

Sustainable South Bronx:

Funding the continuation and expansion of the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Program, which links environmental clean-up and restoration in the community to the career development and economic needs of local people ($150,000 over three years)

Urban Habitat:

Working to create a comprehensive green economic development strategy for the city of Richmond, California ($100,000 over two years)

Wild Salmon Center:

Supporting the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the North American Salmon Conservation Project ($130,000 over three years)

Wildlife Conservation Society:

Conservation of the Patagonian coast and Southwestern Atlantic Seascape of Argentina ($1,000,000 over four years)

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

The Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas sponsors an environmental breakfast series in New York. These breakfasts have been held several times a year since 1993 and they provide an opportunity for environmental organizations and grant-makers to network, learn about funding possibilities and exchange ideas about environmental issues at both the local and international level. Breakfasts have featured topics such as wildlands conservation, environmental justice, animal welfare and environmental markets.

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

Koichi Komatsu
Tetsuo Nishiumi
James E. Brumm
Hiroshi Kizaki
Osamu Sasaki
Minoru Akita
Tetsuro Terada

• Mission
• Guidelines
• PRIs
• Recent Grants
• Past Grants
• Events
• Officers & Directors
• Contacts

Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas
655 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017
email: mic.foundation@org.mitsubishicorp.com