The CS Fund and Warsh-Mott Legacy, established by Maryanne Mott and Herman Warsh, are private family foundations that seek to provide consistent, long-term support across common program areas. Their grantmaking is forward-thinking and evolving, emphasizing the importance of general support, multi-year grants, and project-restricted grants to advance specific objectives. They recognize the role of general and sustained funding in strengthening institutions and fostering longevity.
The grantmaking focuses of the CS Fund and Warsh-Mott Legacy revolve around three core areas: Fighting False Solutions, Food Sovereignty, and Rights and Governance. They aim to challenge and provide alternatives to harmful technologies and systems by applying precautionary principles. Their grant support targets emerging technologies like geoengineering, synthetic biology, and nanotechnology due to their potential negative impacts on society and the environment. In the realm of Food Sovereignty, the foundations support the preservation of agrobiodiversity, focusing on seeds, soils, and pollinators, advocating for a just, sustainable food system grounded in traditional knowledge and practices. The Rights and Governance focus area seeks to support movements and communities striving for justice and equity, emphasizing dissent, open government, the rule of law, and the evolution of international trade rules towards fairness and sustainability.